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Pezo-Lanfranco L, Mut P, Chávez J, Fossile T, Colonese AC, Fernandes R. South American Archaeological Isotopic Database, a regional-scale multi-isotope data compendium for research. Sci Data 2024; 11:336. [PMID: 38575659 PMCID: PMC10995213 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03148-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The South American Archaeological Isotopic Database (SAAID) is a comprehensive open-access resource that aggregates all available bioarchaeological stable and radiogenic isotope measurements, encompassing data from human individuals, animals, and plants across South America. Resulting from a collaborative effort of scholars who work with stable isotopes in this region, SAAID contains 53,781 isotopic measurements across 24,507 entries from individuals/specimens spanning over 12,000 years. SAAID includes valuable contextual information on archaeological samples and respective sites, such as chronology, geographical region, biome, and spatial coordinates, biological details like estimated sex and age for human individuals, and taxonomic description for fauna and flora. SAAID is hosted at the PACHAMAMA community within the Pandora data platform and the CORA repository to facilitate easy access. Because of its rich data structure, SAAID is particularly well-suited for conducting spatiotemporal meta-analyses. It serves as a valuable tool for addressing a variety of research topics, including the spread, adoption, and consumption intensification of food items, paleo-environmental reconstruction, as well as the exploration of mobility patterns across extensive geographic regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Pezo-Lanfranco
- Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
- Department of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
| | - Patricia Mut
- Departamento de Antropología Biológica, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Juan Chávez
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, USA
- Observatorio de Patrimonio Cultural y Arqueológico - Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas y Arqueológicas, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia
| | - Thiago Fossile
- Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
- Department of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - André Carlo Colonese
- Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
- Department of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - Ricardo Fernandes
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany.
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
- Arne Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
- Climate Change and History Research Initiative, Princeton University, Princeton, USA.
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Pezo-Lanfranco L, Colonese AC. The role of farming and fishing in the rise of social complexity in the Central Andes: a stable isotope perspective. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4582. [PMID: 38403727 PMCID: PMC10894859 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55436-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
For many years, the rise of stratified societies along the Central Andean coast, known as the birthplace of Andean civilization, has been closely linked to a marine-oriented economy. This hypothesis has recently been challenged by increasing evidence of plant management and cultivation among Andean populations long before the emergence of complex societies and monumental architecture. The extent to which marine and plant-based economies were integrated and their contributions to early sedentism, population growth, and intra-community stratification, however, remain subjects of ongoing and contentious debate. Using Bayesian Mixing Models we reanalyze the previously published stable isotopes (δ15Ncollagen, δ13Ccollagen, δ13Capatite) values of 572 human individuals from 39 archaeological sites in the Central Andes dated between ca. 7000 BCE and 200 CE to reconstruct dietary regimes in probabilistic terms. Our results reveal that fish, terrestrial fauna, and cultivated plants variably contributed to the diet of prehistoric Andean populations; in coastal and middle valley settlements plant cultivation, not fishing, fueled the development of the earliest complex societies during the Formative Period (from 3000 BCE). Similarly, in the highlands the societies that built ceremonial centers show a plant-based economy. Our findings also show that maize only became a staple food (> 25% dietary contribution) in more recent phases of Andean prehistory, around 500 BCE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Pezo-Lanfranco
- Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
- Department of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - André Carlo Colonese
- Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Prehistory, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
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Gayo EM, Lima M, Gurruchaga A, Estay SA, Santoro CM, Latorre C, McRostie V. Towards understanding human-environment feedback loops: the Atacama Desert case. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220253. [PMID: 37952616 PMCID: PMC10645077 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The overall trajectory for the human-environment interaction has been punctuated by demographic boom-and-bust cycles, phases of growth/overshooting as well as of expansion/contraction in productivity. Although this pattern has been explained in terms of an interplay between population growth, social upscaling, ecosystem engineering and climate variability, the evoked demographic-resource-complexity mechanisms have not been empirically tested. By integrating proxy data for population sizes, palaeoclimate and internal societal factors into empirical modelling approaches from the population dynamic theory, we evaluated how endogenous (population sizes, warfare and social upscaling) and exogenous (climate) variables module the dynamic in past agrarian societies. We focused on the inland Atacama Desert, where populations developed agriculture activities by engineering arid and semi-arid landscapes during the last 2000 years. Our modelling approach indicates that these populations experienced a boom-and-bust dynamic over the last millennia, which was coupled to structure feedback between population sizes, hydroclimate, social upscaling, warfare and ecosystem engineering. Thus, the human-environment loop appears closely linked with cooperation, competition, limiting resources and the ability of problem-solving. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia M. Gayo
- Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8331051, Chile
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR)2, Santiago 8370449, Chile
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Santiago 7750000, Chile
| | - Mauricio Lima
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Andone Gurruchaga
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Sergio A. Estay
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile
| | - Calogero M. Santoro
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1001236, Chile
| | - Claudio Latorre
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Santiago 7750000, Chile
- Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Centro PUC Desierto de Atacama (CDA), Santiago 7821093, Chile
| | - Virginia McRostie
- Escuela de Antropología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7821093, Chile
- Centro PUC Desierto de Atacama (CDA), Santiago 7821093, Chile
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Correa-Lau J, Agüero C, Splitstoser J, Echenique E, Martens T, Santoro CM. Inka Unku: Imperial or provincial? State-local relations. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0280511. [PMID: 36753504 PMCID: PMC9907846 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Standardized Inka tunics, or unku, were created under the auspices of the state as symbolic expressions of its expansionist power. To ensure these textiles acquired the status of effective insignias of power and territorial control, the Inka established and imposed technical and stylistic canons for their production (techne) by means of highly-skilled state weavers. In the provinces, social groups that came under imperial rule, local expert weaving agents adopted the conventions of the state and included meaningful symbolic elements of the idiosyncrasies, traditions, and experiential knowledge of the local community (metis). We therefore propose that this was not a unidirectional process and that the Caleta Vitor Inka unku (hereon referred to as the CV unku), presented here, reflects a syncretism promoted by local weavers. In terms of methods, we have developed a decoding tool for the unku, with the aim of distinguishing state from local hallmarks, thereby revealing the syncretic complexity of these iconic tunics. This methodological tool is based on a series of standard analytical parameters and attributes linked to morphological, technological, and stylistic features, which we applied to the CV unku. Unlike others, this unku does come from a looted tomb but was scientifically excavated in a cemetery located in the Caleta Vitor Bay in northern Chile. By deconstructing the CV unku we determined the steps in the chaîne opératoire at which local technical and stylistic elements were incorporated, thus affecting or transforming, in part, its emblematic imperial imagery. This study also marks a step forward in our understanding of a syncretic landscape that combines the state worldview and organized production system (imperial Inka) with craft-production practices that were rooted in provincial and local communities (provincial Inka).
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline Correa-Lau
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
- * E-mail: (JCL); (CMS)
| | | | - Jeffrey Splitstoser
- Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - Ester Echenique
- Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
| | - Tracy Martens
- Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Calogero M. Santoro
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
- * E-mail: (JCL); (CMS)
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Capriles JM, García M, Valenzuela D, Domic AI, Kistler L, Rothhammer F, Santoro CM. Pre-Columbian cultivation of vegetatively propagated and fruit tree tropical crops in the Atacama Desert. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.993630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
South America is a megadiverse continent that witnessed the domestication, translocation and cultivation of various plant species from seemingly contrasting ecosystems. It was the recipient and supplier of crops brought to and from Mesoamerica (such as maize and cacao, respectively), and Polynesia to where the key staple crop sweet potato was exported. Not every instance of the trans-ecological expansion of cultivated plants (both domesticated and wild), however, resulted in successful farming. Here, we review the transregional circulation and introduction of five food tropical crops originated in the tropical and humid valleys of the eastern Andes—achira, cassava, ahipa, sweet potato, and pacay—to the hyper-arid coastal valleys of the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, where they have been found in early archeological sites. By means of an evaluation of the contexts of their deposition and supported by direct radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes analyses, and starch grain analysis, we evaluate different hypotheses for explaining their introduction and adaptation to the hyper-arid soils of northern Chile, by societal groups that after the introduction of cultigens still retained a strong dependence on marine hunting, gathering and fishing ways of life based on wide variety of marine coast resources. Many of the studied plants were part of a broader package of introduced goods and technological devices and procedures, linked to food, therapeutic medicine, social and ritual purposes that transformed previous hunter-gatherer social, economic, and ideological institutions. Based on archeological data, we discuss some of the possible socio-ecological processes involved in the development of agricultural landscapes including the adoption of tropical crops originated several hundred kilometers away from the Atacama Desert during the Late Holocene.
