Investigations of the Andean Past: Papers from the First Annual Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory

The papers included in this volume represent fourteen of the twenty-three original papers presented at the First Annual Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory held at Cornell University on November 13th and 14th, 1982. The papers are: The Preceramic Occupations of the Casma Valley, Peru by Michael A. Malpass, The Historical Development of a Coastal Andean Social Formation in Central Peru, 6000 to 500 B.C. by Thomas C. Patterson, Stone Tools in Ceramic Contexts: Exploring the Unstructured by Joan M. Gero, Possible Uses, Roles, and Meanings of Chavin-style Painted Textiles of South Coast Peru by Rebecca R. Stone, Megalithic Sites in the Nepena Valley, Peru by Richard E. Daggett, Huaca del Loro Revisited: The Nasca-Huarpa Connection by Allison C. Paulsen, Spatial Patterning and the Function of a Huari Architectural Compound by Christine C. Brewster-Wray, The Development of Huari Administrative Architecture by Lynda E. Spickard, Aspects of State Ideology in Huari and Tiwanaku Iconography: The Central Deity and the Sacrificer by Anita G. Cook, Shared Ideology and Parallel Political Development: Huari and Tiwanaku by William H. Isbell, Casma Incised Pottery: An Analysis of Collections from the Nepena Valley by Cheryl Daggett, High Altitude Land Use in the Huamachuco Area by T. McGreevy and R. Shaughnessy, La Lengua Pescadora: the Lost Dialect of Chimu Fishermen by Joel Rabinowitz, and The Chancas of Angaraes: 1450(?)--1765 by Paul H. Dillon.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/andean_past_special/1002/thumbnail.jp

Early Horizon Defensive Structures and the Role of Warfare in the Lower Nepeña Valley, Peru

In this thesis I examine the presence and distribution of defensive structures in Nepeña, Ancash, Peru, during the Early Horizon (ca. 900-200 B.C.). Data are gathered from pedestrian surveys, GPS coordinates, drawings, and photographs. I analyze architectural and spatial data using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools. I integrate these methods to investigate the organization and distribution of defensive structures in the lower Nepeña, in particular at the archaeological complexes of Caylán, Samanco, and Huambacho. Caylán is a multi-component archaeological complex with a major Early Horizon occupation, and serves as the primary site while the others are used to draw a comparative analysis. Questions I attempt to answer include: (1) What form of warfare occurred in the Nepeña Valley during the Early Horizon? (2) Were the sites of Caylán, Samanco, and Huambacho consolidated communities? (3)What were the implications and origins of conflicts? I endeavor to answer these questions by delineating fortification strategies including the direction of enemy approach, size and strength of defending and opposing forces, and the scale of conflict. Data were obtained from a survey conducted between June 27th, and July 25th, 2013. The project benefits from the financial support of the West-Russell Travel grant, provided by Louisiana State University, and the Louisiana Board of Regents (PI: David Chicoine). Results of systematic surface surveys and excavations at the aforementioned sites indicate the increased importance of armed conflicts and intercommunity violence, mostly during the second half of the first millennium BC. Although warfare is likely to have played a major role in shaping local sociopolitical and ritual landscapes, spatial and architectural data have yet to be systematically collected and analyzed. Ancient conflicts are materialized in the presence of fortified walls, observation posts, and hilltop forts. The formal and spatial characteristics of these features are described to shed light on the presence of defensive architecture

Identification of guinea pig remains in the Pucará de Tilcara (Jujuy, Argentina): Evidence in favour of the presence of the Andean breed in the Quebrada de Humahuaca

In this article, we identified rodent remains found in the Pucará de Tilcara, an archaeological site from the Argentine Northwest that was occupied by humans from 1,100 ad until the Spanish conquest. The zooarchaeological analyses were carried out using anatomical descriptions and geometric morphometric analyses of the dorsal and ventral views of mandibular remains. The results and the archaeological context discussed showed that all the rodent remains could correspond to the Andean breed of domestic guinea pigs. The combination of the methods used here gave us a strong support to the taxonomical assignment. The presence of domestic guinea pigs in archaeological sites of the northwestern Argentina was never proposed. This approach allowed us to increase knowledge about the distribution of caviines in the region, and their relationship to anthropic processes.Fil: Lopez Geronazzo, Lautaro Nahuel. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Otero, Clarisa. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, Alicia. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Geología Minera; ArgentinaFil: Ercoli, Marcos Darío. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Geología Minera; ArgentinaFil: Cortés Delgado, Natalia. University of Illinois; Estados Unido

Evaluating Cranial Nonmetric Traits in Mummies from Pachacamac, Peru: The Utility of Semi-Automated Image Segmentation in Paleoradiology

Anthropologists employ biodistance analysis to understand past population interactions and relatedness. The objectives of this thesis are twofold: to determine whether a sample of five mummies from the pilgrimage centre, Pachacamac, on the Central Coast of Peru comprised local or non-local individuals through an analysis of cranial nonmetric traits using comparative samples from the North and Central Coasts of Peru and Chile; and to test the utility of machine-learning-based image segmentation in the image analysis software, Dragonfly, to automatically segment CT scans of the mummies such that the cranial nonmetric traits are visible. Results show that while fully automated segmentation was not achieved, a semi-automated procedure was adequate for visualizing and scoring the skulls and saved time over manual segmentation methods. The sample from Pachacamac was too small to make significant inter-site comparisons, but a broader regional analysis suggests there are significant biological differences between geographical regions along the coast

