Plant Use in the Platform-Chamber Complex: A Paleoethnobotanical Study of Structure 1 at Alto Pukara, Taraco Peninsula, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

Summary

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

The site of Alto Pukara is located on the Bolivian Altiplano near Lake Titicaca. It dates to the Middle Formative, a period which whitnessed the emergence of settlements, craft specialization, and hierarchical political development in the region. Excavations by Robin Beck in 2000 and 2001 uncovered two structures, which were identified as part of a platform-chamber complex constructed as a split-level platform. These were interpreted as belonging to two “houses” or extended family units—each structure was a ceremonial representation of one of these houses that tie the inhabitants with their ancestors this reinforcing the social order. During the excavations, sediment samples intended for the recovery of plant remains were systematically collected. In this poster presentation, I reconstruct the activities that took place within one of the structures by analyzing plant remains associated with its depositional history. This paleoethnobotanical approach reveals how the structure was used as part of daily life as well as the structure’s symbolic and social significance to the residents of Alto Pukara.

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): 33175