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Scarrow R. Coastal guano transformed Andean agriculture. NATURE PLANTS 2021; 7:1525. [PMID: 34907299 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-01055-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
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González-Pinilla FJ, Latorre C, Rojas M, Houston J, Rocuant MI, Maldonado A, Santoro CM, Quade J, Betancourt JL. High- and low-latitude forcings drive Atacama Desert rainfall variations over the past 16,000 years. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabg1333. [PMID: 34533988 PMCID: PMC8448445 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg1333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Late Quaternary precipitation dynamics in the central Andes have been linked to both high- and low-latitude atmospheric teleconnections. We use present-day relationships between fecal pellet diameters from ashy chinchilla rats (Abrocoma cinerea) and mean annual rainfall to reconstruct the timing and magnitude of pluvials (wet episodes) spanning the past 16,000 years in the Atacama Desert based on 81 14C-dated A. cinerea paleomiddens. A transient climate simulation shows that pluvials identified at 15.9 to 14.8, 13.0 to 8.6, and 8.1 to 7.6 ka B.P. can be linked to North Atlantic (high-latitude) forcing (e.g., Heinrich Stadial 1, Younger Dryas, and Bond cold events). Holocene pluvials at 5.0 to 4.6, 3.2 to 2.1, and 1.4 to 0.7 ka B.P. are not simulated, implying low-latitude internal variability forcing (i.e., ENSO regime shifts). These results help constrain future central Andean hydroclimatic variability and hold promise for reconstructing past climates from rodent middens in desert ecosystems worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco J. González-Pinilla
- Centro UC Desierto de Atacama and Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Santiago, Chile
| | - Claudio Latorre
- Centro UC Desierto de Atacama and Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Santiago, Chile
| | - Maisa Rojas
- Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR) and Departamento de Geofísica, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - M. Ignacia Rocuant
- Centro UC Desierto de Atacama and Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Antonio Maldonado
- Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Universidad de La Serena, La Serena, Chile
- Departamento de Biología Marina, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile
| | - Calogero M. Santoro
- Instituto de Alta Investigación (IAI), Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
| | - Jay Quade
- Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Julio L. Betancourt
- Scientist Emeritus, U.S. Geological Survey, Science and Decisions Center, Reston, VA, USA
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2000 years of agriculture in the Atacama desert lead to changes in the distribution and concentration of iron in maize. Sci Rep 2021; 11:17322. [PMID: 34453100 PMCID: PMC8397760 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96819-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We performed a histological and quantitative study of iron in archaeological maize seeds from prehispanic times recovered from Tarapacá, Atacama Desert. Also, we examined iron distribution changes at the cell level in embryos from ancient versus new varieties of maize. Our results show a progressive decrease in iron concentration from the oldest maize to modern specimens. We interpret the results as an effect of prehispanic agriculture over the micronutrient composition of maize.
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Bird MI, Crabtree SA, Haig J, Ulm S, Wurster CM. A global carbon and nitrogen isotope perspective on modern and ancient human diet. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2024642118. [PMID: 33941703 PMCID: PMC8126777 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024642118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses are widely used to infer diet and mobility in ancient and modern human populations, potentially providing a means to situate humans in global food webs. We collated 13,666 globally distributed analyses of ancient and modern human collagen and keratin samples. We converted all data to a common "Modern Diet Equivalent" reference frame to enable direct comparison among modern human diets, human diets prior to the advent of industrial agriculture, and the natural environment. This approach reveals a broad diet prior to industrialized agriculture and continued in modern subsistence populations, consistent with the human ability to consume opportunistically as extreme omnivores within complex natural food webs and across multiple trophic levels in every terrestrial and many marine ecosystems on the planet. In stark contrast, isotope dietary breadth across modern nonsubsistence populations has compressed by two-thirds as a result of the rise of industrialized agriculture and animal husbandry practices and the globalization of food distribution networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael I Bird
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia;
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia
| | - Stefani A Crabtree
- Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501
| | - Jordahna Haig
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia
| | - Sean Ulm
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia
- College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia
| | - Christopher M Wurster
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia
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Capriles JM, Santoro CM, George RJ, Flores Bedregal E, Kennett DJ, Kistler L, Rothhammer F. Pre-Columbian transregional captive rearing of Amazonian parrots in the Atacama Desert. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2020020118. [PMID: 33782109 PMCID: PMC8053920 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2020020118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- José M Capriles
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802;
| | | | - Richard J George
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
| | | | - Douglas J Kennett
