Testing the Trance Hypothesis: Identifying Hallucinogenic Compounds from Quids at Pinwheel Cave, California

Summary

For decades, debates have raged over the role of trance in the origination of rock-art. However, there remains almost no direct evidence of the ingestion of trance inducing material at any rock art site world-wide. The site of Pinwheel Cave has a large element thought to represent the opening of the flowering Datura. Dozens of quid, or 'chews' - i.e. masticated fibres of unidentified plant material - are found within the ceiling of the cave. A sample of this was taken and analysed to determine if they contain the Datura plant. Extraction and analysis methods were developed for the two main toxic alkaloids within Datura: atropine and scopolamine. The alkaloids were successfully extracted, identified and quantified from standard solutions and spiked eggplant leaf samples. Low concentrations of atropine and scopolamine were detected within one ‘chew’ sample extract. A further six ‘chew’ sample extracts await analysis by high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). This paper discusses this procedure and the implications of this discovery and the community aspects of both the past and present local Native population.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22769