scholarly journals Pre-Columbian transregional captive rearing of Amazonian parrots in the Atacama Desert

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (15) ◽  
pp. e2020020118
Author(s):  
José M. Capriles ◽  
Calogero M. Santoro ◽  
Richard J. George ◽  
Eliana Flores Bedregal ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Exchange Networks ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Ara Macao ◽  
Bird Guano ◽  
Captive Rearing

The feathers of tropical birds were one of the most significant symbols of economic, social, and sacred status in the pre-Columbian Americas. In the Andes, finely produced clothing and textiles containing multicolored feathers of tropical parrots materialized power, prestige, and distinction and were particularly prized by political and religious elites. Here we report 27 complete or partial remains of macaws and amazon parrots from five archaeological sites in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile to improve our understanding of their taxonomic identity, chronology, cultural context, and mechanisms of acquisition. We conducted a multiproxy archaeometric study that included zooarchaeological analysis, isotopic dietary reconstruction, accelerated mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating, and paleogenomic analysis. The results reveal that during the Late Intermediate Period (1100 to 1450 CE), Atacama oasis communities acquired scarlet macaws (Ara macao) and at least five additional translocated parrot species through vast exchange networks that extended more than 500 km toward the eastern Amazonian tropics. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes indicate that Atacama aviculturalists sustained these birds on diets rich in marine bird guano-fertilized maize-based foods. The captive rearing of these colorful, exotic, and charismatic birds served to unambiguously signal relational wealth in a context of emergent intercommunity competition.

Paired Radiocarbon Dating on Human Samples and Camelid Fibers and Textiles from Northern Chile: The Case of Pica 8 (Tarapacá)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 1195-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Santana-Sagredo ◽  
Rick Schulting ◽  
Julia Lee-Thorp ◽  
Carolina Agüero ◽  
Mauricio Uribe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
High Variability ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Northern Chile ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Bird Guano

AbstractPica 8 is a Late Intermediate Period (AD 900–1450) cemetery located in the Atacama Desert. Burials at the site present unexpectedly high variability in δ13C (–8‰ to –16‰) and δ15N (10‰ to 24‰) values in their skeletal tissues, implying highly diverse diets. There are two possible explanations for this variability: the first is diachronic change in diet while the second involves synchronic sociocultural distinctions. To distinguish between them a radiocarbon (14C) dating program (n=23) was initiated. The presumed importance of marine foods adds the complication of a marine reservoir effect. To address this problem, paired 14C dates were obtained on human bone and camelid textiles from nine graves. The results fall into two groups, one showing an average offset of 117±9 14C yr, and the other no statistically significant offsets. We conclude that the contribution of marine foods to bone collagen at Pica 8 was less than previously supposed. Other factors must be invoked to account for the unusually high human δ15N values at the site. Manuring crops with sea-bird guano emerges as a probable explanation. No relationship with chronology is seen implying the presence of considerable diversity in diets and hence lifeways within the Pica 8 community.

scholarly journals Fishing during the early human occupations of the Atacama Desert coast: what if we standardize the data?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Rebolledo ◽  
Philippe Béarez ◽  
Débora Zurro
Keyword(s):  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Exploratory Approach ◽  
Data Heterogeneity ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Early Human

Abstract The Atacama Desert coast (18–30° S) presents one of the earliest chronologies in the South America region, whose first occupations date from ~ 13,000 cal BP. Since that time, coastal and marine resources have been a common component at sites along the littoral zone. Fish species have been particularly important, as have the fishing technologies developed and used by the coastal communities. However, even though several archaeological sites have been studied, there is no systematic macro-regional analysis of early fisheries along the Atacama Desert coast. Furthermore, differences in theoretical and methodological approaches, as well as research objectives, hinder comparisons between ichthyoarchaeological assemblages. Here, we present a comparative analysis of the Atacama Desert fish data obtained from publications and gray literature from ten archaeological sites dating from the Terminal Pleistocene to the Early Holocene. Through the standardization of contextual and ichthyoarchaeological information, we compared data using NISP, MNI, and weight to calculate fish density, richness, and ubiquity, in order to identify similarities and differences between assemblages. This exploratory approach aims to contribute to studies of fish consumption in the area, as well as proposing new methodological questions and solutions regarding data heterogeneity in archaeozoology.

