Ritual Black Drink consumption at Cahokia

Abstract

Chemical analyses of organic residues in fragments of pottery from the large site of Cahokia and surrounding smaller sites in Illinois reveal theobromine, caffeine, and ursolic acid, biomarkers for species of Ilex (holly) used to prepare the ritually important Black Drink. As recorded during the historic period, men consumed Black Drink in portions of the American Southeast for ritual purification. This first demonstrated discovery of biomarkers for Ilex occurs in beaker vessels dating between A.D. 1050 and 1250 from Cahokia, located far north of the known range of the holly species used to prepare Black Drink during historic times. The association of Ilex and beaker vessels indicates a sustained ritual consumption of a caffeine-laced drink made from the leaves of plants grown in the southern United States.

Ritual drinks in the pre-Hispanic US Southwest and Mexican Northwest

“…1). Southwestern populations thus could have procured I. vomitoria from groups living as close as coastal Texas or in Mesoamerica (7,9). Acquisition of objects and species from areas to the east of the US Southwest, including coastal Texas, is not as well documented as exchange in objects and species from areas to the south, including Mesoamerica.…”

“…Two plants containing caffeine and theobromine are documented as having been used to create drinks during the pre-Hispanic period in North America: T. cacao, grown and used in Mesoamerica to make chocolate drinks, and I. vomitoria (the variety of holly also called yaupon), used in what is now the southeastern United States to create a caffeinated drink referred to in early historic accounts as "black drink." Populations in South America continue to use different varieties of holly to make caffeinated drinks (7,8). Based on distance to the sources, it is most likely that Southwestern populations prepared drinks with cacao or I. vomitoria rather than the more distant varieties of caffeinated plants found in South America (8).…”

“…However, these are idealized ratios for plant parts rather than ratios derived from prepared drinks or archaeological contexts. A variety of factors can affect the ratios, including differential preservation due to conditions in the field or laboratory; differences in plant age and growing conditions; and differences in preparation, including fermentation, roasting/toasting, and dilution with water and other additives (7,13). Groundwater tested in areas with native stands of I. vomitoria also has detectible traces of caffeine (14), which presumably may contaminate porous ceramics in those areas; because neither holly nor T. cacao was native or cultivated in the US Southwest and Mexican Northwest before contact, contamination from groundwater is not a source for the residues we identified.…”

Profile of Patricia L. Crown

“…A few years later, Crown and Hurst, along with other colleagues, studied plant residues on pottery beakers from Cahokia, a massive pre-Columbian settlement near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers (8). Residues on the beakers revealed that they once contained Yaupon holly.…”

Preliminary assessment of the degree of genetic diversity of Ecuadorean Ilex guayusa using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers

“…It currently represents the most harvested and widely utilized non-food plant species by indigenous groups, like the Kichwa, Achuar and Shuar [2,3]. These ethnic groups typically use the leaves of I. guayusa to prepare ceremonial beverages conferring good luck for hunting and fishing and for protection against snake bites [2][3][4][5]. Ilex guayusa leaves are also employed for ritualistic purging, and to treat ailments like gastritis, stress and infertility [5,6].…”