Stability of phytoliths in the archaeological record: a dissolution study of modern and fossil phytoliths

Opaline phytoliths are important microfossils used in archaeological and ecological research. Relatively little is known about the stability of phytoliths after burial. Under alkaline pH conditions they can dissolve, and mechanical disturbances can cause a loss of their more delicate appendages. Here we present an experimental study of phytolith stability (combination of solubility and abrasion). Modern and fossil phytoliths were extracted from wheat using new methods to minimize dissolution, and by burning in an oven. These assemblages were placed in a solution buffered to pH 10 and maintained under constant temperature and shaking conditions. The silicon concentrations in the solution were monitored once a week for 5 weeks. The phytolith morphologies in each assemblage were determined at the outset of the experiment and after 5 weeks. The results show that there are differences in stability between various assemblages. Modern inflorescence wheat phytolith assemblages are more unstable than those from leaves/stems. Burnt assemblages are less stable than unburnt assemblages, and a fossil phytolith assemblage about 3000 years old is more stable than the modern wheat assemblages. The results also show that individual phytolith morphotypes have different stabilities, and as a result of dissolution and abrasion, some morphotypes may resemble others. This study further shows that archaeological and/or paleo-environmental interpretation of phytolith assemblages may change with the assemblage’s state of preservation.     

Archaeological trends in the Southern Cone of South America

Current major research directions and findings in three areas of Southern Cone archaeology are discussed: (1) the entry of humans in Late Pleistocene times and early hunter-gatherer society, (2) the emergence of chiefdom societies, and (3) the Inca state. These themes are considered broadly in terms of local and interregional models of economic mobility and sociopolitical organization. Although emphasis is given primarily to the Andean regions of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, new studies and developments in the Argentinian Pampa and Patagonia are discussed.     

Reinterpreting the economic and social history of Spanish South America

Haciendas and ‘Ayllus’: Rural Society in the Bolivian Andes in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. By Herbert S. Klein. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993. Pp. xvi, 230.

Colombia before Independence: Economy, Society and Politics under Bourbon Rule. By Anthony McFarlane. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xiv, 399.

Encomienda y encomenderos en el Perú. Estudio social y político de una institución colonial. By Jose De La Puente Brunke. Seville: Excma. Diputación Provincial, 1992. Pp. 536.

Deudas olvidadas. Instrumentos de crédito en la economía colonial peruana 1750–1820. By Alfonso W. Quiroz. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 1993. Pp. 233.

Coercion and Market: Silver Mining in Colonial Potosí, 1692–1826. By Enrique Tandeter. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1993. Pp. xiv, 332.     

Regional governance and legitimacy in South America: the meaning of UNASUR

Over the last decade, rapid changes to development models and market rules have led—yet again—to a revision of the meaning of regionalism, bringing to the fore the role of regional organizations in anchoring democracy and supporting progressive social policies. This is particularly the case in South America, where the presence of regional organizations in public policy‐making is a subject of increasing scrutiny. This article examines new forms of politically sensitive regional governance in South America, focusing in particular on the case of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). It shows how contemporary South American regionalism bypasses the questions of trade and investment that dominated earlier schemes of regionalism in order to focus on shoring up democracy and managing the regional social deficit. The article explores UNASUR's actions in two policy areas: supporting the regional democratic norm and health policy. UNASUR, this article argues, is developing a hybrid form of output‐focused legitimacy that rests on a combination of credible commitments to welfare promotion, especially for the poor, and the pursuit of collective public goods, alongside a robust defence of quite minimal but uncontroversial standards of procedural democracy across the region. The analysis challenges the view that regionalism has failed in South America and identifies instead the emergence of a new sort of highly political regionalism. We call for UNASUR to be taken more seriously in the literature on comparative regionalism and, indeed, for a revision of how regionalism more widely is understood in Latin America.     

Metapopulation Processes in the Long-Term Colonization of the Andean Highlands in South America

This paper analyses the importance of the South Central Andean High Puna megapatch, above 4000 masl, in the history of late Pleistocene exploration and colonization of the Atacama Desert, including the contrasting habitats that exist towards the hyperarid Pacific Ocean coast or the ecosystems bordering the tropical forests, on the western and eastern sides of the Andes, respectively. These ecosystems, which were firmly established by the end of the Pleistocene, are examined as key factors in the history of human peopling. The social, demographic and climate conditions associated with the peopling processes are discussed in relation to the appropriate technological, subsistence and settlement strategies developed by pioneer populations, who for their initial settlement selected highly productive patches where water and fauna converged. Based on concepts derived from metapopulation theory, all relevant archaeological paleoecological data from both sides of the Andean Cordillera are presented and discussed. It is concluded that the pioneer occupation of the high Puna megapatch was a gradual process, related to an emergent Andean human mobility system that connected a wide range of altitudinally staggered habitats. Moreover, we suggest that divergent cultural trajectories evolved since the early Holocene, affecting highland, lowland and coastal habitats.

