Cueva del Chileno

Miller, Albarracin-Jordan, Moore, and Capriles analyzed residue samples using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. They detected cocaine and benzoylecgonine, indicating coca; bufotenine, consistent with *Anadenanthera*; harmine, associated with *Banisteriopsis caapi* or related harmala-bearing plants; DMT, found in several South American plants including *Psychotria* and *Anadenanthera* species; and a possible indication of the presence of psilocin, which is related to psilocybin. A UC Berkeley press release framed the result as the "first evidence of ancient South Americans potentially combining" plants into an ayahuasca-like preparation. Harmine and DMT together are highly significant, although the residues alone cannot show whether the plants were snuffed or brewed as a beverage.

It is clear that this bundle reveals a complex intersection of botanical knowledge and access to very long-distance trade routes. What is less clear is the use it was put to. Most interpretations, however, tend toward the assumption that the substances found in the bundle played some role in establishing ritual authority for the user.