Ancient Psychoactive Substances

Scott M. Fitzpatrick

ISBN 10: 0813056705 / ISBN 13: 9780813056708

Published by University Press of Florida, 2018

About this Item

Ancient Psychoactive Substances | Scott M. Fitzpatrick | Buch | Einband - fest (Hardcover) | Englisch | 2018 | University Press of Florida | EAN 9780813056708 | Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Libri GmbH, Europaallee 1, 36244 Bad Hersfeld, gpsr[at]libri[dot]de | Anbieter: preigu Print on Demand.

Seller Inventory # 131303225

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Ancient Psychoactive Substances
• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813056705
• ISBN 13: 9780813056708
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 240W x 161H x 25D millimeters 240 millimeters width by 161 millimeters height by 25 millimeters depth
• Weight: 741 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Bücher

About this title

Synopsis

Mind-altering substances have been used by humans for thousands of years. In fact, ancient societies sometimes encouraged the consumption of drugs. Focusing on the archaeological study of how various entheogens have been used in the past, this volume examines why humans have social and psychological needs for these substances. Contributors trace the long-term use of drugs in ancient cultures and highlight the ways they evolved from being sacred to recreational in more modern times.

By analyzing evidence of these substances across a diverse range of ancient cultures, the contributors explore how and why past civilizations harvested, manufactured, and consumed drugs. Case studies examine the use of stimulants, narcotics, and depressants by hunter-gatherers who roamed Africa and Eurasia, prehistoric communities in North and South America, and Maya kings and queens.

Offering perspectives from many different fields of study, contributors illustrate the wide variety of sources and techniques that can provide information about materials that are often invisible to archaeologists. They use advanced biomolecular procedures to identify alkaloids and resins on cups, pipes, and other artifacts. They interpret paintings on vases and discuss excavations of breweries and similar sites. Uncovering signs of drugs, including ayahuasca, peyote, ephedra, cannabis, tobacco, yaupon, vilca, and maize and molle beer, they explain how psychoactive substances were integral to interpersonal relationships, religious practices, and social cohesion in antiquity.

Contributors: Quetta Kaye | Victor D. Thompson | Thomas J. Pluckhahn | Sean Rafferty | Mark Merlin | Matt Sayre | Constantino Manuel Torres | Zuzana Chovanec | Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Newman | Justin Jennings | Daniel M. Seinfeld | Shannon Tushingham | Scott M. Fitzpatrick

About the Author

Scott M. Fitzpatrick, professor of archaeology at the University of Oregon, is coeditor of Island Shores, Distant Pasts: Archaeological and Biological Approaches to the Pre-Columbian Settlement of the Caribbean.