Constantino Manuel Torres
Encyclopedia
Constantino Manuel Torres, known as Manuel Torres, is an archaeologist
and ethnobotanist
specialising in the ethnobotany of pre-columbian
South America and the Caribbean. In particular, he has shed much light on the Taíno
use of Anadenanthera
snuff Cohoba
, its paraphernalia and associated archaeology.
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and ethnobotanist
Ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the scientific study of the relationships that exist between people and plants....
specialising in the ethnobotany of pre-columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
South America and the Caribbean. In particular, he has shed much light on the Taíno
Taíno people
The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...
use of Anadenanthera
Anadenanthera
Anadenanthera is a genus of South American trees in the Legume family, Fabaceae. The genus contains two to four species, including A. colubrina and A. peregrina...
snuff Cohoba
Cohoba
Cohoba is an old Taino Indian transliteration for a ceremony in which psychedelic ground seed of the cojóbana tree was snufed in twin nasal Y-shaped pipe also called Cohoba...
, its paraphernalia and associated archaeology.
Selected published works
- The Use of Anadenanthera colubrina var. Cebil by Wichi (Mataco) Shamans of the Chaco Central, Argentina. Yearbook for ethnomedicine and the study of consciousness 5: 41-58, with David Repke as second author. Verläg für Wissenschaft und Bildung, Berlin, (1998).
- The role of cohoba in Taíno shamanism. Eleusis, n.s., no. 1: 38-50, Museo Civico di Rovereto, Trento, Italy, (1998).
- Exploring the San Pedro de Atacama/Tiahuanaco Relationship. In Penny Dransart, ed., Andean Art -Visual Expression and its Relationship with Andean Values and Beliefs, Worldwide Archaeology Series vol. 13, pp. 78–108, with William J Conklin as second author, Avebury Press, Great Britain, (1995).
- Iconografía Tiwanaku y Alucinógenos en San Pedro de Atacama: Sus Implicaciones para el Estudio del Horizonte Medio Andino. In Josep María Fericgla, ed., Plantas, chamanismo y estados de consciencia, pp. 151–173, Los Libros de la Liebre de Marzo, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain, (1994).
- Snuff Powders from Pre-Hispanic San Pedro de Atacama: Chemical and Contextual Analysis. Co-authored with D. Repke, K. Chan, D. McKenna, A. Llagostera, and R. E. Schultes. Current Anthropology 32(5): 640-649, University of Chicago Press, (1991).
- The Iconography of South American Snuff Trays and Related Paraphernalia. Etnologiska Studier Series, no. 37, 305 pp., 193 plates. Göteborgs Etnografiska Museum, Sweden, (1987).
- Anadenanthera: Visionary Plant of Ancient South America. Co-authored with David B. Repke. Haworth Press, (2005)