Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-8r8nv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-06T16:41:07.114Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Hallucinogens, alcohol and shifting leadership strategies in the ancient Peruvian Andes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2022

Matthew E. Biwer*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Dickinson College, Carlisle, USA
Willy Yépez Álvarez
Affiliation:
Royal Ontario Museum, Department of Art and Culture, Toronto, Canada
Stefanie L. Bautista
Affiliation:
Department of Religion and Classics, University of Rochester, New York, USA
Justin Jennings
Affiliation:
Royal Ontario Museum, Department of Art and Culture, Toronto, Canada
*
*Author for correspondence ✉ biwerm@dickinson.edu
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the pre-Columbian Andes, the use of hallucinogens during the Formative period (900–300 BC) often supported exclusionary political strategies, whereas, during the Late Horizon (AD 1450–1532), Inca leaders emphasised corporate strategies via the mass consumption of alcohol. Using data from Quilcapampa, the authors argue that a shift occurred during the Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000), when beer made from Schinus molle was combined with the hallucinogen Anadenanthera colubrina. The resulting psychotropic experience reinforced the power of the Wari state, and represents an intermediate step between exclusionary and corporate political strategies. This Andean example adds to the global catalogue documenting the close relationship between hallucinogens and social power.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.
Figure 0

Figure 1. Depictions of Anadenanthera colubrina use in the Middle Horizon: left) the Ponce Stele at Tiahuanaco portrays an elite individual holding a drinking cup and snuff tablet (photograph courtesy of A. Roddick); right) a vessel from the Wari site of Conchopata features the tree and its tell-tale seed pods sprouting from the head of the Staff God (illustration courtesy of J. Ochatoma Paravicino).

Figure 1

Figure 2. Location of Quilcapampa in the Sihuas Valley. The inset map of Peru marks the Quilcapampa region in blue and the red dots show the locations of Chavín de Huántar (A), Huari (B) and Tiahuanaco (C) (USGS/NASA Landsat).

Figure 2

Table 1. Botanical remains recovered from Quilcapampa.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Vilca seed recovered from Component II at Quilcapampa (scale in cm; photograph by M. Biwer).

Figure 4

Figure 4. Carbonised molle drupes presenting evidence for boiling and/or soaking to brew chicha molle (scale in mm; photograph by M. Biwer).

Figure 5

Figure 5. Overview of the Quilcapampa site showing excavated units. Vilca was found in the red units, while molle was found in all units (figure by J. Jennings).

Figure 6

Figure 6. Correspondence of botanical materials recovered from Quilcapampa (figure by M. Biwer).

Figure 7

Figure 7. Molle density at Quilcapampa (figure by M. Biwer).

Figure 8

Figure 8. Molle pit located in Component II (Locus 2707) (photograph by S. Bautista).