Iconographic Evidence for Altered States of Consciousness in Andean Cupisnique Visual Culture

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Magic, Spirits, Shamanism, and Trance" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Although a shamanic component has long been recognized in Andean Formative cultures, recent research on Cupisnique (ca. 1200–900 BCE) ceramic iconography yields evidence for more varied, more prevalent, and much more far-reaching use of therapeutic and entheogenic substances during the early phases of Andean prehistory than has been previously reported. The imagery on special purpose ceramics forms—especially the iconic stirrup-spout bottle—includes depictions of psychoactive flora and fauna, the presumed production and consumption of neuroactive brews, and the bodily sensations, altered states of consciousness, and visions they produced. Other imagery includes animals closely associated with shamanic practice in the past and the present, a practice rooted in the deployment of altered states of consciousness to divine, counsel, and heal. Even images of seemingly mundane or prosaic plants, animals, and objects bear esoteric markings that link them to altered states of consciousness. The low visibility of many of these esoteric markings suggests that some information about ASCs was meant to be kept secret and available only to a few privileged individuals during therapeutic and divinatory rituals and performances.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Magic, Spirits, Shamanism, and Trance   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38492.0