South America (Geographic Keyword)
751-775 (1,325 Records)
The Middle Formative (800-250B.C.) on the Taraco Peninsula was a period of burgeoning status and wealth differentiation that saw the rise of platform mound construction and the intensification of quinoa farming nearby the shores of Lake Titicaca. This paper will present data from a macrobotanical analysis of the site Alto Pukara, a 3.25 hectare village excavated in 2000 and 2001. A thorough examination of the distribution of charred plant remains across all contexts of a single structure will be...
Middle Horizon "local" and "exotic" styles in Castillo de Huarmey and Pachacamac: Menzel’s ideas revised (2017)
Recent excavations at Castillo de Huarmey and Pachacamac leave no doubt that the earliest archaeological contexts associated with Middle Horizon in both sites are related to the second half of that period and coincide with the collapse of two main regional political systems on the Peruvian coast: Moche and Lima, respectively. Both systems, consolidated and politically transformed, have overcome adverse climate conditions of the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. In the case of Castillo de Huarmey...
Migration Waves, Genetic Drift and the Peopling of Fuego-Patagonia (2016)
The colonization of Fuego-Patagonia is filled with questions of origin, timing and migratory routes taken by early colonizers (inland hunter gatherers) and later migrants, the highly-specialized marine populations. Our study compares mitochondrial DNA sequences taken from 20 prehistoric samples (teeth) ranging in age between 7,200 and 1,000 cal yrs BP (before present) to results from 38 modern Patagonians (Kaweskar, Mapuche-Huilliche and Yagan) who participated as part of the Genographic...
The Mineral Heart of Tawantinsuyo: Metal Production, Power and Religiosity in Qollasuyo (2016)
Expansion into the Andean highlands located to the south of Cuzco was a movement of capital importance in the consolidation of the Tawantinsuyu. This southward extension permitted the Incan annexation of important political and religious enclaves, like those located on the shores of Lake Titicaca. That region is identified by various colonial sources as the place of origin of the Incas themselves. However, beyond this, expansion of the empire to the south provided access to the gold, silver, and...
Mineros del Alto Cielo: Social space and materiality during the capitalist expansion in the north of Chile (Ollagüe, 20th century) (2017)
In Chile, the process of modernization, expressed by the expansion of capitalism and industrialization, had many economic and social impacts. Based on sulphur mining camps located in Ollagüe, a commune of the Antofagasta region, we show the importance of modern materiality associated with the development of mining industries in northern Chile during the 20th century. We consider that the modernization process, the industrial ruins and the materiality of the recent past, have generated memory...
The missing middle: New efforts to understand early inter-zonal connections in the Peruvian Central Andes (2016)
In southern Peru our group is investigating a Paleoindian settlement system with linked sites situated in diverse ecological zones and exhibiting vastly different subsistence adaptations. This system encompasses one of the earliest coastal fishing settlements in the Americas and high-elevation hunting sites on the Andean plateau. Determining the nature of this and other early inter-zonal connections in adjacent areas is important for identifying routes used to settle Andean South America, with...
Mitayos and Markets in Colonial Huancavelica (AD 1564-1810) (2016)
Located in the Central Peruvian Andes, Huancavelica was the largest source of mercury in the Western Hemisphere and a critical source of wealth for Spain’s colonial empire. The Spanish administration mobilized labor through the infamous mita, a rotational labor tax that required colonial provinces to send one-seventh of their population to work in the mines. Forced labor in Huancavelica not only exposed these indigenous miners to the horrors of colonial mercury mining, but also brought...
Mitología y tecnología: el hierro en la cosmovisión guayanesa, Venezuela. (2015)
La alusión a la tecnología metalúrgica del hierro en las construcciones narrativas (relatos, mitos) y prácticas rituales es un fenómeno común de muchas sociedades alrededor del mundo. La importacia de esta tecnología se evidencia en los diversos significados otorgados a las etapas del proceso productivo y en las representaciones de deidades o personajes legendarios vinculados a la herrería en los relatos provenientes de África o Europa, pero qué ocurrió en aquellas sociedades en las que el...
