A study published in the journal Antiquity in 2022 suggests that a relaxing alcoholic and hallucinogenic mixture may have played a role in the political influence of the Huari, a civilization that once inhabited the Peruvian coast more than a thousand years ago. The Huari, who ruled from the Peruvian coast to the southern Andes between the years 600 and 1000, were known to use chicha, a type of beer still consumed today, in their culture. Members of the Huari elite organized refined receptions during which large quantities of chicha were consumed to consolidate political and economic relations with neighboring tribes. Archaeologists discovered traces of psychoactive plants inside a "brewery" in the Huari village of Quilcapampa, located in southern Peru. The extreme aridity of the area preserved food remains left by the inhabitants before they abandoned the site at the end of the 9th century. These remains included traces of potatoes, quinoa, and hazelnuts that were 1,100 years old, as well as a large number of false pepper fruits (Schinus molle), used to prepare chicha with an alcohol content of about 5%. Among the soaked and boiled fruits used to prepare the chicha were psychotropic seeds of vilca (Anadenanthera colubrina). Justin Jennings, an archaeologist at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and lead author of the study, noted that there is archaeological evidence of the use of vilca seeds for their hallucinogenic effects in South America during the pre-Columbian era. The village of Quilcapampa was founded at the end of the 9th century when a handful of families left the main Huari stronghold nestled further north between the coast and the mountains. It is possible that the Huari began combining vilca and chicha to strengthen their new alliances with certain non-Huari tribes in the region. This may have been the secret of their political rise in foreign territory. According to Jennings, vilca, like ayahuasca, causes an intense sensation of disembodiment. The psychoactive effects of these seeds are much less when ingested, so it was not uncommon to smoke them or grind them and inhale them through the nose. He notes that there are good chemical reasons to think that the hallucinogenic effect of ground vilca seeds was prolonged when mixed with false pepper chicha. This could have resulted in a trip with a slight out-of-body experience, but one that was longer, gentler, and less violent, allowing participants to share the experience with friends. False peppers grew well near Quilcapampa, but the vilca seeds had to be imported from the eastern flanks of the Andes and transported across the mountains in llama caravans. This suggests that the Huari village of Quilcapampa may have become a regional center due to its atypical chicha. The Huari's vessels sometimes feature vilcas depicted with their characteristic pods. Véronique Bélisle, an anthropo-archaeologist at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, who did not participate in the Quilcapampa research, stated that while it had long been suspected the Huari consumed vilca mixed with chicha, there was no archaeological evidence until now. She called the study an important contribution to Andean archaeology. However, not all archaeologists are convinced. Ryan Williams, curator at the Field Museum in Chicago, who has excavated the ruins of a Huari ceremonial center at Cerro Baúl, finds the hypothesis intriguing but believes the evidence of the combined consumption of vilca and chicha is insufficient. He cites the example of cotton seeds found in an ancient chicha brewery at Cerro Baúl, noting that there is no claim that the Huari drank cotton chicha. Jennings concedes that there is not yet tangible evidence of a mixture between vilca and false pepper chicha in Quilcapampa. All that can be said is that these two ingredients were found within the same archaeological sediments. He admits there is not yet irrefutable proof. In the future, archaeologists will attempt to detect traces of vilca in chicha residues contained in the vessels and containers of the Huari to better defend the idea that vilca and false pepper were mixed in the same container.