Nazca Human Sacrifice Victim Used Psychoedelics Before death

A Nazca ritual site in Peru revealed that a child who was executed as part of a religious ceremony more than a thousand year ago had consumed the psychedelic drug mescaline before his execution. Scientists discovered the truth by analysing a single hair taken from the head of a child who had had his head cut at the neck and made it into a ritual trophy. From 800 A.D. It is estimated that San Pedro cactus contains the natural psychedelic drug mescaline and was used by South American indigenous cultures for medicinal and religious purposes. San Pedro cactus is a natural psychedelic drug mescaline. It is well-known that South American indigenous cultures used it for religious and medicinal purposes. It is also the first evidence that some victims who were made into trophy head were given stimulants before their deaths.” Further analysis of hair samples from the other remains revealed that many of the deceased had taken psychedelics prior to their deaths. The toxicological analysis revealed that the researchers had found traces of Banisteriopsiscaapi, the main component of the psychedelic drink ayahuasca. This compound is also used in ritual ceremonies in some South American indigenous cultures. Many had also ingested coca leaves, which is the source of the stimulant cocaine. We also wanted to find out the route of trade for some of these ancient plants. The coca leaves, for example, were not grown on Peru’s south coast so they had to be brought from either the Amazonian or northern Peru.” Researchers also discovered other items from the graves such as textiles, weaving tools, and ceramic pots. They also found a bag that was used to hold coca leaves, known as a “chuspa”. Researchers determined that drug use was widespread at the archaeological site between 100 B.C. The date ranged from 100 B.C. to A.D.450. Socha stated that “we can see that the transition of the plants was occurring early and we can trace the trade network.” “Our research has shown that these plants were very important to different cultures for their visionary or medical effects. Especially since there’s no [written record] from this time period, so what we know about Nazca and other nearby cultures is from archaeological investigations.”Rainer Bussmann, a professor in the Department of Ethnobiology at the Institute of Botany at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the head of botany at the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany, published a study in 2006 that examined the usage of medicinal plants by indigenous communities in northern Peru. Bussmann, who was not part of the new study, said that there was always some trade in this area. Plants were traded from the Amazon up the [Peruvian] Coast.” These plants were used traditionally for medicinal or ceremonial purposes and sometimes mixed. I have never heard of any recreational use. These cultures had a specific purpose. “In the case of San Pedro it’s not well preserved archaeologically. In the case of Banisteriopsis Caapi and coca leaves, they were never found growing in this area during that period.” The results of the study will appear in the December 2022 issue of Journal of Archeological Science.