Paired radiocarbon dating on bioanthropological and textile samples from the Pica 8 Cemetery (Atacama Desert, northern Chile)

Summary

Pica 8 is an inland cemetery of the Late Intermediate Period (AD 900-1450) in northern Chile. Previous stable isotope studies indicate highly variable dietary contributions of marine and terrestrial foods. However, it is unclear whether this variability is related to change over time or to the presence of groups with different origins. In order to evaluate whether these differences are diachronic or synchronic, radiocarbon dates were carried out on 23 samples. Given the high marine consumption by some individuals (d15N up to 24‰), the dates will be subject to marine reservoir effects. The MRE’s impact along the Pacific coast of northern Chile is significant, but also spatiotemporally variable. Here, we report 9 paired radiocarbon dates on human bone and camelid textiles from the same graves. Five additional human samples were dated to represent the full range of dietary variability based on the stable isotope values. Obtaining these new 23 dates not only helps to better understand the high variability observed in the dietary patterns of Pica 8, but it also contributes to generate a MRE correction for the LIP of northern Chile.

Cite this Record

Paired radiocarbon dating on bioanthropological and textile samples from the Pica 8 Cemetery (Atacama Desert, northern Chile). Francisca Santana Sagredo, Rick Schulting, Julia Lee-Thorp, Carolina Agüero, Mauricio Uribe. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 405154)

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Spatial Coverage

min long: -93.691; min lat: -56.945 ; max long: -31.113; max lat: 18.48 ;