Paleoethnobotanical Analysis at Huaca del Loro: Initial Findings and Interpretations

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Almost 100 Years since Julio C. Tello: Research at Huaca del Loro, Nasca, Peru" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeobotanical data have the ability to speak to myriad issues of human-environment interactions as well as social institutions within societies. Here, I present the initial findings from my analysis of paleoethnobotanical remains at the site of Huaca del Loro, a Wari-affiliated site located in the Nazca region of coastal Peru. I will focus my presentation on the suite of macrobotanical remains recovered during the 2022 excavations to interpret broader social and environmental interactions that took place during the occupation of the site. I then place these patterns within broader regional and temporal context. The identified plant remains speak to the importance of agriculture and the cultivation of food and medicinal plants of the region to Wari-affiliated residents. Furthermore, there is ample evidence for the continuation of markedly local environmental management strategies of the Nazca region in the face of Wari incursion. The continued importance of key native species at the site speaks to the relationship between Wari and local peoples and the importance of the environment in colonial entanglements.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Almost 100 Years since Julio C. Tello: Research at Huaca del Loro, Nasca, Peru   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36650.0