Left-wing academics always seem to enjoy finding evidence of ancient drug use.
Now they’ve made a jaw-dropping discovery in Peru that has historians rethinking what they know about pre-Inca rituals.
And Archaeologists were stunned by this secret drug room from 2,500 years ago.
Secret drug chamber contains tools for psychedelic rituals
A team of archaeologists led by Daniel Contreras from the University of Florida has discovered a sealed chamber at the ChavÃn de Huántar archaeological site containing 23 artifacts that were used for consuming psychedelic substances.
“The tubes are analogous to the rolled-up bills that high-rollers snort cocaine through in the movies,” Contreras told LiveScience in an email.
These hollow tubes, crafted from bird bones believed to be from peregrine falcons, contained residue of both nicotine and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a powerful hallucinogenic compound.
The artifacts were discovered in a gallery that had been sealed around 500 B.C. and remained untouched until archaeologists opened it in 2017.
Chemical analysis of the tubes revealed they were used to inhale ground-up seeds and leaves from a plant called vilca (Anadenanthera colubrina), which contains DMT, along with wild tobacco.
Ancient elites used drugs to maintain power over common people
This discovery provides concrete evidence that the elite ruling class used exclusive drug rituals to separate themselves from ordinary workers.
The researchers published their findings Monday in the journal PNAS, explaining that the chamber was deliberately designed to restrict access to just a handful of privileged individuals.
“One of the ways that inequality was justified or naturalized was through ideology — through the creation of impressive ceremonial experiences that made people believe this whole project was a good idea,” Contreras stated.
The archaeological site at ChavÃn was a major center for ritual activity between 1200 B.C. and 400 B.C., well before the rise of the Inca empire.
The complex features stone structures built around open plazas, with rooms that became interior spaces called galleries as new buildings were added over the centuries.
Evidence suggests drug use helped establish hierarchical societies
Archaeologists believe these exclusive drug ceremonies may explain how ancient Andean society transitioned from more equal communities to the rigidly structured empires that followed.
The small size of the gallery where the artifacts were found suggests these rituals were deliberately kept secret from the common people who constructed ChavÃn’s impressive monuments.
According to the researchers, this controlled access to mind-altering substances likely reinforced the social hierarchy, creating a privileged elite class that maintained power through exclusive religious experiences.
Similar patterns of elites using exclusive experiences to maintain control over populations have been observed throughout history and continue today in various forms.
The researchers concluded that these findings open the door for more investigation into how psychoactive substances shaped ancient Andean civilization and the development of social inequality that would eventually lead to the Tiwanaku, Wari, and Inca empires.
