The Use of Strontium Isotope Analysis to Investigate Tiwanaku Migration and Mortuary Ritual in Bolivia and Peru

Strontium isotope analysis is applied in South America for the first time in order to investigate residential mobility and mortuary ritual from ad 500 to 1000. While Tiwanaku‐style artefacts are spread throughout Bolivia, southern Peru and northern Chile during this time, the nature of Tiwanaku influence in the region is much debated. Human skeletal remains from the site of Tiwanaku and the proposed Tiwanaku colony of Chen Chen have been analysed to test the hypothesis that Tiwanaku colonies, populated with inhabitants from Tiwanaku, existed in Peru. Strontium isotope analysis supports this hypothesis by demonstrating that non‐local individuals are present at both sites.     

Tiwanaku and Its Precursors: Recent Research and Emerging Perspectives

The Lake Titicaca Basin provides a fascinating case study for examining the prehistoric rise of complexity and archaic state development. The development of the Tiwanaku state and preceding polities involved conjunctions of regional environmental, socioeconomic, and ideological transformations. Significant social, economic, and ideological diversity characterized each major phase, indicating that the creation of inclusive domains of shared values, practices, and identities was critical to the formation of polities in the region. Tiwanaku and its precursors were, in great part, incorporative sociopolitical phenomena in which social diversity remained vital throughout their histories.     

Residential mobility and resource use in the Chiribaya polity of southern Peru: strontium isotope analysis of archaeological tooth enamel and bone

The Chiribaya were a complex polity during the Andean Late Intermediate Period (c. AD 1000–1300) in the Ilo and Moquegua Valleys of southern Peru. Recent research has demonstrated that the Chiribaya polity was a señorío, a confederacy of economically specialised parcialidades. Here we test hypotheses regarding the movement of individuals and resources among the Chiribaya‐affiliated sites of Chiribaya Alta, Chiribaya Baja, San Gerónimo and El Yaral, as well as from outside of the Ilo and Moquegua Valleys. Although archaeological human enamel and bone strontium isotope ratios from Chiribaya Baja and San Gerónimo cluster closely, there is a wider variety of strontium isotope ratios observed at Chiribaya Alta and El Yaral. This indicates that individuals buried in cemeteries at these sites had access to a wider variety of resources, and probably moved between different geological zones throughout their lifetimes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Location of Lake Titicaca’s Coastal Area During the Tiwanaku and Inca Periods: Methodology and Strategies of Underwater Archaeology

For more than 30 years, numerous research projects have revealed the dense and complex human settlement of the lacustrine basin of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and Peru. Physical evidence of such establishments has been discovered in plains, valleys, and highlands connected to the lake. These remains confirm human occupation and development in this environment, particularly during the Tiwanaku (AD 500-1150) and Inca (AD 1400-1532) Periods. The research project discussed in this paper includes consideration of submerged areas through underwater archaeology. This investigation involves analysis of two areas that have evidence of ancient human occupation but are poorly documented: the coastal and lacustrine regions. Due to its dominance in the landscape, Lake Titicaca has always been a major feature in the life and identity of populations of this vicinity. These inhabitants have developed socio-economic and ritual behaviours directly associated with the lake that have left cultural and material prints that are the foci of the present study.     

Provisioning Inka feasts at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the geographic origins of camelids in the Pumapunku complex

While political integration can be achieved by many means, here we focus on the use of feasting and statecraft in the Inka Empire of the Andean Late Horizon (c. AD 1400-1532) in South America. In order to examine Inka political integration of the Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia, we examine paleomobility and paleodiet through radiogenic strontium and stable oxygen and carbon isotope data in archaeological camelid remains from the site of Tiwanaku. Mean radiogenic strontium isotope values from all archaeological camelid enamel and bone samples is ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70998 ± 0.00179 (1σ, n = 48), mean stable oxygen isotope values from a sub-set of archaeological camelid enamel and bone samples is δ¹⁸O_{carbonate (VPDB)} = −10.0‰ ± 2.6‰ (1σ, n = 18) and mean stable carbon isotope values from a sub-set of archaeological camelid enamel and bone samples is δ¹³C_{carbonate (VPDB)} = −9.0‰ ± 1.7‰ (1σ, n = 18). While many camelids consumed in these feasting events were likely local to the Lake Titicaca Basin, others came from a variety of different geologic zones, elucidating our understanding of Inka statecraft and the role of feasting in political integration in empires in the past.     