Singa Transitional: Rock-art Saywas Marking Boundaries of Identity and Socializing Landscape in Huánuco, Peru

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-263
Author(s):  
Jonathan J. Dubois
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Regional Survey ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Social Trends ◽  
The North ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Early Horizon ◽  
Landscape Feature

This paper introduces a new art style, Singa Transitional, found painted onto a mountainside near the modern town of Singa in the north of Huánuco, Peru. This style was discovered during a recent regional survey of rock art in the Huánuco region that resulted in the documentation of paintings at more than 20 sites, the identification of their chronological contexts and an analysis of the resulting data for trends in changing social practices over nine millennia. I explore how the style emerged from both regional artistic trends in the medium and broader patterns evident in Andean material culture from multiple media at the time of its creation. I argue that the presence of Singa Transitional demonstrates that local peoples were engaged in broader social trends unfolding during the transition between the Early Horizon (800–200 bc) and the Early Intermediate Period (ad 0–800) in Peru. I propose that rock art placed in prominent places was considered saywa, a type of landscape feature that marked boundaries in and movement through landscapes. Singa Transitional saywas served to advertise the connection between local Andean people and their land and was a medium through which social changes were contested in the Andes.

Mortuary Practices and Human Sacrifice in the Middle Chao Valley of Peru: Their Interpretation in the Context of Andean Mortuary Patterning

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Gaither ◽  
Jonathan Kent ◽  
Víctor Vásquez Sánchez ◽  
Teresa Rosales Tham
Keyword(s):  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Temporal Continuity

Investigations at several northern Peruvian coastal archaeological sites by archaeologists and physical anthropologists are beginning to provide details on long-term patterning of mortuary behavior. Some of these patterns include retainer sacrifice, child sacrifice, and the metaphorical principle we refer to as “like with like.” In this paper, we discuss the data relating to these mortuary patterns discovered at the site of Santa Rita B in the middle Chao Valley. Examples of each of the patterns presented are evident at the site. These include at least three child sacrifices and one adult sacrifice. The sacrifices appear to be retainer sacrifices, defined as sacrifices intended to accompany a deceased principal personage in the afterlife. The inclusion of the child sacrifices with a subadult principal burial is part of the “like with like” pattern seen here and at other Andean sites. Dating to the start of the Late Intermediate period (ca. A.D. 1100–1300), these finds are compared to other north coastal sites, both earlier and later, and the extent of temporal continuity in these patterns is discussed.

Dietary diversity in the Atacama desert during the Late intermediate period of northern Chile

2019 ◽  
Vol 214 ◽  
pp. 54-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta P. Alfonso-Durruty ◽  
Eugenia M. Gayo ◽  
Vivien Standen ◽  
Victoria Castro ◽  
Claudio Latorre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Northern Chile ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period

Paleowetlands and regional climate change in the central Atacama Desert, northern chile

2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (03) ◽  
pp. 343-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Quade ◽  
Jason A. Rech ◽  
Julio L. Betancourt ◽  
Claudio Latorre ◽  
Barbra Quade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regional Climate ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Western Slope ◽  
South American ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Water Tables ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
North And South