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
| | - Logan Kistler
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
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McCool WC, Anderson AS, Kennett DJ. Using a multimethod life history approach to navigate the osteological paradox: A case study from Prehispanic Nasca, Peru. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175:816-833. [PMID: 33782949 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We leverage recent bioarchaeological approaches and life history theory to address the implications of the osteological paradox in a study population. The goal of this article is to evaluate morbidity and mortality patterns as well as variability in the risk of disease and death during the Late Intermediate period (LIP; 950-1450 C.E.) in the Nasca highlands of Peru. We demonstrate how the concurrent use of multiple analytical techniques and life history theory can engage the osteological paradox and provide salient insights into the study of stress, frailty, and resilience in past populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS Crania from LIP burial contexts in the Nasca highlands were examined for cribra orbitalia (n = 325) and porotic hyperostosis (n = 270). All age groups and both sexes are represented in the sample. Survivor/nonsurvivor analysis assessed demographic differences in lesion frequency and severity. Hazard models were generated to assess differences in survivorship. The relationship between dietary diversity and heterogeneity in morbidity was assessed using stable δ15 N and δ13 C isotope values for bone collagen and carbonate. One hundred and twenty-four crania were directly AMS radiocarbon dated, allowing for a diachronic analysis of morbidity and mortality. RESULTS The frequency and expression of both orbital and vault lesions increases significantly during the LIP. Survivor/nonsurvivor analysis indicates cranial lesions co-vary with frailty rather than robusticity or longevity. Hazard models show (1) decreasing survivorship with the transition into the LIP, (2) significantly lower adult life expectancy for females compared to males, and (3) individuals with cranial lesions have lower survivorship across the life course. Stable isotope results show very little dietary diversity. Mortality risk and frequency of pathological skeletal lesions were highest during Phase III (1300-1450 C.E.) of the LIP. CONCLUSION Results provide compelling evidence of increasing physiological stress and mortality in the Nasca highlands during the LIP, but also reveal substantial heterogeneity in frailty and the risk of death. Certain members of society experienced a heavier disease burden and higher mortality compared to their contemporaries. Elevated levels of disease and lethal trauma among females account for some of the sex differences in survivorship but cannot explain the large degree of female-biased mortality. We hypothesize that parental investment in males or increased female fertility rates may explain these differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weston C McCool
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
| | - Amy S Anderson
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
| | - Douglas J Kennett
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
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12
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Barberena R, Cardillo M, Lucero G, le Roux PJ, Tessone A, Llano C, Gasco A, Marsh EJ, Nuevo-Delaunay A, Novellino P, Frigolé C, Winocur D, Benítez A, Cornejo L, Falabella F, Sanhueza L, Santana Sagredo F, Troncoso A, Cortegoso V, Durán VA, Méndez C. Bioavailable Strontium, Human Paleogeography, and Migrations in the Southern Andes: A Machine Learning and GIS Approach. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.584325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Andes are a unique geological and biogeographic feature of South America. From the perspective of human geography, this mountain range provides ready access to highly diverse altitudinally arranged ecosystems. The combination of a geologically and ecologically diverse landscape provides an exceptional context to explore the potential of strontium isotopes to track the movements of people and the conveyance of material culture. Here we develop an isotopic landscape of bioavailable strontium (87Sr/86Sr) that is applied to reconstruct human paleogeography across time in the southern Andes of Argentina and Chile (31°–34°S). These results come from a macro-regional sampling of rodents (N = 65) and plants (N = 26) from modern and archeological contexts. This “Southern Andean Strontium Transect” extends over 350 km across the Andes, encompassing the main geological provinces between the Pacific coast (Chile) and the eastern lowlands (Argentina). We follow a recently developed approach to isoscape construction based on Random Forest regression and GIS analysis. Our results suggest that bioavailable strontium is tightly linked with bedrock geology and offers a highly resolved proxy to track human paleogeography involving the levels of territories or daily mobility and anomalous events that disrupt home ranges, such as migration. The southern Andes provide an ideal geological setting to develop this approach, since the geological variation in rock age and composition produces distinctive isotopic signatures for each main biogeographical region. Finally, we apply this framework to a set of results from human remains from the Uspallata Valley in Mendoza (Argentina), to assess the incidence of migration in the key period of the consolidation of agropastoral economies between AD 800 and 1400. The application of the isoscape to the values from human remains confirms the persistence of human groups with relatively restricted territories encompassing Uspallata and the adjacent Precordillera between AD 800 and 1500. We also identify a pulse of human migration between AD 1280 and 1420, shortly preceding the Inka conquest. Looking forward, we expect to converge with ongoing efforts in South America to build a continental research framework to track the movement of people, animals, and artifacts across space and time.
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