Early Inhabitants of Algeria Create Cave Art that Shows Mushrooms

Cave art in Tassili n'Ajjer SE Algeria shows the oldest known petroglyphs of psychoactive mushrooms, specifically Psilocybe.

4713 B.C.E.

Line drawing of the “mushroom shaman” figure as depicted in ancient cave paintings in Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. Image from Terence McKenna’s book Food of the Gods.

Cave art in Tassili n’Ajjer SE Algeria shows the oldest known petroglyphs of psychoactive mushrooms, specifically Psilocybe. The paintings show people holding objects that look like mushrooms and some have mushrooms growing from their bodies. Terence McKenna proposed in his 1992 book “Food of the Gods” that the inhabitants used psilocybin mushrooms in their rituals.

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