Quinoa, potatoes, and llamas fueled emergent social complexity in the Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andes

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (49) ◽  
pp. e2113395118
Author(s):  
Melanie J. Miller ◽  
Iain Kendall ◽  
José M. Capriles ◽  
Maria C. Bruno ◽  
Richard P. Evershed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin

The Lake Titicaca basin was one of the major centers for cultural development in the ancient world. This lacustrine environment is unique in the high, dry Andean altiplano, and its aquatic and terrestrial resources are thought to have contributed to the florescence of complex societies in this region. Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what extent local aquatic resources, particularly fish, and the introduced crop, maize, which can be grown in regions along the lakeshores, contributed to facilitating sustained food production and population growth, which underpinned increasing social political complexity starting in the Formative Period (1400 BCE to 500 CE) and culminating with the Tiwanaku state (500 to 1100 CE). Here, we present direct dietary evidence from stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains spanning over two millennia, together with faunal and floral reference materials, to reconstruct foodways and ecological interactions in southern Lake Titicaca over time. Bulk stable isotope analysis, coupled with compound-specific amino acid stable isotope analysis, allows better discrimination between resources consumed across aquatic and terrestrial environments. Together, this evidence demonstrates that human diets predominantly relied on C3 plants, particularly quinoa and tubers, along with terrestrial animals, notably domestic camelids. Surprisingly, fish were not a significant source of animal protein, but a slight increase in C4 plant consumption verifies the increasing importance of maize in the Middle Horizon. These results underscore the primary role of local terrestrial food resources in securing a nutritious diet that allowed for sustained population growth, even in the face of documented climate and political change across these periods.

scholarly journals Temporal Inflection Points in Decorated Pottery: A Bayesian Refinement of the Late Formative Chronology in the Southern Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 798-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik J. Marsh ◽  
Andrew P. Roddick ◽  
Maria C. Bruno ◽  
Scott C. Smith ◽  
John W. Janusek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
South American ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Large Sets ◽  
Inflection Points ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin ◽  
Ceramic Chronology ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequences

The Late Formative period immediately precedes the emergence of Tiwanaku, one of the earliest South American states, yet it is one of the most poorly understood periods in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin (Bolivia). In this article, we refine the ceramic chronology of this period with large sets of dates from eight sites, focusing on temporal inflection points in decorated ceramic styles. These points, estimated here by Bayesian models, index specific moments of change: (1) cal AD 120 (60–170, 95% probability): the first deposition of Kalasasaya red-rimmed and zonally incised styles; (2) cal AD 240 (190–340, 95% probability): a tentative estimate of the final deposition of Kalasasaya zonally incised vessels; (3) cal AD 420 (380–470, 95% probability): the final deposition of Kalasasaya red-rimmed vessels; and (4) cal AD 590 (500–660, 95% probability): the first deposition of Tiwanaku Redwares. These four modeled boundaries anchor an updated Late Formative chronology, which includes the Initial Late Formative phase, a newly identified decorative hiatus between the Middle and Late Formative periods. The models place Qeya and transitional vessels between inflection points 3 and 4 based on regionally consistent stratigraphic sequences. This more precise chronology will enable researchers to explore the trajectories of other contemporary shifts during this crucial period in Lake Titicaca Basin's prehistory.

Architecture and Polity in the Formative Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin A. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Regional Context ◽  
Regional Approach ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Village Societies ◽  
Public Architecture

Abstract A regional approach to public architecture offers a useful medium through which to study changes in the scale of integrative institutions. Changes in political structure are often associated with changes in the scale and complexity of public ritual space. In Bolivia’s Lake Titicaca Basin, Middle Formative period (800–250 B.C.) villagers along the Taraco Peninsula built earthen platforms that visually dominated their settlements. Until recently, research on the peninsula had focused almost exclusively on the site of Chiripa, with the result that little was known of the regional context in which this site and its neighbors emerged. Now, after excavations at the contemporaneous site of Alto Pukara, the sequence of public architecture at Middle Formative communities may be viewed within a regional context. This paper evaluates the trajectory of institutional complexity along the Taraco Peninsula through a formal comparison of public ritual architecture at Alto Pukara and Chiripa. Six criteria for measuring architectural variation—centrality, permanence, accessibility, visibility, scale, and ubiquity—facilitate this comparison. Only through a regional approach can we understand the integrative role of public space in these early village societies.

scholarly journals Ancient genomes reveal long range influence of the site and culture of Tiwanaku

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danijela Popović ◽  
Martyna Molak ◽  
Mariusz Ziołkowski ◽  
Alexei Vranich ◽  
Maciej Sobczyk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Mixed Ancestry ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Residential Population ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
Low Coverage