Widespread, organic-rich diatomaceous deposits are evidence for formerly wetter times along the margins of the central Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth today. We mapped and dated these paleowetland deposits at three presently waterless locations near Salar de Punta Negra (24.5°S) on the western slope of the Andes. Elevated groundwater levels supported phreatic discharge into wetlands during two periods: 15,900 to ~ 13,800 and 12,700 to ~ 9700 cal yr BP. Dense concentrations of lithic artifacts testify to the presence of paleoindians around the wetlands late in the second wet phase (11,000?–9700 cal yr BP). Water tables dropped below the surface before 15,900 and since 8100 cal yr BP, and briefly between ~ 13,800 and 12,700 cal yr BP. This temporal pattern is repeated, with some slight differences, in rodent middens from the study area, in both paleowetland and rodent midden deposits north and south of the study area, and in lake level fluctuations on the adjacent Bolivian Altiplano. The regional synchroneity of these changes points to a strengthening of the South American Monsoon — which we term the "Central Andean Pluvial Event" — in two distinct intervals (15,900–13,800 and 12,700–9700 cal yr BP), probably induced by steepened SST gradients across the tropical Pacific (i.e., La Niña-like conditions).

How the recently discovered grit crust shapes the Atacama Desert – Combining environmental studies on cryptogams and remote sensing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Jung ◽  
Lukas Lehnert ◽  
Michael Lakatos ◽  
Michael Schermer ◽  
Karen Baumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Photosynthetic Activity ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Soil Community ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Remote Sensing Technology ◽  
Sensing Technology ◽  
Coastal Belt

<p>The Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar desert on Earth, presenting precarious conditions for biological activity. In the arid coastal belt, life is restricted to areas with fog events that cause almost daily wet-dry cycles. In such an area, we discovered a hitherto unknown and unique ground covering biocoenosis dominated by lichens, fungi and algae attached to grit-sized quartz- and granitoid stones (grit crust). In contrast to previously known CGC from arid environments to which frequent cyclic wetting events are lethal, here every fog event is answered by photosynthetic activity of the soil community and thus considered as the desert’s breath. Photosynthesis of the new CGC-type is activated by the lowest amount of water known for such a community worldwide thus enabling the unique biocoenosis to fulfill a variety of ecosystem services such as protection against soil erosion and contributions to accumulation of soil carbon and nitrogen and soil formation through bio-weathering. Using state-of-the-art remote sensing technology, we estimate the total cover of the grit crust and show that the newly discovered organisms cover large areas along the coastal belt of the Atacama Desert.</p>

Ch’arki at Chavín: Ethnographic Models and Archaeological Data

2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R. Miller ◽  
Richard L. Burger
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Salient Points

We welcome Valdez"s recent contributions to the developing corpus of ethnographic observations concerning the production and use of Ch’arki in the Andes and to our understanding of the interpretative value of differential camelid bone concentrations in Andean archaeological sites. The numerous issues raised by Valdez would require more space than is available in this forum to adequately address them. What we will present here can only hope to outline the most salient points of contention and encourage further investigations into these problems.

scholarly journals A First Report of Variscite Tairona Artifacts (A.D. 1100-1600) from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, and Its Implications for Precolumbian exchange Networks in the Region

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Acevedo ◽  
Marion Weber ◽  
Antonio García-Casco ◽  
Joaquín Antonio Proenza ◽  
Juanita Sáenz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Spectroscopy Analysis ◽  
Exchange Networks ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Ancient Trade ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Provenance Data ◽  
Southern Caribbean

AbstractArchaeometric analyses (Raman Spectroscopy Analysis, X-Ray Diffraction, and Electron Microprobe Analysis) of greenstone beads of the precolumbian Tairona culture (A.D. 1100–1600) of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, have revealed that they are made of variscite-group minerals. These beads were curated at the Museo del Oro, Bogotá, and the Archaeology Laboratory of the Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla. Variscite minerals of the variscite-strengite series are rare in nature, and therefore provenance data of source material are useful for the development of intercultural influence models. The abundance of this rare material in prehistoric Colombian collections strongly indicates not only that this material had important symbolic and prestige value for ancient Tairona societies (Nahuange and Tairona periods) but also that these societies participated in ancient trade routes, including, at least, the Andes of present-day Colombia and Venezuela, and the southern Caribbean coast.

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