     

Horticulturists and oxygen ecozones in the tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast South America

We analyse the isotopic values (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) of the diet of pre-Columbian horticulturalist populations from tropical and subtropical areas of southeastern South America, belonging to the Guarani and Taquara archaeological units. The data indicate different trends in each one (T?=?4.21; P?=?0.0004), showing a mixed diet with maize consumption in the Guarani samples (δ¹³C_co?=??15.5?±?1.8‰; δ¹³C_ap ?10.4?±?0.8‰) and a depleted one in the Taquara ones (δ¹³C_co ?18.2?±?1.7‰; δ¹³C_ap ?11.9?±?0.9‰), with a significant internal dispersion in both populations. The first population has higher nitrogen values (δ¹⁵N 11.1?±?0.6‰) compared to the Taquara samples (δ¹⁵N 9.3?±?1‰), suggesting a more carnivorous diet. The recognition of these pre-Columbian mixed diets involves the identification of maize cultivation on the Atlantic side of the southernmost area of South America (Parana Delta, 34° SL). Through the analysis of δ¹⁸O we have identified two isotopic ecozones, the first along the Paraná River Valley, with an average value of δ¹⁸O ?3.7?±?0.5‰ (CV?=?13.5%; CI?=??3.83 / ?3.16), and the second one, located in the Planalto of southern Brazil (Araucaria Forest), with a mean value of δ¹⁸O ?1.5?±?0.3‰ (CV?=?16.5%; CI?=??1.69 / ?1.29). The isotopic data (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O) suggest human movements between these two ecozones.     

Marriage and Kinship in South India,South America,and the USSR: Essays from three cultural perspectives

Dumont, Louis. Affinity as a Value: Marriage Alliance in South India, with Comparative Essays on Australia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. x + 230 pp. including references and index. $22.00.

Kensinger, Kenneth M., ed. Marriage Practices in Lowland South America. Illinois Studies in Anthropology, No. 14. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984. x + 297 pp. including references and index. $19.95.

Dragadze, Tamara, ed. Kinship and Marriage in the Soviet Union: Field Studies. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984. xiii + 269 pp. including brief guide to Soviet ethnographic journals. $39.95.     

Social images through visual images: the use of drawings and photographs in the Western representation of the aborigines of Tierra del Fuego (southern South America)

Abstract

This paper analyses the creation of social images (culturally biased representations) about Fuegian aborigines through the production of visual images (drawings and photographs) by European voyagers, missionaries and ethnographers. The images are evaluated as records that offer rich and complex information about both the recorder and the recorded subjects through a consideration of the context in which they were published and the prevailing socio-historical situation. The creation and manipulation of visual records by Western agents has dual elements, in which the representation of the social ‘other’ (the Fuegians) bears a clear relation to the representation of the social ‘self’ (the Europeans). However, the Fuegians themselves were not necessarily passive subjects, but could act as active agents, negotiating who was photographed and in what situations. Over time, the prevailing representation of Fuegians changes from an initial idealization of their status as aboriginals, to a population of potential religious converts, and finally to their portrayal as ‘unpolluted’ aborigines in ethnographic photography. The paper concludes by considering how Fuegian societies and the impact of Western people have been re-considered through a re-contextualization of these same images within a recent museum display in Argentina.     

Farm size and work ethic: measuring the success of immigrant farmers on the American grasslands, 1875–1925

With the general increase in the scale of American farming over the last 100 years, farm size has sometimes been used as a measure of financial success. This measure requires considerable modification, particularly when the intensity of farming is introduced. The average size of farms also varied according to government land granting policy, stage of settlement, accessibility to markets, fluctuations in market prices for farm produce and variations in climate which affected harvest yields. In this essay the validity of farm size as a measure of success is considered and then applied to three immigrant groups in central Kansas to determine the importance of the work ethic in their value systems. The Mennonites, not unexpectedly, appear to have been the most successful farmers, but the French-Canadians, contrary to general wisdom, achieved a higher level of success than Swedish immigrant farmers.     