Mobility Among Hunter-Gatherers in the Central Andean Highlands During the Early-Middle Holocene: GIS Models from Sr and O isotopic Analyses (2017)
Cuncaicha rock shelter (4480 masl) is one of the highest hunter-gatherer occupation sites found so far in the Americas; it brings new insights about human adaptation to extreme living conditions and subsistence strategies within the Peruvian puna. This research intends to define the possible type of occupation and mobility patterns at the site during the Early and Middle Holocene through Sr and O isotopic analyses in dental enamel of the human individuals and faunal remains found buried in this...
Mobility and Territoriality in the Early Peopling of Central Brazilian Plateau (2016)
The occupation of Central Brazilian Plateau between late Pleistocene and early Holocene seems to have privileged as displacement axies the fluvial valleys of the great perennial rivers that crosscut this region. This proposal is based on the existence of sites with similar characteristics, located at great distances, as the Rio Peruaçu (Minas Gerais state) and the Serra da Capivara (Piauí state), connected to the same hidrografic basin, and presenting same occupation chronologies. Throughout...
Mobility network in El Shincal de Quimivil (Londres, Catamarca, Northwest Argentina) (2017)
The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allows analyzing the space as an integral part of any social phenomenon and produce interdisciplinary explanatory models with quantifiable basis. As it is known, the spatial organization of the incas was scheduled under certain political and religious principles materialized in the landscape through various features such as rocks, water bodies, mountains, celestial bodies, plazas, ushnus, roads and kanchas, among other. In the case of the inca site...
Mobility Strategies between the Atacama Desert and the Lípez Highlands during the Late Pleistocene (2016)
One of the main constraints limiting understanding late Pleistocene archaeology in South America is the lack of compatible and standardized datasets from scholars working in neighboring countries. Here, we present interdisciplinary collaborative work for discussing the nature of human mobility between the Pacific Coast, the Atacama Desert and the Lípez Highlands of Chile and Bolivia at 21° S. In an attempt to identify mobility strategies by human populations occupying these drastically different...
Modern settlement patterns and site preservation in the Middle Moche Valley (2015)
During the July field season of 2014, the authors conducted a survey of sites within the proposed reserves of Ciudad de Dios and Bello Horizonte in the Middle Moche Valley of Peru. GPS data was collected for comparison with previously recorded site boundaries to offer insight into the threat of modern encroachment on archaeological sites. Using GIS and statistical analysis, the authors identified areas of site degradation and loss, categorized each site on a sliding scale of endangerment, and...
Modified Landscapes, Modified Views: Transformations in Brazilian Shell Mound Archaeology (2016)
For many years, normative approaches to shell mound archaeology in Brazil have characterized hunter-gatherer-fisher (HGF) populations as nomadic groups whose mound sites represent accidental accumulations of refuse, despite the fact that almost all contain numerous burials. A shift in perspective, especially regarding the role of aquatic resources, allowed great advances in the understanding of mound-building activities. A dramatic transformation of the southern Brazilian coast by HGF...
Molding in Ceramic Production: Challenging Pervasive Views (2016)
The use of one or more pairs of concave molds has been a major ceramic formation method throughout much of the world. This method has traditionally been seen as a rational solution to efficiently producing a large number of standardized products. This paper questions these views as being overly generalized or untenable in terms of data from excavated ceramic workshops and examination of products pertaining to Mochica and Sicán cultures on Peru's north coast and to the persistent figurine...
A Molecular Anthropological Re-examination of the Human Remains from La Galgada, Peru (2017)
The archaeological site of La Galgada is located on the eastern bank of the Tablachaca River in the highlands of Northern Peru. The site was dated to both the Preceramic period and Initial period through a combination of detailed archaeological investigation of the site complex, and the use of radiocarbon dating of material collected stratigraphically. Human remains found at the site were also categorized into these two periods based on stratigraphic location. However, recent radiocarbon dating...
Molecular Archaeology in the Central Amazon: paleogenetic and isotopic analyzes of human remains from Hatahara (2016)
This study examines early population dynamics and ecology at Hatahara, an approximately 1500-year-old archaeological site in the Brazilian Central Amazon. Due to poor preservation of pre-Columbian human remains, little is known about the genetic make-up and diversity of this region before European contact. In contrast to other regions of South America and especially the Central Andes, this underrepresentation of human paleobiological data inhibits our potential to fully reconstruct Native South...
