Evidence of Seaweed Use by Coastal Communities of the Atacama Desert Coast, South America

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeophycology: New (Ethno)Archaeological Approaches to Understand the Contribution of Seaweed to the Subsistence and Social Life of Coastal Populations" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Seaweeds have been part of the daily life of coastal populations worldwide. Despite the wide range of species and human uses, seaweeds have been under-researched in the human sciences and historical ecology compared to other marine resources. The archaeological record of seaweed is scarce because of preservation biases and the lack of specific studies. On the Pacific coast of South America, algae macroremains have been recorded in archaeological sites along the Peruvian and Chilean coasts from 14,000 years cal BP onward, although the evidence is scattered and lacks systematization. This work provides a synthesis of the archaeological record of the Atacama Desert to evaluate the long-term uses of these resources for coastal populations. The outstanding preservation conditions of organic remains in this coastal desert provide direct evidence of two genera of kelp-type seaweed (Lessonia and Macrocystis) in several archaeological contexts. These data suggest the uses of kelp as raw material for cordage, personal objects, mortuary offerings, mummification of human bodies, fuel, and possibly as mortars for architectural purposes. We discuss this evidence with ethnographic data of seaweed uses in the Atacama Desert, to visualize the historical importance of these resources for the coastal populations of South America's Pacific coast.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeophycology: New (Ethno)Archaeological Approaches to Understand the Contribution of Seaweed to the Subsistence and Social Life of Coastal Populations   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39083.0