Magnetic Sourcing of Obsidians in Southern South America: Some Successes and Doubts

Sourcing of archaeological obsidians is of great importance in unravelling the cultural, social and economic development of many ancient societies. Use of magnetic properties of obsidian fragments has been reported as a cheap, fast and versatile tool for these purposes. One hundred and seventy-six obsidians from archaeological sites and sources in Argentina and southern Chile were analysed magnetically using the weight-normalized intensity of JNRM (Intensity of Natural Remanent Magnetization), the intensity of JSIRM (Intensity of Saturation of Isothermal Remanent Magnetization) at 0·35 T and the bulk susceptibility. The method allowed identification of at least two different sources for archaeological materials found respectively to the north and south of the Lago Argentino, in SW Santa Cruz province, Argentina. Comparison of values from most samples in south and central Santa Cruz with those from a known source may lead to the interpretation that most of them belong to that source. In contrast, a critical analysis of the resolution of this using a larger than usual number of samples from three well distant obsidian sources in Argentina showed that two of the sources showed an almost complete overlapping of these three parameters, and all displayed a very large dispersion of values. This different result indicates that the magnetic sourcing of obsidians may not always have the resolution previously portrayed, but is applicable in certain localities.     

The southern dispersal hypothesis and the South Asian archaeological record: Examination of dispersal routes through GIS analysis

This research advances a model for coastal-based dispersals into South Asia during oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 4. A series of GIS-based analyses are included that assess the potential for expansions into the interior of South Asia, and these results are compared with known archaeological signatures from that time period. The results suggest that modern Homo sapiens could have traversed both the interior and coastlines using a number of routes, and colonized South Asia relatively rapidly. Use of these routes also implies a scenario in which modern H. sapiens, by either increased population growth or competitive ability, may have replaced indigenous South Asian hominin populations.     

Assessing the contribution of cultural agglomeration in urban regeneration through developing cultural strategies

The recent discussion regarding contemporary urban regeneration has underlined the increasing role of art and cultural agglomeration as an essential part of a progressive agenda for local development. In fact, there is a good deal of literature which is related to specific and finite cultural strategies. Although scholars, in some cases, may suggest other perspectives, their value narrows to a comprehensive evaluation regarding the possible interpretation of cultural agglomeration in respect of urban regeneration. Accordingly, this study, by using an interdisciplinary systemic approach based on the clustering of cultural carriers, developed the cultural strategies under a six concepts scheme. The study then, through developing a method based on modes and development approach of cultural agglomeration, recategorized the six mentioned strategies into three major categories of cultural strategies, to find out their contribution in the process of urban regeneration. Overall, the study revealed the extent of cultural agglomeration as a method of developing cultural strategies in urban regeneration.     

Neoliberal Reform, Governance and Corruption in the South: Assessing the International Anti‐Corruption Crusade

This paper presents a critique of current thinking on the causes and impacts of corruption and the measures designed to combat it. It begins by exploring the evolution of the current preoccupation with corruption and traces the growth in international initiatives designed to tackle the issue. It then moves on to consider the assumptions underlying the dominant schools of thought on corruption and alternative definitions of the phenomenon. The limitations of the dominant neoliberal perspective are explored in detail, focusing particularly on its blindness to the complex interplay between economic liberalisation, political power and institutional reform. An alternative framework that locates corruption at the systemic level is proposed. The paper concludes with some thoughts on potential directions for future geographical research on the topic.     

First dendroarchaeological dates of prehistoric contexts in South America: chullpas in the Central Andes

Despite the existence of long-lived tree species with excellent tree-ring characteristics, the use of dendrochronological techniques for dating archaeological contexts has been very limited in South America. Recent research in the Bolivian Altiplano of the Central Andes has yielded a network of Polylepis tarapacana chronologies that goes back to the 13th century. This species was regularly used by local populations since pre-Columbian times as raw material for beams, lintels, hooks and other architectural features in houses, storage chambers, and sepulchers. The aim of this study is to argue in favor of the potential of P. tarapacana for providing high resolution dates of significant archaeological events during the pre-Columbian era. The chronology of chullpas (burial towers and storage chambers) in the southern Andean Altiplano is used as a case study. Growth rings from P. tarapacana have provided several centennial-length dendrochronological records including a reference regional chronology covering the last 786 years in the Central Andean highlands. Based on this long reference chronology calendar years were assigned to woody pieces from pre-Hispanic chullpas. Dendroarchaeological results are consistent with contextual evidence and most radiocarbon dates from woody samples and related archaeological items. Our results indicate that P. tarapacana has a high potential for providing annually-resolved tree-ring dates for archaeological contexts in the Altiplano since the early 13th century.