South America (Geographic Keyword)
476-500 (1,291 Records)
Among Ruth Gruhn’s remarkable archaeological accomplishments has been the investigation of the first truly high-elevation Paleoindian sites discovered in the Americas. The open-air camps of Los Tapiales and La Piedra del Coyote in the Guatemalan highlands, located respectively at 3150 and 3300 meters above sea level, contained fluted Fishtail projectile points and rich, diverse tool and flake assemblages. Importantly, both sites were securely dated to ~12,500 cal BP, indicating early use of...
From Maps to Lives: Participatory Archaeology and the Fate of the Amazon in the Digital Age. (2016)
The collaborative turn in archaeology has had important impacts on Amazonian research over the past several decades. It uses participatory research strategies and public archaeology to promote inclusive research partnerships. One aspect of collaboration that is still seldom addressed is the use of digital technology in archaeological analysis and dissemination. The Xingu project, which included local digital documentation and video and a long-standing project of archaeological GPS mapping and...
From Roads to Ritual: Comparing Logics and Scale of GIS Analyses of Inka Imperial Landscapes (2017)
During their expansion throughout the Andes, the Inka Empire restructured a cultural and physical landscape to meet objectives of logistical and ideological control over their subjects. While this process is embodied by archaeological features such as large-scale infrastructure and the strategic positioning of sacred places, interpreting these datasets require appropriately scaled analyses for which GIS is uniquely suited. In this paper, I explore this topic by comparing two geospatial analyses,...
From the first to the last terras pretas: changes in cultural behaviour and terra preta formation in the Upper Madeira river, SW Amazonia (2017)
Terras pretas (TPs) are arguably the most visible and widespread artefacts of pre-Colonial occupations in Amazonia. Accumulated as the result of waste management practices by at least partly-sedentary populations, they are seen to mark the beginnings of landscape domestication and more agricultural-based societies starting ca. 3000 BP. On the bluffs of the Upper Madeira river, exceptionally early TP deposits were found dating more than 3000 years before TP sites in the rest of the basin. While...
From the sky to the Andes: intersection between traditional survey and satellite multispectral analysis (2017)
In recent years, the use of multispectral imagery has become increasingly important in archaeological research, site detection, and classification of site functions. As the use of these images becomes more common, we must test their accuracy in order to assess their utility and potential problems with their uncritical application. In this presentation we examine the advantages and limitations of using multispectral imagery as a general survey tool. First, we use multispectral imagery from the...
From Trash Pile to Temple Wall: The distribution of Formative Period sherds in adobes at the Omo M10A Tiwanaku temple (2015)
This project addresses site formation and construction processes in the Omo M10A provincial Tiwanaku temple in the Osmore drainage of southern Peru (ca. AD 500-1100). We will test the hypothesis that this structure was constructed using adobes made from soil deposits containing cultural materials from local, Formative Period Huaracane occupations (ca. 1750 BC–AD 600). This will be done by detailing the manufacture of Tiwanaku adobe bricks and charting the association of Huaracane style ceramic...
Frontier, Inka craft production and the Kallawaya territory (2015)
In this paper I will evaluate the nature of Inka specialized craft production in the province of Kallawaya, and the ways in which the manufacture and distribution of imperial pottery was an avenue to enhance status. I have two goals in this presentation. First, using archaeological and ethohistoric data, I will assess the nature of production in the ceramic workshop of Milliraya and the role of specialized mitmaqkuna colonies in such processes. Second, I will illuminate the ways in which the...
Funerary Bundles from the Storeroom: Conservation Choices and Research Opportunities in Alejandro Pezzia’s Salvage Collections. (2016)
Until recently, most textile collections from Peru’s Middle Horizon were the product of looting operations. Fine tunics and headdress elements abound in museum collections, but their relationship to a deceased individual and full textile assemblage is unknown. As a result, items classified as “Wari” have been disconnected from the complex social identities and relationships that they once influenced in life, or reconfigured after death. Several mortuary contexts with unknown provenience have...
Galindo: a Study in Cultural Transition During the Middle Horizon. In Chan Chan: Andean Desert City (1982)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Gallinazo Maize from the Chicama Valley, Peru (1980)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Gardens and Forking Paths: A Genealogy of Landscape and Subject Formation in the Zaña Valley, Peru (2015)
Recent archaeological research has called attention to the performative dimensions of imperial built environments, shedding new light on how regimes and subjects emerge (and persist) in acts of place-making, urban planning, and monumental construction. However, our focus on clarifying the semiotics of imperial architecture has drawn attention away from longer-term process of subjectification and elided the role that landscapes play within them. The study of landscapes in Peru's Zaña valley...
Gastrointestinal parasites of the camelids of the archaeological site of Huanchaquito (Peru): first results. (2017)
The health status of domestic’s camelids is an original research topic in the past Central Andes. The discovery of more than 200 well preserved camelids in Huanchaquito in the northern coast of Peru was the opportunity to perform paleoparasitological analyses on twenty samples taken from preserved intestines and faeces recovered during the excavations. Extractions of the parasites using RHM standard protocol raised to the observation in 55% of the samples of several helminth taxa belonging to...