Una historia de violencia : 3000 años de conflictos interpersonales e intergrupales desde los períodos inicial a colonial temprano en la costa central peruana. Una perspectiva bioarqueológica

El propósito de este estudio es evaluar las preguntas de investigación sobre el desarrollo de la violencia en la costa central peruana durante los tiempos prehispánico y colonial temprano. Este es el primer estudio que proporciona un análisis diacrónico de la violencia en la costa central. Se probó y falseó una hipótesis nula: que no hay diferencias en la prevalencia y el patrón del trauma a lo largo del tiempo en la costa central del Perú. También se abordaron dos preguntas complementarias: 1) ¿Existe una relación entre los cambios sociopolíticos, las catástrofes naturales, la competencia por los recursos y la violencia? y 2) ¿Cómo afectó la violencia a segmentos específicos de la población (hombres, mujeres, jóvenes y personas de élite y no élite)? Se analizaron más de 700 individuos de 14 muestras diferentes, siguiendo métodos clásicos bioarqueológicos y forenses, y complementado con otras variables como cohorte, causa más probable (malintencionada, accidental, ocupacional o desconocida), letalidad, número mínimo de eventos y estatus social. Esta investigación mostró tres factores que desencadenaron episodios violentos en el área: 1) la aparición de desigualdades sociales/una élite guerrera; 2) crisis sociopolíticas que se produjeron después de la caída de un orden social anterior; y 3) la necesidad de luchar por los recursos, ya sea durante las sequías severas o para controlar los recursos de la región del valle medio. Los hombres (adultos y adolescentes), especialmente los que se dedican a actividades militares o los de menor rango, estuvieron más expuestos a la violencia que el resto de la población. Sin embargo, en momentos en que la violencia aumentó, las mujeres se vieron igualmente afectadas. La comparación de los hallazgos de la costa central con otras regiones andinas mostró que no todas las sociedades reaccionaron de la misma manera ante desafíos sociopolíticos/ambientales similares. Las principales contribuciones de este estudio son su larga perspectiva temporal y su énfasis en la importancia de la complejidad social. Estas perspectivas enriquecerán el debate antropológico sobre la violencia, proporcionando una mejor comprensión de los factores que pueden afectar la forma en que la violencia puede desarrollarse en diferentes situaciones y dentro de diferentes culturas.Canadá. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)Tesi

A History of Violence: 3000 Years of Interpersonal and Intergroup Conflicts from the Initial to the Early Colonial Periods in the Peruvian Central Coast. A Bioarchaeological Perspective

The purpose of this study is to test research questions about the development of violence on the Peruvian central coast during the pre-Hispanic and Early Colonial times. This is the first study to provide a diachronic analysis of violence on the central coast. One null hypothesis was tested and falsified: that there are no differences in the prevalence and pattern of trauma over time on the central coast of Peru. Two complementary questions were also addressed: 1) Is there a relation between sociopolitical changes, natural catastrophes, competition for resources and violence? and 2) How did violence affect specific segments of the population (males, females, subadults, and elite and non-elite persons)? More than 700 individuals from 14 different samples were analyzed, following classic bioarchaeological and forensic methods, and complemented with other variables such as cohort, most probable cause (malintent, accidental, occupational or unknown), lethality, minimum number of events, and social status. This research showed three factors that triggered violent episodes in the area: 1) the emergence of social inequalities/a warrior elite; 2) socio-political crises that were produced after the fall of a previous social order; and 3) the need to fight for resources, either during severe droughts or to control the resources of the middle valley region. Males (adults and adolescents), especially those dedicated to military activities or those from the lower status were more exposed to violence than the rest of the population. However, in times when violence rose, females were equally affected. The comparison of the findings from the central coast with other Andean regions showed that not all societies reacted in the same way when faced with similar socio-political /environmental challenges. The main contributions of this study are its long temporal perspective, and its emphasis on the importance of social complexity. These perspectives will enrich the anthropological debate around violence, providing a better understanding of the factors that can affect how violence can unfold in different situations and within different cultures

Political Landscapes of Capital Cities

"[Political Landscapes of Capital Cities] is a welcome contribution to the study of the spatialization of society and suggests paths that anthropologists can take to analyze political space in urban and non-urban settings alike." —Anthropology Review Database "[O]utstanding contributions of an interdisciplinary group of authors trained in different methodologies. . . . offer[s] both scholarly and popular audiences wide-ranging perspectives in exploring, imagining, perceiving and experiencing capital cities." —Journal of Urban Cultural Studie

Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires

What is the role of the material world in shaping the tensions and paradoxes of imperial sovereignty? Scholars have long shone light on the complex processes of conquest, extraction, and colonialism under imperial rule. But imperialism has usually been cast as an exclusively human drama, one in which the world of matter does not play an active role. Lori Khatchadourian argues instead that things—from everyday objects to monumental buildings—profoundly shape social and political life under empire. Based on the archaeology of ancient Persia and the South Caucasus, Imperial Matter advances powerful new analytical approaches to the study of imperialism writ large and should be read by scholars of empire across the humanities and social sciences