A child who had the honour of being made into a trophy head by the ancient Nazca culture of southern Peru was drugged up on a mescaline - containing cactus prior to beingsacrificed , a new analysis has reveal . The same study also found grounds of ayahuasca utilization among other mummified individuals from the Early Nazca Period – which lead from 100 BCE to 450 atomic number 58 – and therefore provide the earliest archaeological grounds for the consumption of these two psychedelic plant .
Though the utilization ofhallucinogenic substanceswas common throughout South America in pre - Columbian times , piddling is know about which concoctions were ceremonially consume during the Early Nazca Period . To investigate , research worker break down haircloth samples from 22 individuals from three separate Nazca sites .
renowned for their unbelievable geoglyphs – have it off as theNazca Lines – the Nazca were also prolific collectors of prize head . So far , about 150 such head have been discovered , although scholars are unsure if these were removed from the shoulders of sacrificial victims or foe warriors during battle .
A Nazca trophy head belonging to a female victim. Image credit: D. Socha
Among the 22 specimens assessed in the study were four prize head , include a child of unsung sex , an adult female and two adult males . When convey their analysis , the study author look for metabolites of the coca plant – such as cocaine and benzoylecgonine – as well as mescaline and other compound found in the psychedelic Amazonian brew ayahuasca .
Reporting their finding , the investigator explain that “ the horizontal surface of the mescaline in the kid ’s hair suggested a high consumption of the San Pedro cactus . ” key after Saint Peter – who hold the keys to heaven – San Pedro has been used as a sacrament by Indigenous Andean cultures for millennium . Interestingly , the psychedelic cactus is also love by its Quechua name " Huachuma " , which more or less translate as " remove the head " .
At the same sentence , the authors strike that the female victim had chewed Imogene Coca leaves , while neither of the adult male trophy heads showed any star sign of drug use . Based on these finding , the researchers speculate that the woman and kid may have been ceremonially sacrificed before have their point remove and that their consumption of coca and San Pedro might have take shape part of the ceremony .
In contrast , the male heads may have been beguile during warfare , thus explaining why these victims were not supplied with any substances before being dispatched .
This theory is supported by grounds that the more late Inca civilizationgave ayahuasca to child sacrifice victimsas an anti - depressant while they awaited their fate . However , as the study source note , “ this is the first proof that some of the victims transmute into trophy heads were given stimulants prior to their death . ”
Turning their attention to the 18 remaining Nazca specimen , the researchers come up ayahuasca compounds in the hair of two further individuals . engrossment of these substances in the hair of one mummy “ far surmount any old investigate ancient sample , suggesting a possible shamanist occupation of this person . ”
Coca metabolite , meanwhile , were present in five sample distribution , including a six - month infant who probably ingested the meaning via its mother ’s breastmilk .
together with , these findings stand for the earliest evidence for the use of San Pedro and ayahuasca , while also confirming for the first time that coca leaves were present on the southern Peruvian seacoast during the Early Nazca Period .
The discipline has been published in theJournal of Archaeological Science .
