Prehistoric Puebloan yucca (<i>Yucca</i>) quids with wild tobacco (<i>Nicotiana</i>) contents: Molecular and morphological evidence from Antelope Cave, northwestern Arizona

Adams, Karen R.; Johnson, Keith L.; Murphy, Terence M.

doi:10.1179/2042458214y.0000000006

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Almost a century ago, Miner 31 called attention to the cross-cultural parallels in the use of lime to enhance the effects of alkaloids contained in tobacco, coca ( Erythroxylum coca ), or betel ( Piper betle ). Adams et al 49 suggest tobacco might have been placed inside of Yucca quids in the Southwestern US to reduce gingival irritation or to more evenly spread nicotine release over a longer period of chewing. Siegel et al 21 report that Mexican marigold was used because it “reduces the harshness of yé [ N. rustica ]”.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabolomics-based analysis of miniature flask contents identifies tobacco mixture use among the ancient Maya

Zimmermann

Brownstein

Dïaz

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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A particular type of miniature ceramic vessel locally known as “veneneras” is occasionally found during archaeological excavations in the Maya Area. To date, only one study of a collection of such containers successfully identified organic residues through coupled chromatography–mass spectrometry methods. That study identified traces of nicotine likely associated with tobacco. Here we present a more complete picture by analyzing a suite of possible complementary ingredients in tobacco mixtures across a collection of 14 miniature vessels. The collection includes four different vessel forms and allows for the comparison of specimens which had previously formed part of museum exhibitions with recently excavated, untreated containers. Archaeological samples were compared with fresh as well as cured reference materials from two different species of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum and N. rustica). In addition, we sampled six more plants which are linked to mind-altering practices through Mesoamerican ethnohistoric or ethnographic records. Analyses were conducted using UPLC-MS metabolomics-based analytical techniques, which significantly expand the possible detection of chemical compounds compared to previous biomarker-focused studies. Results include the detection of more than 9000 residual chemical features. We trace, for the first time, the presence of Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida) in presumptive polydrug mixtures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabolomics-based analysis of miniature flask contents identifies tobacco mixture use among the ancient Maya

Zimmermann

Brownstein

Dïaz

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Quids-wads of plant fiber containing tobacco to be chewed and/or sucked-have been found in regional dry caves and shelters. In on regional example, Arizona's Antelope Cave, 167 seeds and fragments of capsules, calyxes, pedicels, stems, and leaves were found in 90 percent of 168 the quids examined 47 . Seeds from quid use could have been deposited by being spat or by expended quids being tossed into the fire.…”

Section: Manner Of Human Usementioning

confidence: 97%

First Evidence for Nicotiana (Tobacco) and its Human Use in Pleistocene North America

Duke

Wohlgemuth

Adams

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Current studies on cultigens emphasize the protracted and intimate human interactions with wild species that defined paths to domestication and, for certain plants, profoundly impacted humanity1,2. Tobacco (Nicotiana) is one such plant. Tobacco arguably has had more impact on global patterns in history than any other psychoactive substance, but how deep its cultural ties trace back is widely debated. Adding to the puzzle is whether the distribution of tobacco in North America occurred naturally or if humans themselves were responsible for its expansion across the continent3. Archaeological excavations at the Wishbone site, directed at the hearth-side activities of the early inhabitants of North America’s desert west, have uncovered evidence for tobacco approximately 12,300 years ago, 9,000 years earlier than previously documented4. Here we detail the preservation context of the site, discuss its cultural affiliation, and consider the ways that the tobacco may have been used. Researchers have long suspected that human use extends earlier in time than can been readily demonstrated by such fragile remains3–7, so the finding reinvigorates research on the driving cultural forces behind tobacco’s use, cultivation, and subsequent domestication. This has implications for our understanding of deep-time human use of plant intoxicants, the intersection of non-food plant domestication with that of food crops, and the trajectory of selective, potentially independent, interactions with tobacco from a broad cultural milieu in ancient North America to a place of worldwide cross-cultural significance.

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“…Dozens of fibrous clumps known as quids are also located within crevices in the cave ceiling ( 41 ). Quids, usually found in archaeological deposits, are typically made of yucca, agave, tule, or tobacco and are thought to have been chewed to extract nutrients or stimulants ( 41 – 44 ). With the painting likely representing the opening of the Datura flower, and with the very unusual insertion of quids in the ceiling, we investigated the possibility that the quids could contain Datura .…”

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confidence: 99%

Datura quids at Pinwheel Cave, California, provide unambiguous confirmation of the ingestion of hallucinogens at a rock art site

Robinson

Brown

McMenemy

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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While debates have raged over the relationship between trance and rock art, unambiguous evidence of the consumption of hallucinogens has not been reported from any rock art site in the world. A painting possibly representing the flowers of Datura on the ceiling of a Californian rock art site called Pinwheel Cave was discovered alongside fibrous quids in the same ceiling. Even though Native Californians are historically documented to have used Datura to enter trance states, little evidence exists to associate it with rock art. A multianalytical approach to the rock art, the quids, and the archaeological context of this site was undertaken. Liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results found hallucinogenic alkaloids scopolamine and atropine in the quids, while scanning electron microscope analysis confirms most to be Datura wrightii. Three-dimensional (3D) analyses of the quids indicate the quids were likely masticated and thus consumed in the cave under the paintings. Archaeological evidence and chronological dating shows the site was well utilized as a temporary residence for a range of activities from Late Prehistory through Colonial Periods. This indicates that Datura was ingested in the cave and that the rock painting represents the plant itself, serving to codify communal rituals involving this powerful entheogen. These results confirm the use of hallucinogens at a rock art site while calling into question previous assumptions concerning trance and rock art imagery.

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Prehistoric Puebloan yucca (Yucca) quids with wild tobacco (Nicotiana) contents: Molecular and morphological evidence from Antelope Cave, northwestern Arizona

Cited by 8 publications

References 28 publications

Metabolomics-based analysis of miniature flask contents identifies tobacco mixture use among the ancient Maya

Metabolomics-based analysis of miniature flask contents identifies tobacco mixture use among the ancient Maya

First Evidence for Nicotiana (Tobacco) and its Human Use in Pleistocene North America

Datura quids at Pinwheel Cave, California, provide unambiguous confirmation of the ingestion of hallucinogens at a rock art site

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