Hunting,Herding, and Caravanning: Osteometric Identifications of Camelid Morphotypes at Khonkho Wankane,Bolivia

Khonkho Wankane is a ceremonial center located in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia. During the Late Formative period (AD 1–500), its residents practiced agropastoral lifeways and participated in the rise of the state at Tiwanaku. Like at many Andean sites, bones from the family Camelidae are the most abundant large mammal in domestic contexts. Identifying camelid morphotypes represented by these bones carries far‐reaching implications for understanding past hunting, herding, and caravanning practices, and their roles in larger social and economic webs. Identifications were based on a locally focused reference collection, including llamas (Lama glama) from the immediate vicinity of the site, as well as Andean guanacos (Lama guanicoe), a much smaller morphotype than the Patagonian guanacos used in many osteometric studies. Multivariate statistical analyses and incisor morphology identified all four camelid. Different analyses suggest that the crux of osteometry lies in the reference collection, not the statistical test. An additional, very large morphotype likely corresponds to a castrated llama, the preferred cargo animal among modern drovers. The presence of these animals is interpreted as evidence that groups hunted vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) and guanaco, which are not currently present around the site, herded llamas and alpacas (Vicugna pacos), and perhaps organized caravans with castrated llamas. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Top-down or bottom-up: rural settlement and raised field agriculture in the Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia

Differing interpretations regarding the organization of past intensive farming are often distinguished as “top-down” or “bottom-up” perspectives. The development of intensive farming and its social organization are attributed to either nascent states and centralized governments or the incremental work of local communities or kin-based groups. We address the social organization of raised field farming in one region of the Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andean altiplano, Bolivia. We evaluate past research in the Katari Valley, including our own, based on recent settlement survey, excavation, and a variety of analyses. Taking a long-term perspective covering 2500 years, we find that relations of production and rural organization changed greatly over time in relation to changing sociopolitical conditions. Local communities played dynamic roles in the development and organization of raised field farming, yet its intensification and ultimate recession were keyed to the consolidation and decline of the Tiwanaku state. We conclude that the top-down/bottom-up dichotomy is overdrawn. Local communities and their productive practices never operated in a political or economic vacuum but both shaped and were transfigured by regional processes of state formation, consolidation, and fragmentation.     

Spatial autocorrelation of ABO serotypes in mediaeval cemeteries as an indicator of ethnic and familial structure

Hungarian cemeteries in an effort to detect familial structure. Different ethnic groups buried in separate areas dominated the spatial pattern in two cemeteries, leaving insufficient power to test for familial patterns. In a third, ethnically homogeneous cemetery, no evidence of familial structure was found. A simulation showed that familial structure could readily be detected by the methods applied when it exists in an ethnically homogeneous population. The spatial autocorrelation methods employed would have detected the ethnic diversity in the two cemeteries containing graves from different populations, even in the absence of archaeological information to that effect. A restricted randomization procedure was developed to test two alternative hypotheses concerning the ethnic designations of the occupants of the cemetery at Szentendre. As a result of this test, the hypothesis that graves located in a rough circle (putative Lombards) differ serologically from those located at the periphery (putative nonLombards) is strongly preferred over a second hypothesis based on grave goods which would imply spatially random placement of the graves of the two ethnic units.     

Tiwanaku trade patterns in southern Peru

This paper provides data and analysis from an intensive settlement survey in the southwestern Titicaca Basin. This research was designed to assess the nature of Tiwanaku (AD 600–1100) long-distance trade. The survey area was placed between the prehistoric urban capital of Tiwanaku and its primary colony in Moquegua, a valley located on the Pacific watershed approximately 325 km away. The survey was specifically placed in an area where GIS analysis indicated a least-cost transit route between Tiwanaku and Moquegua. Field adjustments to the survey area were made based upon informant data about the historic location of caravan routes. The results of the survey indicate that there is a light but virtually continuous string of Tiwanaku occupation along the trails and roads in the area sampled between Tiwanaku and Moquegua. However, in contrast to the later Inca (AD 1450–1532) period pattern, Tiwanaku did not maintain way stations or build any kind of formal road system. The data indicate that Tiwanaku had indeed relied upon camelid caravans utilizing the least-cost pathways, but it did so in a more decentralized and informal way than the later Inca state.     

PAST ‘DISTURBANCES’ OF GRAVES AS A SOURCE: TAPHONOMY AND INTERPRETATION OF REOPENED EARLY MEDIEVAL INHUMATION GRAVES AT BRUNN AM GEBIRGE (AUSTRIA) AND WINNALL II (ENGLAND)

Early medieval graves that were reopened in the past are usually considered ‘disturbed’ and hence an unreliable source for traditional cemetery analysis. This paper aims to highlight how the analysis of these ‘disturbances’ can contribute to our understanding of early medieval mortuary rites and attitudes towards the buried human body. Two case studies of cemeteries with high proportions of reopened graves are presented. Thorough archaeological analysis, with careful consideration of the taphonomy of reopened graves, is the key to an understanding of the reopening practices. At Brunn am Gebirge (Austria) most graves were reopened for ‘grave‐robbery’– to remove grave goods – at a time when the bodies were already fully disarticulated. The graves at Winnall II (England) were reopened very soon after burial to manipulate the still largely intact corpses.     

