The Use of Anadenanthera colubrina var. Cebil by Wichi Shaman. 4 CONSTANTINO MANUEL TORRES & DAVID B. REPKE The Use of Anadenanthera colubrina var. Cebil by Wichi (Mataco) Shamans of the Chaco Central, Argentina Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of our investigation into the use of Anadenanthera colubrina var. Cebil by Wichi shamans of the Chaco Central in northwestem Argentina. Anadenan- thera colubrina seeds and associated smoking pipes, dated to 2130 B.C., have been found in Northwest Argentina, and represent the oldest evidence for psychoactive plant use in South America. The inges- tion of A. cofubrina seeds continues through the Precohimbian period, and itis also reported in Spanish colonial documents related to this area. Wichi shamanic activities demonstrate four thousand years of continuous and well documented use of Cebil seeds. The botanical and ethnographic data presented is the result of two seasons of field work in the Chaco, This is supplemented by a thorough overview of the literature on Wichi shamanism. Alkaloidal analysis of collections of A. colubrina var. Cebil are pre- sented, The results of the chemical analysis, in addition to the archaeological and ethnographic data, indicate that bufotenine is solely responsible for the psychoactive effects attributed to A. colubrina preparations. The concentrations of DMT and other tryptamines found in the seeds are pharmacologi cally insignificant when compared to the concentration of bufotenine. ‘Zusammentassung Der Gebrauch von Anadenanthera colubrina var. Cebil bei den Wichi (Mataco) Schamanen des zen- tralen Chaco-Gebietes, Argentinien Mit diesem Artikel prisentieren wir die Ergebnisse unserer Erforschung des Gebrauches von Ana- denanthera colubrina var, Cebit bei den Wichi Schamanen im Chaco-Gebiet (Nordwestargentinien), Anadenanthera colubrina-Samen und damit im Zusammenhang stehende Pfeifen (von 2130 v.Chr.) il in Nordwestargentinien gefunden worden, und liefern so den altesten Beleg fiir den Gebrauch ei- ner psychoaktiven Pflanze in Stidamerika. Die Einnahme der A. colubrina-Samen setzte sich in der prit- kolumbianischen Zeit fort; er ist sogar in frtihkolonialzeitlichen spanischen Dokumenten belegt. Die schamanischen Praktiken der Wichi beruhen also auf einer viertausendjihrigen kontinuierlichen und dokumentierten Tradition der Cebil-Verwendung. Die hier erstmals verdffentlichten botanischen und ethnographischen Daten wurden bei zwei Feldforschungen im Chaco-Gebiet erhoben, Zusitzlich wird ographische Literatur zum Wichi-Schamanismus ausgewertet. Die Alkaloidanalyse der Samm- Iungen von A. colubrina var. Cebil werden veraffentlicht. Die Ergebnisse der chemischen Unt chungen, gemeinsam mit den archiologischen und ethnographischen Daten, deuten darauf hin, da lediglich Bufotenin fiir den psychoaktiven Effekt der A. colubrina-Zubereitungen verantwortlich ist. Die in den Samen vorhandenen Konzentrationen an DMT und anderen Tryptaminen sind (auch im Ver- gleich mit dem Bofuteningehalt) pharmakologisch unbedeutend. die Keywords: Anadenanthera, bufotenine, Cebil, hallucinogens, shamanism, snuffs, This investigation into the use of Anadenanthera colubrina by Wichi (Mataco) shamans of the Gran Chaco (Fig. 1), is an outgrowth of our search for probable bo- tanical sources of the archaeological snuff powders from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile (LLAGOSTERA et al. 1988; TORRES, REPKE et al. 1991). The San Pedro de hrbuch fiir Ethnomedizin 199642 Constantino Manuel Torres & David B. Repke BOLIVIA PARAGUAY ARGENTINA 60w Fig. 1. Map of the Gran Chaco showing the location of Wichi territory. Yearbook f. Ethnomedicine 1996The Use r. Cebil by Wichi Shamans 43 of Anadenanthera colubrina v. Atacama archacological remains are characterized by the highest concentration of snuffing implements in Precolumbian America. The size and chronology of the sample indicates that approximately 20 to 22% of the adult male population was using psychoactive snuffs c. 200-900 A.D. In addition, the snuffing equipment and related implements exhibit an elaborate iconographic corpus. These factors sug- gest an important function for snuffing practices in the San Pedro de Atacama cul- tural development. In this respect, determination of the probable botanical sources, chemical composition, and provenience of these ancient snuff powders is of ex- treme importance Chemical analysis of snuff powders from San Pedro de Atacama dated c. 780 A.D. (TORRES, REPKE et al. 1991), have demonstrated the presence of bufotenine, 5-methoxy DMT, and DMT. The detection of bufotenine suggests that seeds from a species of Anadenanthera are one of the components of these samples. This is the only genus involved in the snuffing complex known to contain bufotenine Anadenanthera colubrina var. Cebil is a common tree growing in neighboring northwest Argentina (von REIS ALTSCHUL 1964: 10), and was probably the species used in San Pedro de Atacama. In addition, Anadenanthera seeds have been found in archaeological contexts in San Pedro de Atacama, and in the Quebrada de Hu- mahuaca, Argentina (FERNANDEZ DISTEL 1980: 56). As part of our o1 tigations, we have conducted two field trips to northwest Argentina and the Gran Chaco in order to investigate the current use of Cebil by the indigenous population, and to collect botanical specimens for identification and chemical analysis. These trips took place during October 1995 (Spring) and June 1996 (late Autumn). The genus Anadenanthera SPEGAZZINI is in the section Mimosoideae of the family Leguminosae, order Rosales. The genus Anadenanthera as established by J.P. M. BRENAN (1955: 181-182) and Siri von REIS ALTSCHUL (1964; 1967; 1972) was originally conceived by BENTHAM (1840; 1841-42; 1874-75) as section Niopa of the genus Pipradenia. Siri von REIS ALTSCHUL (1964), in a taxonomic revision of the genus, considered Anadenanthera to consist of two species, A. peregrina (L.) SPEG. and A, colubrina (VELL.) BRENAN with each species having two variet- ies. The two varieties of Anadenanthera peregrina are A. peregrina (L.) SPEG. vat. peregrina and A. peregrina (L.) SPEG. var. falcata (BENTH.). The varieties of A. colubrina are A. colubrina (VELL.) BRENAN var. colubrina and A. colubrina (VELL.) BRENAN var. Cebil (GRISEB.). A. peregrina var. peregrina and A. colubri- na var. Cebil are the two species employed as the source of psychoactive prepara- tions, most notably in the form of snuff powders. Jahrbuch fiir Ethnomedizin 1996