Analysis of Microbotanical Remains from Chavín de Huántar

Summary

Chavín de Huántar is well-known for its ritual significance in the Andean world, however the nature of both subsistence and temple offerings remain unclear. Though previous research has been carried out on the Chavín de Huántar botanical assemblages, much remains a mystery due to poor overall preservation of carbonized remains. In order to obtain a more complete understanding of Formative Period subsistence, residues extracted from potsherds from sealed Chavín contexts were analyzed for starch granules and phytoliths. This analysis reveals previously unidentified food resources including manioc (Maniot esculenta) and yam (Dioscorea ssp.), as well as maize (Zea mays) which is uncommon in the Chavín de Huántar macrobotanical record. These results demonstrate the necessity of multiple types of archaeobotanical techniques.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage