
Ancient ritual bundle contained multiple psychotropic plants - benbreen
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-ancient-ritual-bundle-multiple-psychotropic.html
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contingencies
Regarding the objects, a triple fox-snout pouch stash bag[0] is quite an item.
Why the snout? Implications of sensitivity and a conveniently pre-angled form?
Why the fox? According to
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxes_in_popular_culture#Ameri...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxes_in_popular_culture#Americas)
at least one South American society _believed the fox to be a warrior that
would use his mind to fight. The fox would not ever use physical attack, only
mental._ Potentially a sort of a professional deity of a shamanic class, then.

Lovely iconography on the wooden utensil[1] with a pair of people in
comfortable looking robes and differing posture. Could this be suggestive of
paired consumption or a guided experience? Could the void-like gap for face
indicate ideas associated with possession or channeling, eg. a symbolic "not-
self" or implication of self-departure? In the absence of additional finds, I
suppose surviving modern shamanistic rites of the region might only provide
minimal evidence toward a tenuous interpretation.

[0]
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hire...](https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2019/1-ancientritua.jpg)
[1]
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hire...](https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2019/2-ancientritua.jpg)

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unixbeard1337
Lots of weird fox lore around the world. In Chinese folklore, they can pass
for human (often as attractive women) and ensnare people in various wiles.

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felixyz
One of the segments in Kurosawa's "Dreams" is about "the fox's wedding"
(kitsune no yomeiri).

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_(1990_film)#Sunshine_Th...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_\(1990_film\)#Sunshine_Through_The_Rain)

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dalbasal
It's an interesting find, probably confirms what I think would be a default
theory: the ritual use of psychoactives in modern south america is a
continuation from ancient times.

What they found is: (1) Cocaine & benzoylecgonine (also from coca) (2) harmine
& dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which are combined to make ayahuasca, still
commonly used ritually in SA even by some catholic communities. (3) bufotenin
(frog smoking stuff), which still exists ritually to an extent and (4)
possibly psilocin (magic mushrooms).

So basically, if you were to find a bag of ritual psychodelics in SA today, it
would have all these same things in it. The only thing missing is tobacco.
Maybe the snuff kit is for tobacco, or maybe the article omitted it. Also, I
don't think these are all found in the same regions, so it's also probably
evidence of trade. Drugs can be major trade goods.

Most of how we see the ancient world is dictated by monuments, tools and other
stuff that survives well. Bits of perishable culture like this give us a whole
different layer.

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kissickas
I'm not sure on its academic validity, but _Hallucinogens and Culture_ by
Peter T. Furst is an interesting look into the use of hallucinogens by
different peoples around the world and the role of these plants in forming our
religions and cultures.

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skc
Thanks for the link. This is a topic I've always loved mainly because it seems
so plainly obvious to me that there is a link between either accidental or
unwitting consumption of psychotropic substances and the birth of religion(s)
specifically.

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pvaldes
I wonder how this chemical compounds have survived for 1000 years without
disintegrating. Are those molecules so stable to survive 1000 years against
microorganisn activity?

A simpler explanation would be that this skin was recycled and used in much
more recent times. The ritual skin bag can be old, but the substances around
can be more modern.

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ahje
Interesting follow-up: What _IS_ the natural decay rate of those substances? I
tried finding some data, but wasn't really able to find any.

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person_of_color
What do people here think Soma was? Had a major role in at least two
civilisations.

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kekebo
There are a couple of candidates [0], the one i've seen the most speculation
about is peganum harmala.

[0]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanical_identity_of_soma%E...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanical_identity_of_soma%E2%80%93haoma#Candidates_for_the_identity_of_soma)

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empath75
> The researchers identified the presence of multiple psychoactive
> compounds—cocaine, benzoylecgonine (the primary metabolite of cocaine),
> harmine, bufotenin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and possibly psilocin (a
> compound found in some mushrooms)

So basically your average burning man tent.

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XaoDaoCaoCao
Sounds like a fun time.

>So basically your average burning man tent

Maybe. But did the user of this have to deal with similar levels of noise and
of density of people (never been to Burning Man btw)?

My "experience" has mostly been around quiet areas or with a friend in a
room/home. The heart already gets a race just doing nothing, being in a dense
communal environment sounds hellish on such substances.