AbstractTiwanaku was a civilization that flourished in the Lake Titicaca Basin (present-day Bolivia) between 500 and 1000 CE. At its apogee, Tiwanaku controlled the lake’s southern shores and influenced certain areas of the Southern Andes. There is a considerable amount of archaeological and anthropological data concerning the Tiwanaku culture; however, our understanding of the population of the site of Tiwanaku is limited. To understand the population dynamics at different stages of the Tiwanaku cultural development, we analyzed 17 low-coverage genomes from individuals dated between 300 and 1500 CE. We found that the population from the Lake Titicaca Basin remained genetically unchanged throughout more than 1200 years, indicating that significant cultural and political changes were not associated with large scale population movements. In contrast, individuals excavated from Tiwanaku’s ritual core were highly heterogeneous, some with genetic ancestry from as far away as the Amazon, supporting the proposition of foreign presence at the site. However, mixed-ancestry individuals’ presence suggests they were local descendants of incomers from afar rather than captives or visiting pilgrims. A number of human offerings from the Akapana Platform dating to ca. 950 CE mark the end of active construction and maintenance of the monumental core and the wane of Tiwanaku culture.Significance StatementTiwanaku was an important pre-Inca polity in South America and an example of primary social complexity on par with civilizations in the Indus and Nile river valley. Flourishing between 500 and 1000 CE, Tiwanaku exercised control in the south Titicaca basin and influenced a vast area in southern Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile. Comprehensive archeological studies provided information about the rise, expansion, and fall of the Tiwanaku culture, but little is known about the monumental site’s population. To address this lacuna, we generated low coverage genomes for 17 individuals, revealing that while the Titicaca basin’s residential population was homogenous, the individuals excavated from the ritual core of Tiwanaku drew their ancestry from distant regions.

Evidence for Early Long-Distance Obsidian Exchange and Watercraft Use from the Southern Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia and Peru

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Stanish ◽  
Richard L. Burger ◽  
Lisa M. Cipolla ◽  
Michael D. Glascock ◽  
Esteban Quelima
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Ceramic Analysis ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin ◽  
Exchange Network

Excavations at two sites on the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca, called Ch'uxuqullu and Titinhuayani, discovered significant preceramic (ca. 2000 B. C.) through Formative period (up to ca. A. D. 400) occupations. Excavation data indicate that there was a continuous occupation from the first known settlements on the island up to the present day. The early occupations on the island were culturally linked to the populations on the mainland, as indicated by ceramic analysis and the presence of nonlocal obsidian from the Colca Valley source, 275 km to the northwest. Our excavation data also reveal that there was a brisk exchange network between the island and mainland beginning at least during the Formative period, and probably earlier during the end of the Late Archaic period. Furthermore, paleoenvironmental data indicate that the island has been isolated from the mainland during most or all of the human occupation. The Lake Titicaca region of Peru and Bolivia was characterized by a system of exchange that relied, in part, on watercraft beginning at least by 1600 B. C.

Chenopodium Cultivation and Formative Period Agriculture at Chiripa, Bolivia

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria C. Bruno ◽  
William T. Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Seed Selection ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Landscape Modification ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin ◽  
Electron And Light Microscopy ◽  
Middle Formative

AbstractThe emergence of agriculture during the Formative period in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin played a crucial role in the development of the region’s first complex societies. Our study of Chenopodium seeds from the site of Chiripa, Bolivia, sheds light on some of the small-scale processes contributing to the development of agricultural systems between 1500 B.C. and A.D. 100. Using a combination of scanning electron and light microscopy, we identified the crop/weed complex of the domesticate, quinoa (C. quinoa Willd.), and its weedy relative, quinoa negra (C. quinoa var. melanospermum Hunziker), at Chiripa by 1500 B.C. Analyses of quinoa/quinoa negra morphometry and seed frequencies suggest that during the Early Formative period, farmers maintained gardens where both the crop and weed grew and were harvested for consumption. Around 800 B.C., however, we find samples almost entirely of quinoa at Chiripa’s social and political center, the Montículo. The paucity of quinoa negra seeds suggests that Middle Formative period farmers became more meticulous cultivators of quinoa, perhaps through weeding, careful seed selection, and construction of fields. This study complements previous investigations of settlement patterns, landscape modification, and stone tool use in this region, providing a richer understanding of Formative period agriculture.

Tiwanaku Influence in the South Central Andes: Strontium Isotope Analysis and Middle Horizon Migration

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly J. Knudson
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Strontium Isotope ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
South Central ◽  
San Pedro ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Lake Titicaca Basin ◽  
Moquegua Valley

Although the presence of Tiwanaku-style material culture throughout southern Peru, northern Chile, and western Bolivia is well documented, the nature of Tiwanaku influence during the Middle horizon (A.D. 500–1100) is variously attributed to imperial expansion or economic and/or religious relationships. Strontium isotope data from archaeological human remains from Tiwanaku-affiliated sites identified first-generation immigrants from the Lake Titicaca basin outside of the Tiwanaku heartland at the Peruvian site of Chen Chen. These data provide an important component to studies that demonstrated close biological relationships during the Middle horizon but could not demonstrate the direction of population movement. However, no immigrants from the Lake Titicaca basin were identified at the San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries of Coyo Oriental, Coyo-3, and Solcor-3. At the sites of Tiwanaku, Tilata, Iwawe, and Kirawi, strontium isotope ratios were also variable, and demonstrate movement within the Lake Titicaca basin. This demonstrates that Tiwanaku influence involved direct colonization in the Moquegua Valley but that in other regions, like San Pedro de Atacama, local inhabitants adopted Tiwanaku-style material culture. This elucidates the complex and highly variable relationships between the Tiwanaku heartland and peripheral sites during the Middle horizon.

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