Stable Isotope Analysis (δ13C/δ15N) of Archaeological Feathers from Corral Redondo, Arequipa, Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Feathercrafts were vital to prestige economies of the ancient Americas. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms and sources of feathered textile production can illuminate the nature of the trade networks that supported elite socioeconomic pursuits. In the 1940s, local farmers discovered an unprecedented cache of feathered textile panels wrapped in Wari-style face-neck jars in the mining village of La Victoria, Arequipa, Peru. The panels, most of which are conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are constructed of Amazon blue and yellow macaw feathers, camelid fiber yarn, and woven cotton backing. They are well-known for being some of the largest intact archaeological featherworks ever recovered and appear to be products of the Wari Empire (ca. 600 – 1000 CE). However, we still do not understand where these exotic feathers were procured from and why they were deposited in this seemingly remote location. Paleodietary analysis of the feather, yarn, and backing elements (n = 25) indicates incredibly diverse diets for the three classes of organisms composited together in these enormous pieces. This suggests that crafters tapped into trade networks that ranged from the Central Andean coast, the highlands, the eastern slopes, and well into the Amazon basin, at least by the Middle Horizon.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37616.0