Revista de Arqueología Americana
July 10, 2026
Giorgio Samorini
For over five decades, there has been a significant quantitative discrepancy between the traditional knowledge of psychoactive plants of Old World and New World. While some 20th century scholars believed that it was motivated by cultural differences between the populations of the two regions of the globe, this consideration failed to take into account that the acquisition of awareness of the...
Scientific Reports
November 13, 2024
Davide Tanasi, Branko F Van Oppen de Ruiter, Fiorella Florian et al.
9 citations
This study presents a comprehensive multimodal analytical study of an Egyptian ritual Bes-vase, of the 2nd century BCE employing cutting-edge proteomics, metabolomics, genetics techniques, and synchrotron radiation-based Fourier Transformed Infrared microSpectroscopy (SR µ-FTIR) to characterize organic residues of its content. We successfully identified the presence of various functional,...
Archaeometry
March 17, 2024
Enrico Greco, Laurent Rivier, Giorgio Samorini et al.
5 citations
Abstract The primary objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges involved in detecting ancient ayahuasca, a traditional hallucinogenic drink from the Amazon region, which is prepared using Banisteriopsis caapi liana and other plants, by utilizing advanced analytical techniques. The presence of harmine and harmaline in Andean archaeological findings has led...
Cultura y Droga
October 19, 2023
Giorgio Samorini
Objetivo: recopilar y analizar el conjunto de datos etnográficos sobre el uso tradicional entre las poblaciones americanas del hongo embriagante Amanita muscaria. Metodología: durante la adquisición de los datos se realiza una cuidadosa evaluación, realizando críticas y correcciones donde se considera que los datos estaban presentados de manera inadecuada desde el punto de vista metodológico....
Drug Science Policy and Law
2023
Adriana D’arienzo, Giorgio Samorini
In recent years, the historical record of psychedelic therapy in Europe and the Americas has undergone considerable revision. In this article, we contribute to this re-interpretation by sharing documentation relating to psychedelic therapy carried out in Italy during the period 1927–1966. Our library research has uncovered one hundred publications, documenting at least 60 clinical studies in...
International journal of medicinal mushrooms
2001
Giorgio Samorini
10 citations
The author presents his research on ethnology of psychoactive mushrooms developed during the last 20 years. In the core of the Sahara Desert, on a group of rock paintings, dating back to 9000-7000 B.R., mushroom effigies are represented repeatedly. The polychromic scenes of harvest, adoration, and the offering of mushrooms lead to suppose we are dealing with an ancient hallucinogenic mushroom...