Molle and its relationship with the Qhapaq Ñan (2016)
Molle is a prehispanic settlement located the Lurin Valley, central coast of Peru. Preliminary data indicates that it was primarily occupied during the Late Intermediate Period and the Late Horizon. During excavations performed in the years 2014 and 2015 we were able to determine that one of the major sections of the Inca road system or Qhapa Ñan, the one connecting Pachacamac to the administrative center of Hatun Xauxa, runs across this site. In this paper we will discuss the role that Molle...
Morphological Signatures of High-Altitude Adaptations in the Andean Archaeological Record and the Challenges of Distinguishing Developmental Plasticity from Genetic Adaptations (2016)
High-altitude hypoxia, cold ambient temperatures, and malnutrition are critical environmental stressors affecting living human populations in the highland Andes. Decades of scholarship in human biology explain the complex physiological responses that provide adaptive fitness to living human groups at high altitudes through both developmental acclimatization, in which the human body adjusts to environmental stress during growth, and genetic adaptations from natural selection. Given the longevity...
Morphology and Culture among the Middle and Late Intermediate Period inhabitants of Catarpe (San Pedro de Atacama, Chile) (2015)
Catarpe tambo represents one of the clearest pieces of evidence for an Inca presence in north Chile’s Atacama oases. The tambo was built and used north of the oases, in the San Pedro river canyon. Catarpe was chosen by the Incas as the local administrative center, however the valley was already densely occupied since at least the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000-1400). Here, we study morphological affinities and the distribution of cranial vault modification among over 300 individuals from the...
Mortuary analysis of juvenile burials in the sacristy of a Spanish colonial reducción in the southern highlands of Peru (2017)
Mortuary practices at Spanish colonial sites in Latin America varied in terms of burial location, style of burial, and associated grave goods. Understanding burial practices is one way to investigate shifting identities, conversion to Catholicism, and the degree of control over and involvement of priests in daily life at colonial sites. The mortuary practices at the reducción (planned colonial town) of Santa Cruz de Tuti (today known as Mawchu Llacta, Colca Valley, Peru) reveal nuanced insights...
Mortuary variability and chronology of the cliff tombs of La Petaca (2015)
The Chachapoya of the eastern Peruvian highlands utilized various methods for disposing of their dead, but almost all involve highly visible spaces. While some regional variation is found among what are typically considered Chachapoya mortuary spaces, there is evidence for social cohesion within each site. While few mortuary complexes of the Chachapoya have been excavated, La Petaca provides the opportunity to scientifically study intrasite variation. On only half of the ...
Movement and Vision: Reconstruction and Analysis of a Multi-Occupation Fortified Site Complex in the Moche Valley (2017)
This poster reports the results of non-invasive field prospection using aerial drone photogrammetry to map and reconstruct surface architecture at two multi-occupation archaeological sites in the Moche Valley of Peru. Sites MV-42 and MV-49 (Puente Serrano) make up a fortified and possibly ceremonial center complex located in the middle valley. The sites were occupied contiguously during the Salinar, Gallinazo, and Early Moche phases (EIP; 400 B.C.-A.D. 400), with a later re-occupation by the...
Moving Places: The Creation of Quilcapama (2016)
During the Middle Horizon (AD 650-1050), the site of Quilcapampa la Antiqua in the Sihuas Valley of southern Peru grew from a small village into a major political center. This chapter considers how the growth of Quilcapampa was linked in part to the experiences of people passing through this location. Drawing on Alfred Gell’s idea of “technologies of enchantment”, we examine how the site’s associated geoglyphs, petroglyphs, and pathways marked and gave meaning to a place already ritually charged...
Moving the Animal: Camelid Herding on the North Coast of Peru and the Temporalities of Human-Animal Interactions during the Moche Period (2016)
The north coast of Peru during the Middle Horizon Period witnessed a shift in the way that people, things and animals moved across the landscape. The often fragmented polities that formed the occupation sites for communities engaged in Moche ideology and politics were also associated with trade and interregional interaction on a different scale. The role of animals in this exchange is often overlooked and taken for granted. Camelids (alpacas and llamas) were the conduits of mobility within the...