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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
pharmacology, toxicology and pharmaceutics
Prehistoric peyote use: Alkaloid analysis and radiocarbon dating of archaeological specimens of Lophophora from Texas
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 101, No. 1-3, Year 2005
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Description
Two archaeological specimens of peyote buttons, i.e. dried tops of the cactus Lophophora williamsii (Lem.) Coulter, from the collection of the Witte Museum in San Antonio, was subjected to radiocarbon dating and alkaloid analysis. The samples were presumably found in Shumla Cave No. 5 on the Rio Grande, Texas. Radiocarbon dating shows that the calibrated 14C age of the weighted mean of the two individual dated samples corresponds to the calendric time interval 3780-3660 BC (one sigma significance). Alkaloid extraction yielded approximately 2% of alkaloids. Analysis with thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) led to the identification of mescaline in both samples. No other peyote alkaloids could be identified. The two peyote samples appear to be the oldest plant drug ever to yield a major bioactive compound upon chemical analysis. The identification of mescaline strengthens the evidence that native North Americans recognized the psychotropic properties of peyote as long as 5700 years ago. © 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
El-Seedi, H. R. Rushdey
Sweden, Uppsala
Biomedicinskt Centrum
Egypt, Shibin el Kom
Faculty of Science
de Smet, Peter A.G.M.
Netherlands, Nijmegen
Radboud University Medical Center
Beck, Olof M.L.
Sweden, Stockholm
Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset
Possnert, Göran
Sweden, Uppsala
Ångströmlaboratoriet
Bruhn, Jan G.
Sweden, Uppsala
Biomedicinskt Centrum
Statistics
Citations: 124
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.jep.2005.04.022
ISSN:
03788741