Diet,social differentiation and cultural change in Roman Britain: new isotopic evidence from Gloucestershire

This study uses stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of human bone collagen to reconstruct the diet of three Romano-British (first to early fifth century AD) populations from Gloucestershire in South West England. Gloucestershire was an important part of Roman Britain with two major administrative centres at Gloucester (Glevum) and Cirencester (Corinium) and numerous smaller settlements and farmsteads. To investigate potential dietary differences between the rural and urban populations of Roman Gloucestershire, we compared human bone collagen stable isotope values from 32 individuals from urban Gloucester with those of 46 individuals from two rural cemeteries at Horcott Quarry and Cotswold Community, respectively. Seven individuals from urban Gloucester were buried in a mass grave; all others were buried in single inhumations. Results show small but significant differences in stable isotope ratios between the urban and rural populations which indicate that the urban population might have consumed slightly more marine and/or freshwater resources than the people living in the rural communities. We interpret this difference as a direct reflection of Rome’s influence on Gloucester’s population and the town’s economic status. Subtle differences in stable isotope ratios were also observed at the site level, as burial practice does correlate with diet in some cases. Overall, the results from this study demonstrate that diet, as reconstructed through stable isotope analysis, is a very sensitive, if settlement-specific, indicator of social differentiation and culture change.     

Through the Glass Darkly: Prehispanic Obsidian Procurement and Exchange in Southern Peru and Northern Bolivia

Recent discovery of the major geological sources of Central Andean obsidian permits a new understanding of the patterns of obsidian procurement and exchange by the Prehispanic societies of southern Peru and northern Bolivia. Based on the trace element analysis of obsidian artifacts from 160 archaeological sites, it can be established that the two major deposits of obsidian were being exploited by 9400 BP, and that volcanic glass was being transported over long distances throughout Andean prehistory. Inhabitants of the Cuzco region acquired most obsidian from the Alca source in central Arequipa, while those in the high plateau surrounding Lake Titicaca obtained most obsidian from the Chivay source in southern Arequipa. Obsidian evidence suggests close ties between the Cuzco and Circum-Titicaca regions throughout prehistory, except during the Middle Horizon (ca. 1400–1050 BP), when the expansion of the Huari and Tiahuanaco states disrupted this pattern.     

Late Preceramic Forager–Herders from the Copacabana Peninsula in the Titicaca Basin of Bolivia: A Bioarchaeological Analysis

The Titicaca Basin of Peru and Bolivia has been occupied by humans for millennia and was home to one of the first major state societies in the Andes. Many foundations of state power, however, developed much earlier, during the Late Preceramic/Terminal Archaic Period (3000 – 1500 BC), when people initially began herding, marking territories, and creating new metallurgy technology. We present a skeletal analysis of 14 individuals dating between 3000 and 1500 BC from Muruqullu, an archaeological site on the Copacabana Peninsula of Bolivia. These are the first Preceramic burials documented for the peninsula and contribute to the relatively small sample of Preceramic bodies from the Andean highlands more broadly. From this sample, we suggest that highland foragers and early herders suffered little nutritional stress and had limited violent interactions, perhaps related to a relatively mobile lifestyle and utilisation of lake resources. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mortuary Variability and Status Differentiation in the Late Jomon of Hokkaido Based on the Analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Shuteibo</Emphasis> (Communal Cemeteries)

The shuteibo, a type of communal cemetery characterized by a circular embankment, was constructed in the latter half of the Late Jomon (c. 1520 cal BC–1250 cal BC) in Hokkaido, Japan. Shuteibo at the Kiusu, Misawa-1, Bibi-4 and Kashiwagi-B sites are key to understanding the complex hunter-gatherer societies of the Late Jomon. Elite graves inside the shuteibo and non-elite graves outside them show clear differences in terms of grave goods, red ocher and grave markers at Kiusu-4. These communal cemeteries may have been created and maintained by elites who had access to highly valued materials, such as jadeite, through long-distance trade. Differences in the number of graves and grave goods among shuteibo at the Misawa-1 and Bibi-4 sites indicate differences in group size and intra-site elite differentiation. The Kiusu site has both the largest example and the largest concentration of these cemeteries in Hokkaido. At the inter-site level, differences in the size of these communal cemeteries indicate variability in the number of corporate groups as well as in relative power between sites.     

