Scientists Discover Rich Trove Of Ancient Mind-Altering Drugs In South America
05/07/2019 01:07 am ET
Feed your head: Cocaine and ayahuasca compounds were likely used by shamans during funerary rituals, researchers say.
By Mary Papenfuss
Researchers have discovered evidence of cocaine and hallucinogenic compounds in a leather bag believed to have belonged to shamans at an ancient burial site in Bolivia, according to Science magazine.
An analysis of the findings beneath ancient llama dung revealed evidence of “multiple psychoactive plants,” including key compounds (harmine and dimethyltryptamine) of the hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca (which is still used today).
It’s considered the richest find to date of ancient mind-altering drugs in South America.
The drugs were discovered inside the leather bag in a 1,000-year-old smaller pouch made of fox snouts in a rock shelter in the Andes highlands in southwestern Boliva. The find was detailed in a study by researchers from universities in California, Pennsylvania, Bolivia and New Zealand, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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were tie-dyed shirts, empty bottles of Ripple wine, and an empty album cover from "Anthem of the Sun". 
