Afterglow: Vilca Beer, Pro-Social Feelings, and Wari Geopolitics in the Ancient Andes

Psychedelic substances may have helped govern the Wari Empire of Middle Horizon Peru (600-1000 CE) by promoting social bonding after imperial disruptions. Archaeologists have focused on the immediate effects of psychedelics in past societies but overlooked their longer-term psychological impacts, such as neuroplasticity that can foster enduring pro-social feelings. A beer containing the psychedelic plant Anadenanthera colubrina (vilca) was regularly consumed at Wari feasts. The substance's 'afterglow' could have helped rebuild communities following the upheavals of imperial expansion, suggesting psychedelics played an integral role in Wari governance and may have shaped other regions' histories.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Although archaeologists increasingly consider the roles of psychedelics in past societies, there is little attention paid to their longer-term psychological impacts. One of these impacts is a neuroplasticity that may elicit enduring pro-social feelings. A beer laced with the psychedelic Anadenanthera colubrina (also known as vilca) was regularly consumed at feasts during the Wari Empire of Middle Horizon Peru (600-1000 CE). We suggest that vilca’s “afterglow” could have helped rebuild communities after the disruptions of imperial expansion, thus playing an integral role in Wari governance. The longer-term impacts of psychedelics may have also significantly shaped the history of other regions.