Archaeologists Reveal Rock Art May Depict People Singing While High

Strange carvings found on Peruvian rocks may have been created by ancient humans that were tripping out, researchers have found.

Toro Muerto, where the carvings are located, is in a Peruvian desert gorge called the Majes River Valley and is home to around 2,600 volcanic boulders, each carved with ancient petroglyphs (a carving or inscription on a rock).

Now, new research by archaeologists from Poland's Adam Mickiewicz University and the University of Warsaw has revealed that the ancient artists may have been hallucinating as they worked, according to a new paper in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

The volcanic boulders in Toro Muerto that have petroglyphs carved into them vary in size, from small stones to enormous rocks coated in multiple images. The people who carved these artworks are thought to have been part of the Wari culture, which existed between A.D. 500 and 1000.

A distinctive feature of the site's petroglyph iconography is the depiction of human figures engaged in dance, referred to as danzantes. These figures are often accompanied by geometric patterns, predominantly variations of zigzag lines.

In the paper, the researchers propose that the geometric designs at Toro Muerto, carved alongside the danzantes figures, could symbolize songs or wild dancing.

The researchers wrote in the paper: "We suggest that zigzag lines could be representations of songs, which seems particularly intriguing given the repeated juxtaposition of these patterns with the figures of dancers at Toro Muerto, not only in the more complex compositions (Figs 4–8) but also in the less complex as well."

Furthering this theory, it's suggested that certain intricate arrangements of danzantes and linear geometric patterns might serve as visual metaphors for passage to the afterlife.

"Our interpretation suggests that the banded structures of geometric patterns could be representations of the cosmos—its spheres and events connected to its creation and its exploration, which could have come about during ritual ceremonies of which dance and song were the quintessence," the paper's authors wrote.

"The associations of danzantes with banded structures of patterns might embody visualization of being in this parallel world, emphasizing its authenticity and invariability," they said.

Additionally, the authors suggest that these carvings may have been done while under the influence of hallucinogenic plants. The study points out that the engravings closely resemble those produced by the Tukano, an ancient group from present-day Colombia.

"The scene on boulder TM 1219 indeed presents surprising similarities to the Tukano drawings, in terms not only of individual motifs but also their arrangement," the researchers wrote.

Previous studies have indicated that many of these engravings were created in ritual contexts by individuals under the influence of ayahuasca, a brew made from psychoactive vines. Given this resemblance, the researchers propose that the petroglyphs at Toro Muerto were likely made by individuals using hallucinogenic plants.

They further hypothesize that the scenes depicted alongside the dancing figures represent attempts to capture the sensations of music experienced while influenced by some form of hallucinogen.

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