Gender, Class and Textile Production: An Analysis of Casma Spindle Whorls from El Purgatorio, Peru (2016)
Spindle whorls have historically been subjected to less archaeological attention than other artifact classes. This dearth of analysis may reflect an underestimation of the insights to be gained from spindle whorls, in terms of archaeological interpretations of gender, status, and exchange patterns, which may be much greater than previously acknowledged. The case study presented here examines a sample of spindle whorls from the Casma capital city of El Purgatorio, Peru. We examine their...
The Gendering of Children at Chiribaya Alta (2017)
At the site of Chiribaya Alta (900-1350 AD), located in the Osmore Valley of southern Peru, certain Chiribaya grave goods are associated with either adult males or females. For example, females are often buried with weaving tools, and males with musical instruments. It is not possible to estimate the biological sex of children from their skeletal remains. Therefore, children are often excluded from studies addressing gender identities. Here, we use grave goods known to be associated with sexed...
Genealogy, Solidarity and Relatedness: Limits To Local Group Size and Patterns of Fissioning in an Expanding Population (1975)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
General Resources from the Long Term Vulnerability and Transformation Project
Long-Term Coupled Socioecological Change in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico: Each generation transforms an inherited social and environmental world and leaves it as a legacy to succeeding generations. Long-term interactions among social and ecological processes give rise to complex dynamics on multiple temporal and spatial scales – cycles of change followed by relative stasis, followed by change. Within the cycles are understandable patterns and irreducible uncertainties; neither...
Genetic Structure of a Tribal Population: the Yaonmamo Indians (1974)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Geoarchaeological approaches: Assessing the formation and preservation of a Late Pleistocene Drowned terrestrial site on the Pacific coast of South America (Chile) (2015)
GNL Quintero 1 (GNLQ1) is a Late Pleistocene paleontological submerged site located in Quintero Bay (32º46’S), ~50 km north of Valparaíso, on the Pacific coast of Central Chile. We describe the geoarchaeological approach applied by combining geomorphological, bathymetrical, sedimentological and paleontological data with a digital simulation model. The resulting evidence indicates that the unit containing the extinct bone assemblage (Unit 2) was deposited in a low-energy fluvial sedimentary...
Geochemical Characterization and Archaeological Utilization of the Cerro Kaskio Obsidian Source in Southwestern Bolivia (2017)
Obsidian is not only an excellent raw material for the manufacture of stone tools but because of its compositional homogeneity, it can also be related to specific geographic sources. The geochemical characterization of obsidian sources can help to determine the geographic origin of different stone tools as well as aid to infer patterns of resource utilization and exchange. Although some of the most important obsidian sources in the Andes have been identified and adequately characterized, many...
A Geochemical Database for Indigeneous Ceramics from South America (2017)
The indigenous peoples of South America have been producing pottery for more than 7,500 years. Pottery was made into vessels for the cooking and storage of foods, funerary urns, toys, sculptures, and a wide range of art forms. Due to the regional differences in the composition of raw materials used to manufacture and decorate pottery, geochemical investigations of pottery have proven successful for studying trade and exchange, changes in technology, provenance, etc. Some of the methods used to...
Geochemical Evidence for Pigment Sources from El Purgatorio, Peru (2016)
Portable X-ray fluorescence was used to analyze raw pigments as well as paints on ceramics and adobes found at El Purgatorio, the capital city of the Casma state. This analysis showed that, in addition to the common red ochre found in the area, cinnabar was also present. This mercurial compound has a distinctive fluorescence and is not common to area, supporting Casma participation in long distance exchange networks. Further analyses showed manganese present in black paints and calcium in the...
Geographic origin of sacrificed camelids at Huanchaquito (Chimú period, northern coast of Peru): insight from stable isotopic analysis (2017)
Excavations at the Chimú site of Huanchaquito located in the Moche Valley (northern coast of Peru) leaded to the discovery of an exceptional sacrificial deposit of more than 200 domestic camelid skeletons. This finding adds to the many testimonies of the presence of camelids on the Peruvian coast during the pre-Hispanic era. The abundant presence of animals suggests - but does not bring definitive evidence - that breeding took place locally in an unfavorable arid environment. Measurements of...
The geographical distribution of the Amazonian Dark Earths in the Lower Amazon (2016)
The geographical distribution of the Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) in the Amazon region presents interpretive gaps. Understanding their distribution patterns might reveal the dynamics of indigenous settlements during pre-colonial times, as well as landscape management practices, and chronology. In the Upper Xingu, the distribution of ADE indicates that the smaller satellite villages were interconnected by roads to a larger village center. Santarém and Belterra regions, in the Lower Amazon, ADE...
A geometric morphometric analysis of cranial vault modification in Ancash, Peru (2016)
Cranial vault modification is a cultural practice used throughout much of the Andes and study of body modifications is a powerful tool for understanding group identity, social structure, and status. Different modification types have been found in the prehistoric Ancash region of north-central Peru, although the significance of this practice has yet to be further explored in the area. As cranial modifications are variable by nature, quantitative assessment of different vault shapes allows for the...
Geospatial archaeology and architecture in the Andes (2015)
Emerging geospatial technologies have been applied to archaeological research problems in the Andean region by many researchers and this paper will provide a regional review of these contributions to architectural studies. Aerial remote sensing, both at regional and local scales, geophysical sensing, and mapping technologies like laser scanners and photogrammetry have enabled Andeanists to document architecture and construction features with new precision. Advances in geospatial software has...