The Implications of Amaranthaceae Cultivars at the Tiwanaku Site of Cerro San Antonio, Locumba, Perú

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Tiwanaku civilization (ca. A.D. 500-1100) originated in the Bolivian Altiplano (3800 masl) of the south-central Andes and grew frost-resistant crops, such as quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus), and potatoes (Solanum tuberosum). Throughout the Middle Horizon (A.D. 600-1100), the Tiwanaku expanded into Peruvian coastal valleys (~900 to 2500 masl), like the Locumba Valley, which are areas suitable for growing maize (Zea mays). The Tiwanaku valued maize because it could be brewed into chicha, an alcoholic beverage significant in ritual activities and feasts (Goldstein 2005). Because maize explains Tiwanaku expansion, dietary investigations at Tiwanaku colonial sites (Somerville et al. 2015) largely focus on maize. To broaden their focus beyond maize, this paper encourages archaeologists to include paleoethnobotanical (PEB) studies in their food-related investigations. This paper presents preliminary PEB findings from samples excavated from multiple household units at the large Tiwanaku residential site of Cerro San Antonio (L1), Locumba, Peru. Interestingly, PEB analyses highlight the importance of Amaranthaceae cultivars at L1, which are crops native to the Andes. The high concentrations of Amaranthaceae seeds at L1 continue to support the narrative of Tiwanaku expansion and suggest that the Tiwanaku colonists maintained strong connections to their homeland in the Altiplano.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33025