Ancient Use of Coca Leaves in the Peruvian Central Highlands

Valdez, Lidio M.; Taboada, Juan; Valdez, J. Ernesto

doi:10.3998/jar.0521004.0071.204

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Coca paraphernalia and bountiful artworks provide the only archaeological evidence of coca use in Colombia, the earliest is from the Yotoco culture (100–1200 CE; Reichel-Dolmatoff and Schrimpff 2005 ). The earliest Huánuco coca remains are endocarps from a Late Intermediate period (1000–1476 CE) site in Junín, Peru, but evidence of coca trade in Bolivia pushes this date to \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$\sim $\end{document} 1700 years BP ( Plowman 1984 ; Carter and Mamani 1986 ; Hastorf 1987 ; Valdez et al 2015 ). On the basis of linguistic and ethnographic similarities across its range, Amazonian coca is presumed to be the most recently developed ( Plowman 1981 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Origins of Coca: Museum Genomics Reveals Multiple Independent Domestications from ProgenitorErythroxylum gracilipes

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Coca is the natural source of cocaine as well as a sacred and medicinal plant farmed by South American Amerindians and mestizos. The coca crop comprises four closely related varieties classified into two species (Amazonian and Huánuco varieties within Erythroxylum coca Lam., and Colombian and Trujillo varieties within E. novogranatense (D.Morris) Hieron.) but our understanding of the domestication and evolutionary history of these taxa is nominal. In this study we use genomic data from natural history collections to estimate the geographic origins and genetic diversity of this economically and culturally important crop in the context of its wild relatives. Our phylogeographic analyses clearly demonstrate the four varieties of coca comprise two or three exclusive groups nested within the diverse lineages of the widespread, wild species E. gracilipes; establishing a new and robust hypothesis of domestication wherein coca originated two or three times from this wild progenitor. The Colombian and Trujillo coca varieties are descended from a single, ancient domestication event in northwestern South America. Huánuco coca was domesticated more recently, possibly in southeastern Peru. Amazonian coca either shares a common domesticated ancestor with Huánuco coca, or it was the product of a third and most recent independent domestication event in the western Amazon basin. This chronology of coca domestication reveals different Holocene peoples in South America were able to independently transform the same natural resource to serve their needs; in this case, a workaday stimulant.

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confidence: 99%

The Origins of Coca: Museum Genomics Reveals Multiple Independent Domestications from ProgenitorErythroxylum gracilipes

et al. 2020

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“…If the Convento coca leaves originated from the south coast, when did highlanders begin using coca leaves from the eastern lowlands? The presence of Wari outposts in the Apurimac Valley open the possibility that the Wari state perhaps accessed coca leaves from the eastern lowlands as well as from the Pacific coast, in a similar manner to what the Inka State did centuries later [54]. As demonstrated by the findings from Hatunmarka in the Mantaro Valley, by the Late Intermediate Period coca leaves from the eastern lowlands were certainly consumed by highland inhabitants.…”

Section: Coca Leaves In the Ayacucho Valleymentioning

confidence: 53%

“…Further indicating that trophies were secured in a violent context, some valleys of the south coast had fortified settlements [53,54]. Consequently, it is apparent that the Nasca influence brought to the attention of the Ayacucho Valley inhabitants new ways of dealing with potential competitors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent archaeological information coming from Convento, a site found immediately north of the Ayacucho Valley, demonstrates the occurrence of coca leaves in a context that corresponds to the time that the Nasca influence in the Ayacucho Valley intensified. The coca leaves were fortuitously found as part of a burial offering and in association with a Cruz Pata style ceramic bottle [53,54]. The coca leaves had been placed between two tupu pins that prevented their deterioration.…”

Section: Coca Leaves In the Ayacucho Valleymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interaction and Cultural Change in the Peruvian Central Highland Valley of Ayacucho

Valdez¹

2017

Anthropol

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Human societies are not isolated islands; instead, they are part of a complex web that links them with far away communities who are not only culturally different, but also inhabit different environmental settings. In the distant past, cultural interaction enabled the exposure to previously unknown customs and the flow of ideas, in addition to access to foreign exotic goods and the establishment of new kinship ties. Contact with more complex societies and significant locations likely also resulted in the enhancement of status and prestige of specific individuals. Archaeological evidence coming from the Peruvian central highland valley of Ayacucho indicates that as early as the late Early Intermediate Period (ca. 450-550 C.E.), the ancient inhabitants of the region were already part of a large network that linked them with their neighbours of the eastern tropical rain forest region as well with the inhabitants of the dry Pacific coast region. Interaction among members of different cultures precipitated not only the acceptance of previously unknown products and associated cultural practices, such as the use of coca leaves, but also significant cultural transformation in the Ayacucho Valley that ultimately culminated in the establishment of the Wari State.

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“…New archaeological evidence coming from north of the Ayacucho Valley suggests that interaction with the south coast also resulted in the introduction of the use of coca leaves to the Peruvian central highland region [107]. Indeed, about the time the inhabitants of the central highlands and the south coast had established interaction, there are depictions of coca chewers in Nasca ceramics, who interestingly also carry coca bags ( [108] 94), are suggestive of the practice of coca chewing on the south coast.…”

Section: Nucleation and The Growth Of Huarimentioning

confidence: 99%

From Rural to Urban: Archaeological Research in the Periphery of Huari, Ayacucho Valley, Peru

Valdez

2017

Journal of Anthropology

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For hundreds upon hundreds of years, humans lived in small settlements where most individuals, if not all, were linked by kinship ties. Many of these villages were occupied for generations and thus their occupants had a strong connection to the place. The villages were politically and economically autonomous, yet they were connected with adjacent villages by means of barter and intermarriage. Within a relatively short period of time, centuries-long occupied small villages were left vacant and replaced by fewer but much larger settlements identified as cities. In contrast to the rural based villages, cities began to house much larger numbers of residents, who not only were unfamiliar with each other but also were mainly concerned with their own well-being. Recent archaeological research carried out in the immediate periphery of Huari provides crucial information that indicates that the growth of Huari paralleled the abandonment of rural villages apparently in the midst of increasing conflict. The rural settlement of Huaqanmarka was occupied for several centuries, yet it was abandoned within a short period of time simultaneously with the desertion of other adjacent settlements.

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Ancient Use of Coca Leaves in the Peruvian Central Highlands

Cited by 8 publications

References 64 publications

The Origins of Coca: Museum Genomics Reveals Multiple Independent Domestications from ProgenitorErythroxylum gracilipes

The Origins of Coca: Museum Genomics Reveals Multiple Independent Domestications from ProgenitorErythroxylum gracilipes

Interaction and Cultural Change in the Peruvian Central Highland Valley of Ayacucho

From Rural to Urban: Archaeological Research in the Periphery of Huari, Ayacucho Valley, Peru

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