In a newly released book chapter, Anthropology Assistant Clinical Professor Mario Zimmermann and co-authors contribute to the discourse on Native American agency through the Mission Period by considering ethnobotanical practices – more specifically, consumption patterns of psychoactive plants and other non-dietary substances. The data stems from a biochemical analysis of residues extracted from dental calculus samples of individual burials at the Asistencia de San Pedro y San Pablo, a satellite connected to Mission San Francisco de Asis, established in 1786 near present-day Pacifica, California.
The analysis paid particular attention to tobacco biomarkers such as nicotine and cotinine, yet also led to the recovery of several thousand unidentified chromatographic signals which allowed the team to examine the ingestion of xenobiotics on a broader level. The data indicate that tobacco consumption remained consistent with patterns observed for pre-contact populations from the same area, including usage by women and children. By comparison, sex biases related
to other non-dietary products increased.
Access to this chapter, and the book in its entirety, is free thanks to an agreement between University Press of Florida and the University of California at Davis.