Chavín Elites Used Hallucinogens to Assert Authority

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown that the ancient Chavín culture in the Peruvian Andes, predating the Inca by roughly 2,000 years, used hallucinogens to reinforce social hierarchies. Archaeologists found snuff tubes made from animal bone and shell in restricted-access chambers at Chavín de Huántar, with chemical traces of wild tobacco and vilca bean, a hallucinogen related to DMT. These substances were used exclusively by elites during secretive rituals, helping leaders justify and consolidate their authority. This practice marks a shift from more communal rituals seen in other ancient societies. The research indicates that such elite use of psychoactives in the Andes occurred at least a millennium before similar practices in the Wari empire. The findings offer new insight into how ideology and mystical experiences were used to shape early South American social structures.