Republic of Ecuador (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
851-875 (2,078 Records)
Huari Urban Prehistory: An Introduction to the Excavations of 2017 From June through mid-August archaeological excavations were conducted at the Patipampa section of Huari, Ayacucho, Peru, where prehistoric constructions are not preserved on the surface. The goal of this first season of excavation was to detect and expose outlines of the built environment in approximately a hectare of space believed to contain primarily residential remains. As spatial organization becomes clear, individual...
Human Biogeography, Life Histories and Bioavailable Strontium in the Southern Andes (Argentina and Chile) (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Patagonian Evolutionary Archaeology and Human Paleoecology: Commending the Legacy (Still in the Making) of Luis Alberto Borrero in the Interpretation of Hunter-Gatherer Studies of the Southern Cone" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While regionally focused in Patagonia, Luis Borrero’s research has contributed to shape archaeological practice beyond this region, encompassing South America at large. As a regional case...
Human Coprolite Diet Reconstruction Confirms Wetland Resource Use in the Coast of the Atacama Desert, 6580 cal. yr BP (2017)
It has been proposed that Chinchorro coastal people along the Atacama Desert in northern Chile had marginal access to plant food, a position refuted by recent scholars. The older perspective comes from bone chemistry analyses which showed a nearly exclusive reliance on marine animal resources. Newer analyses of mummy gut contents shows a substantial reliance on wetland plant resources, especially sedge rhizomes and seeds. Therefore, existing analyses present very different ideas of Chinchorro...
Human Ecodynamics in Central East Polynesia (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Research and CRM Are Not Mutually Exclusive: J. Stephen Athens—Forty Years and Counting" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Our understanding of Pacific paleoenvironments, how they changed with human arrival, and further transformations in the post-settlement period owes much to the research and insights of Steve Athens. This paper considers palaeoenvironmental records from central East Polynesian islands in relation to...
Human Impact on an Inhospitable Plain: New Insights into the Hydraulic System of the Rio Huaycho (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia) (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Water Management in the Andes: Past, Present, and Future" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ALTI-plano research project (Archaeological Lake Titicaca Inventory-Mapping) aims, in particular, to provide a complete map of archaeological sites along the eastern shores of Lake Titicaca. Our focus lies primarily on refining our grasp of local chronologies, human settlement patterns, and the environmental change effects on...
Human Responses to Holocene Aridization South of the Atacama Desert (31° to 32° S), the Meaning of Differences in Landscape Use (2017)
The geographical band between 31°-32° S, from the Pacific to the Andes, lies in the southernmost part of the Semi-Arid North of Chile, south of the Atacama Desert. Multidisciplinary research to the north and south of the Choapa River’s mouth is uneven, thereby in need of new data for understanding the relative intensity of the human traces across the landscape and the human interactions with environmental changes. Currently, the combined pollen records in the coast and highlands indicate arid...
Human Selection on Maize Size Traits. A contribution from the archaeological record of Tarapacá, chile, South Central Andes. (2017)
Maize from Andean region has a recognized complex history, involving ecological and human interaction. Today, while Andean maize show high morphological and low genotypic diversities, the process involved in its production and selection is unclear. In this work we ask how the morphological and genetic diversity of maize has varied through Formative Period to present time in Tarapacá Region, northern Chile? To answer this we analysed thirty morphological traits and eight microsatellites markers...
Human-Environment Interactions and the Hunter-Gatherers of Chachapoyas, Peru (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Although a growing bodies of scholarship address later cultural developments in such regions, Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCF) are nevertheless perceived by many as environments marginal for human occupation, especially for hunter-gatherers. One such region, the Chachapoyas culture area in northern Peru, has to date been home to...
Human-Environment Relationships and Spatial Organization in the Nepeña Valley, Ancash Peru (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The built environment is not a simple, haphazardly constructed idea. The human condition and cultural components, combined with environmental factors have undoubtedly influenced the built environment situated within landscapes. Not only are these landscapes environmental, but also social. In addition, these landscapes are not static and are subject to...
