This is an interesting article on harmala alkaloids being found in the bodies/hair of mummies in the Andes mountains.

Http://news.nationalgeog...081022-drug-mummies.html

(This may be off topic, but I have heard that cocaine and nicotine were discovered in ancient Egyptian mummies, this is significant because nicotine and cocaine are new world compounds. This is also why I'm having trouble believing this, though I'm certain that there is not any truth to these claims, I'm still curious enough to ask if anybody else has heard this, and if anybody knows if any evidence to support this claim exists)


-EG

Ive read that claim about the Egyptians but don't remember where. It's not too far fetched that someone was plying the oceans at that times. Look at the olmecs, they're statues had African facial features. Or perhaps the Phoenicians enabled trade between both hemispheres?

If only the library at Alexandria wasn't destroyed

This is fascinating! Nice find!

The deal with the nicotine and cocaine in Egyptian mummies has been hotly contested, but is still rather interesting. There is a nice summary of this issue on wikipedia.

Thank you for the responses!

That Wikipedia page put a little more credibility behind the Egyptian mummies claim, which I now intend to investigate further.

There is a theory out there that the ancient Egyptians had a form of ayahuasca made from peganum harmala and acacia nilotica ( http://www.collective-ev...of-life-acacia-nilotica/ ) however I found many flaws in this theory...but maybe:
If these ancient Egyptians had compounds like cocaine and nicotine being brought to them, which are south American, then perhaps the people who brought the cocaine and nicotine to the Egyptians also brought ayahuasca or yopo as well. Cocaine and nicotine are shamanic plants, so it makes sense that other shamanic plants such as San Pedro, ayahuasca, or yopo May have been brought with them.
(I know this is all wild speculation with very little to back it up, which is why I'm taking my "scientist" hat off to just sit back and wonder "what if" for a minute)

-EG

I might get speared for this, but I like Graham Hancock's view that human history is much older than we assume today. The idea of very old empires engaging in trade makes sense to me. Especially with plant products like aya that could easily be shipped longterm... and being so goddamn effective.

Graham Hancock is for sure one of the more level headed in his field, but still not my cup of tea.
Though I know civilization is much older than we give it credit for.

Look at gobekli tepe this site saw ritual use dating back to the 10th-8th millennium BCE. At this point in time our history claims we were Hunter gathers not capable of advanced masonry and architecture, yet that is exactly what we see at gobekli tepe. Gobekli tepe was not a town or settlement it was a religious site. I believe gobekli tepe builders to be psilocybe users. Regardless it shows civilization is far older than we believe it to be.

Tasili n Ajjer, meaning "Plateau of the Rivers is a mountain range in the Algerian section of the Sahara Desert, at this prehistoric site rock art depicts shamans covered in mushrooms and even running with the mushrooms in their hands. This prehistoric site shows religious mushroom use amongst it builders. The Sahara was at one point a climaxed rain Forrest that began to become a desert over time, as the desert swallowed the rain Forrest the people moved from places like tasili to gobekli tepe....

I still need to do a lot more research,and I know I did not go into any great detail above ,but I'm convinced civilization is much much older than we believe it to be, and I also believe the first human civilizations were entheogen users religiously, the first religion was derived from entheogenic fungi and plants.

-EG