Uso de plantas psicoactivas en el norte de Chile: Evidencia química del consumo de ayahuasca durante el Periodo Medio (500-1000 D.C.)

This article discusses the use of psychoactive plants in the Azapa Valley of northern Chile. The archaeological record of northern Chile provides early and uninterrupted material evidence related to psychoactive practices involving the use of Anadenanthera as well as chemical evidence for the consumption of Erthroxylum. Therefore, we used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to analyze the hair of 32 mummies of the Middle period (ca. A.D. 500-1000) from the Azapa Valley. None of the analyzed cases tested positive for the consumption of Anadenanthera, but two tested positive for the ingestion of Banisteriop- sis, a psychoactive plant prepared as an infusion generally called ayahuasca. We conclude that the consumption of Banisteriopsis in the Azapa Valley was related to therapeutic practices, such as those employed in childbirth and puerperium, rather than hallucinogenic.