Chemistry and Anthropology: Tracing Psychoactive Plants in Andean Artifacts
During the second half of June, Fernando Carranza, a doctoral student in Anthropology at Tulane University (USA), spent two weeks collaborating with Dr. Javier Echeverría, a professor in the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology at the University of Santiago, Chile.
The visit was driven by Carranza’s interest in learning advanced analytical chemistry techniques to study archaeological artifacts. Specifically, he aimed to examine those that might contain remnants of psychoactive plants used in rituals by ancient Andean Amazonian cultures.