Humans strategy and paleoclimate in the Andean: variation in intensity occupation in the Laguna del Diamante (ca. 2000-500 años aP) (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Laguna del Diamante (34°S) is a high-altitude wetland (3,000 m asl) with resources that have been attractive to human societies for the last 2,000 years. This article evaluates the variable intensity of its occupation in five temporal segments between 2030 and 440 cal BP, according to a chronology modeled from 14 radiocarbon dates excavated in stone...
Hunter-gatherer home ranges in arid environments: exploring some of the differences and similarities (2017)
Deserts have traditionally been considered marginal environments, because survival depends on several factors. Some researchers have pointed to the importance of water for hunter-gatherers living in these environments, as well as the increased knowledge of the environment they lived in, and its resources, as well as the awareness and knowledge of neighbors on whom to call in lean times or with whom to interact and exchange partners and the knowledge of resources. Here we present two cases from...
The Hydrologic and Geologic Dynamics of the Las Peñas Spring (2018)
This presentation addresses the hydrology of agricultural terraces and a spring associated with the Late Intermediate Period (post AD 1200) site of Las Peñas located in the Moquegua Valley of Peru. Positioned 150 meters northwest of Las Peñas, the spring is located at roughly 2,700 meters in elevation and sits at the base of several agricultural terraces. This field system was presumably in production at the time Las Peñas was occupied and is still in use today. Using coring techniques, sediment...
(I) A Typology for a Class of Objects in Museum Collections in Ecuador; (II) Proposed Study to Test Objects from Museum Collections in Ecuador to Verify Usage of Hallucinogenic Entheogens to 2650-2100 Y.B.P , 450 B.C.E - 100 C.E.
(I) A Typological Identification of a Class of Objects in Museum Collections in Ecuador; Classification and Typology for this Class; Identification of Types of Objects of this Class and Sub-Types; Interpretation of Meaning in Iconography and Forms; (II) Proposed Study to Test Objects from Museums in Ecuador to Verify Usage of Hallucinogenic and Psychedelic Entheogens to circa 2650-2100 Y.B.P.- 450 B.C.E - 100 C.E.; Significance; Outline of Testing to be Performed including Types of Testing and...
(I) A Typology for a Class of Objects in Museum Collections in Ecuador; (II) Proposed Study to Test Objects in Museum Collections in Ecuador to Verify Usage of Hallucinogenic Entheogens to circa 2650-2100 Y.P.B - 450 B.C.E - 100 C.E. (2022)
(I) Identification of a Class of Objects in Museum Collections in Ecuador; Classification and Typology; Stylistic, Construction, Iconography, and Other Differences in Types of these Objects; Interpretation of Meanings of Iconography and Forms Thereof; (Ii) Proposed Study to Test Objects in Museum Collections in Ecuador to Verify Usage of Hallucinogenic Ethneogens to circa 2650-2100 Y.B.P.- 450 B.C.E - 100 C.E.; Significance; Outline of Testing to be Performed; Identification of Specific Objects...
Ichthyoarchaeological Analysis of ScMo-350 on Mo’orea, French Polynesia (2018)
ScMo-350 is located on Mo’orea Island, northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Our ichthyoarchaeological analyses assess which fish taxa were utilized by the pre-contact Ma’ohi, and how those taxa may have changed over time. Our diachronic approach investigates fishing activities over a c. 1,000 year period, between AD 900-1800. We broadly divided this beach ridge site into four excavation blocks to aid in spatial analyses of the recovered artifacts. Fish specimens were heavily concentrated in...
Iconoclasm Island: New Research on the Destruction of Rapa Nui’s Statues (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Social Archaeologies and Islands" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Monuments are a critical window into people’s values, beliefs, and social memories. The destruction of monuments is especially important since it can shed light on how these aspects of societies change over time. We describe new research aimed at understanding the destruction of moai (statues) on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Our first goal is to build a...
