A vessel from the Wari site of Conchopata features a tree and seedpods from the head of the Staff God.
The Wari, an ancient people from the south of the country, may have gained political alliances by lacing the beer served at their feasts with hallucinogens, according to a new paper. The seeds from the vilca tree can be used to make a hallucinogenic drug. The authors think the Wari held a big victory before it was abandoned.
Matthew Biwer, an archaeobotanist at Dickinson College, told Gizmodo that the first find of vilca at a Wari site was a glimpse of its use. We could only assume how it was used, since it was found in burial tombs before. These findings show a more nuanced understanding of Wari politics and how vilca was involved in them.
The Wari empire lasted from 500CE to 1100CE in the central highlands. Some scholars disagree as to whether the network of roads linking various provincial cities constituted a legitimate empire or not. The Wari's construction of complex, distinctive architecture and the discovery of an imperial royal tomb lend credence to the Wari's empire status. The culture began to decline due to the dry spell. Many central buildings were blocked up, suggesting people thought they might return if the rains did, and there was archaeological evidence of possible warfare and raiding in the empire's final days as the local infrastructure collapsed and supply chains failed.
The Wari had a period of relative peace and prosperity before that, with a capital city just northeast of today's city of Ayacucho being the center of the Wari civilization. Hallucinogens, derived from the seeds of the vilca tree, were common in the region when the Wari empire flourished.
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The Vilca seed was recovered from Component II.
Vilca is usually grown in the dry tropical forests. The trees have long legs filled with seeds. The seeds, bark, and other parts of the tree are all made from DMT, a well-known substance that is also found in the ayahuasca brew of the Amazon. Bufotenine is the primary active ingredient and it wears off if it is taken in a pill form. It's usually smoked, eaten, or used as an enema by those seeking the full hallucinogenic effect. The oldest archaeological evidence to date for using vilca in South America is a 4,000-year-old pipe found in an Incan cave in Argentina in 1999.
There is evidence that a juice or tea derived from vilca seeds was added to chicha, a beverage made from maize or the fruits of the molle tree. This is a way to take vilca without getting the high that comes with it, since the stomach enzymes that counter the high by deactivating the active compounds are suppressed. Collective consumption of vilca- infused beverages is documented ethnographically, with more sustained experiences recounted contrasting with the overwhelming hallucinogenic rush produced when consumed in other manners," the authors wrote.
The people of the neighboring state of Tiwanaku were known to mix hallucinogens with alcohol. There are monoliths depicting figures holding a drinking cup in one hand and a snuff tray in another, and smoking or inhaling vilca was part of a long-standing ritual tradition to foster personal spiritual journeys.
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