The fish of Lake Titicaca: implications for archaeology and changing ecology through stable isotope analysis

Research on past human diets in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin has directed us to investigate the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of an important dietary element, fish. By completing a range of analyses on modern and archaeological fish remains, we contribute to two related issues regarding the application of stable isotope analysis of archaeological fish remains and in turn their place within human diet. The first issue is the potential carbon and nitrogen isotope values of prehistoric fish (and how these would impact human dietary isotopic data), and the second is the observed changes in the fish isotopes through time. Out of this work we provide quantitative isotope relationships between fish tissues with and without lipid extraction, and a qualitative analysis of the isotopic relationships between fish tissues, allowing archaeologists to understand these relationships and how these values can be applied in future research. We test a mathematical lipid normalization equation to examine whether future researchers will need to perform lipid extraction procedures for Lake Titicaca fish. We also analyze a number of aquatic plants to better understand the range of isotopic signatures of the Lake Titicaca ecosystem. We use these data to better understand prehistoric human diet and the role that fish may have played in the past as well as potential changes in local lake ecology through time.     

Two dwarves from Sweden: A unique case

In the same burial ground in use from the late eleventh to thirteenth century one male and one female dwarf were buried, only 1 m from each other. They were buried in the same way and with the same kind of grave goods as the others buried around them. The medical and osteological investigations of the skeletons show that the two individuals suffered from a very rare congenital malformation that made them dwarves: spondylo-epiphyseal dysplasia congenita with mild coxa vara. A search of the palaeopathological literature has not revealed any other such cases. Because this disease is extremely rare, it is very likely that the two dwarves were closely related.     

The geographic origins of Nasca trophy heads using strontium,oxygen, and carbon isotope data

Scholars continue to debate the identity of individuals curated as trophy heads in the Nazca Drainage of southern Peru (c. 1–800 AD). What was the role of trophy heads in Nasca society? Were they victims of warfare or venerated ancestors? Strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope data from archaeological human tooth enamel from Nasca trophy heads from Aja, Cahuachi, Cantayo, Majoro Chico and Paredones, and from individuals buried in Nasca cemeteries at Cahuachi, Cantayo, and Majoro Chico elucidate the geographic origins and paleodiet of trophy heads in the Nazca Drainage. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O_c(V-PDB) data from both the trophy heads and the Nazca Drainage burials are all quite variable, and do not support the hypothesis that the Nasca trophy heads were obtained from a geographically-distinct population. Similarly, the δ¹³C_c(V-PDB) data demonstrates that the individuals included in this study consumed similar diets. These data suggest that the Nasca trophy heads likely derive from the local Nasca population. Rather than obtain heads from enemy warriors through geographic expansion or warfare as seen in other parts of the world, this complex social practice existed within the Nasca polity throughout space and time.     

Beyond the grave: variability in Neolithic diets in Southern Germany?

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses were undertaken on human and faunal remains from two Neolithic sites in Southern Germany; the LBK settlement at Herxheim and the middle Neolithic cemetery at Trebur. Stable isotope data were used to reconstruct the diets of individuals buried at these sites and to look at dietary variation between groups classified by their sex, age, grave goods and cultural affiliation. Overall there was surprisingly little variation in the diet between the groups, as described by the stable isotope analysis, despite significant differences in the composition of grave goods. Also surprising, considering the archaeological evidence for extensive grain cultivation in this region during the Neolithic, was that the majority of individuals had δ¹⁵N values consistent with the consumption of significant amounts of animal protein.     

Social Analysis of Mortuary Evidence in German Protohistoric Archaeology

German early historical archaeology has witnessed since the 1960s an intensive debate on the social analysis of mortuary remains. It started out with the question of archaeological criteria for the inference of social status in early medieval cemeteries. In the 1970s, attention shifted from quantitative to qualitative analyses of grave goods and to the use of data on labor investment and skeletal data. In the last decade or so, younger colleagues have tried to overcome the weaknesses of traditional inferences from grave goods (status, religion, ethnic affiliation) by looking at the implications of ritual, and new methods of analyzing biological kinship have been applied to identify families in prehistoric and early medieval cemeteries. The German debate shows similarities to as well as differences from the Anglophone debate. It is suggested that we may learn from these parallel developments, but we should also learn from the fact that two scholarly debates on the same subject could ignore each other for 3 decades.     

A Note on the Demographic and Health Pattern of a Historical Sleeping Sickness Cemetery at Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital,Maun, Botswana

A part of a historical cemetery used to bury victims of sleeping sickness in Maun, Botswana, was recently uncovered by a water supply improvement construction project. The cemetery had become obliterated from the surface and from the memories of the people resulting in the use of the land for residential purposes. Twelve skeletons were excavated along the water supply trench and have since been buried at one of the new village cemeteries. There were eight males, two females and two individuals of unknown sex. They were young adults ranging in age from 18 to 35 years at the time of death. Dental modifications were used to estimate the cultural identities of two individuals. Some of the remains had been buried with body clothing such as belts and necklaces. Poor dental health was most probably associated with poor nutrition and poor oral hygiene among the population. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.