Iconographic Depictions of Spear-Thrower Use in the Ancient Andes (2018)
Spear-thrower devices held a role around the world as a primary weapon and tool before slowly falling out of favor in certain areas for other projectile weapons. While it is widely accepted that spear-throwers were used by the people of the ancient central Andes, comparatively little research has gone into the role that they had as weapons of war, hunting tools, and objects of ceremonial reverence. Many Andean societies have rich traditions of art and iconography, often portraying human and...
Iconographic Evidence for Altered States of Consciousness in Andean Cupisnique Visual Culture (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Magic, Spirits, Shamanism, and Trance" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Although a shamanic component has long been recognized in Andean Formative cultures, recent research on Cupisnique (ca. 1200–900 BCE) ceramic iconography yields evidence for more varied, more prevalent, and much more far-reaching use of therapeutic and entheogenic substances during the early phases of Andean prehistory than has been previously...
Iconographic, Technological, and Contextual Analysis of Wari Pyro-Engraved Gourds from Castillo de Huarmey, Peru (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Decade of Multidisciplinary Research at Castillo de Huarmey, Peru" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The technological, stylistic, and iconographical aspects of decorated gourds are yet insufficiently addressed by researchers of precolumbian Andean art. This paper investigates Wari pyro-engraved gourd vessels that have been discovered during the excavation process at Castillo de Huarmey since 2013. The archaeological...
Identification of Bilateral Congenital Radioulnar Synostosis in an Early Horizon Burial from the Site of Atalla, Peru (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bioarchaeological research can help trace the development and distribution of rare pathologies across space and time, aiding in our understanding of how past peoples experienced and made sense of a variety of conditions and diseases. Congenital radioulnar synostosis (CRUS), a developmental condition resulting in fusion of the proximal radius and ulna, is one...
Identification of Mitochondrial Haplogroups in Native Mexican and Mestizo Populations (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Currently in Mexico there are around 68 ethnic groups, grouped into 11 linguistic families, representing 15% of the Mexican population. The mitogenome (mtDNA) has allowed us to make inferences about the history of and relationships between these populations. However, the evaluation of the mitochondrial genetic structure in the Mexican population has...
Identifying Past Vegetation Dynamics in Xingu Indigenous Territory Using Soil Phytolith Analysis (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeology in the Xingu River Basin: Long-Term Histories, Current Threats, and Future Perspectives" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents the preliminary hypotheses of a soil sampling programme aimed at mapping precolumbian and historic vegetation dynamics in the Xingu Indigenous Territory (TIX), Brazil. Research carried out with the Kuikuro during the last three decades has resulted in the archaeology...
Identifying Strategies of Integration and Cooperation during the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1480) at Sangayaico, South-Central Andes, Peru (2018)
The Late Intermediate Period (LIP) in the highlands of the Central Peruvian Andes was characterized by a marked intensification in economic specialization. In contrast to the preceding periods, in which mixed agro-pastoral groups appear to have dominated highland Peru, many LIP populations seem to have adopted increasingly specialized pastoral or agricultural strategies. This increased economic specialization would likely have fostered inter-group cooperation, as subsistence generally required...
Identifying Use and Consumption Patterns through a Quantitative, Qualitative, and Comparative Analysis of Mollusks at Huaca Menocucho, Moche Valley Peru (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations at Huaca Menocucho in the Moche Valley, Peru, revealed occupation sequences from the Initial period to the Middle Horizon with large amounts of malacological remains. Quantitative, qualitative, and comparative analyses are being conducted to interpret the role of gastropods, bivalves, and other mollusks at the site. A quantitative analysis will...
Identity and Offerings in the Southern Peruvian Andes: A comparative study of the painted tablets and discs tradition of the Arequipa region, Southern Peru (2017)
Inka and Spanish imperial projects in the Andes frequently targeted local beliefs and ritual practices, albeit in dissimilar ways. Understanding the effects of imperial projects is not possible without a clear sense of the local ritual landscape and its (in)compatibility with state religions and other practices spread across state networks. The painted tablet and disc tradition of the Arequipa region in the Southern Peruvian Andes offers a particular case for studying local and regional rituals...