Residues analysis of bedrock mortars of the Limarí river valley (IVth region, Chile): evaluating plant exploitation among Late Holocene hunter gatherers

Summary

For an integral understanding of bedrock mortars, as a product and producer of social practices, we have carried out research in the Limarí River valley (Chile) (Fondecyt Grant N°1150776). One dimension of this research was directed to answer the following questions: were these cupules used to grind plants? And if so, what plant resources were used by these hunter gatherer groups? Do these include cultivate domesticated plants? And how does it relate to the association "initial pottery/horticultural practices" in the area. In an initial analysis we confirmed the grinding of local wild plants in 5 sites in the area y the presence of starch grain of Zea mays in one site. Now we shall extend the morphological and residue analysis of the cupules of a total of 10 bedmortar sites. This consists in the recovery and identification of microfossil evidence in use residues of the cupules, plus the registration of the morphological attributes of the cupules. The objective is to reach a better comprehension of late Holocene hunter gatherer groups of this area, and have an insight of their plant exploitation strategies, referred to the use of wild plants and the possibility evaluating the use of domesticated plants.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16015