Tassili Mushroom Figure

On the left, drawing of the grooves of one of the most famous petroglyphs, an anthropomorphic figure with mask.[1] It was called by Terence McKenna the "bee-faced mushroom shaman".[2] However, it is not certain whether it represents a shaman, or mushrooms, or an art with naturalistic elements. On the right, photo of a similar painting that also contains mushroom-like elements.

The popularly called Tassili mushroom figures are Neolithic petroglyphs and cave paintings discovered in Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria, which contain features resembling mushrooms. Hypothesized to date back to 7000–5000 BC, they are considered by some researchers to be figures that have shamanic connotations and one of the strongest pieces of evidence for ethnomycological data.[3] It is possibly the oldest example of rock art used to claim the ritual use of fungi in prehistory, with Tassili being the first site that likely may contain representations of the genus Psilocybe (the second example is at the Spanish archaeological site of Selva Pascuala).[4] However, interpretations of Tassili's drawings are disputed and it is unknown whether they actually represent mushrooms or specific natural or cultural elements.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McKenna, Terence (1992). Food Of The Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge. Ebury Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-4070-6128-3. The bee-faced mushroom shaman of Tassili-n-Ajjer. Drawing by Kat Harrison-McKenna
  3. ^ Winkelman, Michael (2019-06-01). "Introduction: Evidence for entheogen use in prehistory and world religions". Journal of Psychedelic Studies. 3 (2): 43–62. doi:10.1556/2054.2019.024.
  4. ^ Akers, Brian P.; Ruiz, Juan Francisco; Piper, Alan; Ruck, Carl A. P. (2011-02-17). "A Prehistoric Mural in Spain Depicting Neurotropic Psilocybe Mushrooms?". Economic Botany. 65 (2): 121–128. doi:10.1007/s12231-011-9152-5. ISSN 0013-0001.