An Ancient Psychedelic Brew & Metal Found in an Elongated Skull
Did ancient Peruvian leaders use hallucinogens to keep their followers in line? And do an ancient elongated skull show evidence of an advanced metal surgical implant or is it just a hoax?
Archaeologists studying the Wari people in the southern Peruvian town of Quilcapampa have found hallucinogenic “vilca” seeds in a recent dig. Writing in the journal Antiquity, the researchers point out they found 16 vilca seeds in an ancient alcoholic drink called “Chicha de Molle,” in an area believed to be used for feasting.
The Wari people lived in this area from about 500 to 1,000 A.D. Their reverence for the psychotropic vilca seed has been found in images at other Wari sites, this is the first find of the actual seeds. What is particularly interesting to the archaeologists is the role of ancient hallucinogens and their influence on social interactions.
The vilca seeds would have come from tropical woodlands on the eastern side of the Andes, a complex trade network would have to be in place to even get them. And adding the vilca seeds with the alcoholic drink would increase the intensity of a psychedelic trip.
That trip would be seen as a journey to the spirit world, and Wari leaderships’ control over the substance led to control over their followers who wanted it. Researchers argue in their paper, “[T]he vilca-infused brew brought people together in a shared psychotropic experience while ensuring the privileged position of Wari leaders within the social hierarchy as the providers of the hallucinogen.”
Work continues at the dig site at Quilcapampa, and researchers plan to test where the ancient vilca seeds came from – so they can figure out the rest of the ancient trade routes.
A Peruvian elongated skull may show the earliest evidence of an ancient metal implant, or it could be a hoax.
Livescience.com reports that the skull, which was donated to the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City, is elongated and pointed, which is not necessarily noteworthy, as ancient Peruvians used to squeeze and shape the heads of infants. But this implant, if genuine, could show advanced surgery using a foreign object.
Beneath the metal, there is a hole in the skull believed to have been made by surgical trepanation, which is the surgical removal of part of the skull to treat an injury. Trepanation in the Andes was widely practiced until the early 16th century. This skull appears to show a piece of metal that was hammered and molded into shape to fill and protect the trepanation hole. And it appears the man survived as there is evidence of bones healing and growing back together. Â
But is it real? The museum of osteology has not yet determined if the metal is genuine or if it was added later. As John Verano, an anthropology professor at Tulane University, told Live Science, “I think this is something fabricated to make the skull a more valuable collectible.”
Verano has studied a number of Andean skulls with metal plates that turned out to be fake, and if this metal plate is a forgery, it could have been added years ago. Â
More testing must be done, but the museum has not yet announced when those tests will take place. If the metal turns out to be genuine, this would be the first of its kind.
Hollow Earth Theory; Is The Subterranean Civilization of Agartha Real?
Is there evidence of a civilization deep beneath the Earth’s surface, or even an atmosphere capable of harboring life? While a lot of the information we receive from NASA and environmental agencies may be accurate, there is still much to be discovered about our planet.
Until more recent times, many people were convinced our planet was a hollow shell with a civilization of Earthly ancients residing underground. The French novelist Jules Verne, known for his series Voyages Extraordinaires, wrote Journey to The Center of the Earth around the time that the belief in a subterranean society piqued.
Before Verne, the hollow Earth concept was originally proposed in the 17th century by Edmond Halley, discoverer of the eponymous short-orbit comet that swings past Earth every 75 years or so. Halley believed the Earth consisted of several concentric shells separated by individual atmospheres, with the outermost layer having a thickness of about 500 miles. Halley believed natural phenomena like the Aurora Borealis and magnetic field variance were products of these multiple layers, which he said moved independently of each other.
More than a century later, Halley’s theory was expounded on by John Cleves Symmes, who published a paper detailing his intent to travel to the Earth’s interior. Symmes devoted the rest of his life garnering support for a hollow earth expedition, but fell sick during a trip to Quebec to give a lecture on his theory. Though he died before his journey ever came to fruition, his ambition inspired Arctic exploration and the first trip to Antarctica in 1838.
