Life History and Origin of the Camelids Provisioning a Mass Killing Sacrifice During the Chimú Period: Insight from Stable Isotopes

ABSTRACT

The site of Huanchaquito-Las Llamas, situated in the Moche Valley, Peru, dated to the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1100-1470), represents a single event mass killing of children and domestic camelids of the Chimu society. Reconstruction of the life histories of 82 camelid individuals based on stable isotope analysis of bone collagen indicates that they originated from the lowlands. Isotopic inter-individual variability indicates diversity in dietary sources, consisting of wild plants and cultigens, grown in water-limited and non-water-limited conditions, as well as a large proportion of C₄ plants, suggesting that the animals originated from various herds that were differently managed. In contrast, uniformity in terms of restricted coat colour and young age could suggest that the animals derived from specialised herds. It is possible that the requirement in a short period of time for a massive number of animals meeting certain criteria exceeded the capacity of these herds. This study presents the largest isotopic dataset measured at a single pre-Hispanic site so far and the first to record herding practices for the Chimú society. Comparison with previous isotopic datasets shows differences between ritual and non-ritual groups, as well as diversity in pastoralism practises through time in the Central Andes.     

Potential Use of Radiometric Data for Wildlife Habitat Modelling

The potential use of existing radiometric data sets, previously collected for prospecting purposes, has very rarely been used as a variable predictor in wildlife habitat modelling. The utility of radiometric data for predicting vegetation community patterns and wildlife habitat was investigated in the Australian arid zone using the Burt Plain bioregion as a case study. Using spatial datasets and a Species Distribution Modelling Toolkit, arid zone vertebrate species were modelled with Generalised Linear Modelling (GLM) regression modelling techniques. These models were used to predict the probability of occurrence of a species at any given location, defined in terms of its environmental attributes. A statistical correlation between the radioactive elements uranium, thorium and potassium, and terrain aspect was found. No statistical correlations were established between the radioactive elements and vegetation patterns; although we suspect these exist at finer scales of mapping. Radiometric data were identified as explanatory variables in the habitat models of all of the 32 vertebrate species examined, and used as illustration in the development of probabilistic spatial predictions of three species (Red Kangaroo, Macropus rufus; Lesser Hairy‐footed Dunnart, Sminthopsis youngsoni; and Rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus) in the bioregion. Our analyses suggest that radiometric data sets involving the radioactive elements: (uranium, thorium, and potassium), and vegetation could be used as predictors of biodiversity patterns at the bioregional and landscape level. This is an important finding given the challenges posed in undertaking broad‐scale biological surveys in the arid zone of Australia.     

The Environment and Subsistence of the Early Neolithic Settlement Area at Těšetice-Kyjovice,Czech Republic

This paper presents a reconstruction of environmental conditions and subsistence strategies in the Early Neolithic (6th Millenium BC) settlement area at Tě?etice-Kyjovice (Czech Republic). Our detailed reconstruction of the environment contributes to the unravelling of the genesis and spread of steppes and the formation of secondary anthropogenic forest-free areas in the Holocene in eastern-Central Europe. Mollusc shells, charcoals and plant macroremains were used as on-site evidence of a settlement environment. A relatively warm and dry anthropogenic forest-free area is reconstructed for the immediate vicinity of the Early Neolithic settlement. Communities of mixed deciduous forests are recorded in the surroundings of the settlement. Plant macroremains reflect the characteristic Neolithic range of cultivated plants (e.g. Triticum monococcum, Triticum dicoccon, Lens culinaris and Pisum sativum). Papaver somniferum seeds were also found, possibly constituting the oldest evidence of its presence and cultivation in the territory of the Czech Republic.     

Embargoing ‘heretics' in fifteenth-century Central Europe: the case of Hussite Bohemia

ABSTRACT

This article deals with the embargo imposed by the papacy and the Catholic lay powers on all trade and commerce with the Czech Hussites. It posits that this anti-Hussite embargo was simultaneously a means of economic warfare and an expression of the longer tradition of the papal embargo. Based on this twofold understanding, a set of sources is interrogated both from the perspectives of economic and cultural history. To this end a research methodology is employed that differentiates between the instrumental and symbolic dimensions of agency. This allows for a new, holistic view of the anti-Hussite embargo, both as an instrumental means of warfare and as a communicative process. The article thus contributes to political, economic and cultural history as much as to the history of everyday life in fifteenth-century Central Europe. Above all, however, it offers a transferable research methodology for the study of medieval embargoes in general.     

Herds for the Gods? Selection Criteria and Herd Management at the Mass Sacrifice Site of Huanchaquito-Las Llamas During the Chimú Period,Northern Coast of Peru

ABSTRACT

The discovery of the sacrificial remains of 140 children and 206 camelids sacrificed at the site of Huanchaquito-Las Llamas, on the northern coast of Peru, has provided new data on mass sacrifice practices during the Chimú period. The exceptional state of preservation of the camelids, including the presence of coats and hides, opens new research perspectives on the utilisation of animals in ritual contexts. This article will focus on the results of the zooarchaeological analysis, particularly of mortality profiles and coat colour, to address the criteria used to select the sacrificial victims. Young individuals were exclusively selected, and while there is a majority of brown coats, three colours that are present in modern herds are absent at Huanchaquito. This reveals the preferential choice made by the Chimú officiants for this sacrifice. A spatial analysis did not reveal preferences in the organisation of the deposits. The killing of the youngest cohort of the livestock probably had an impact on the whole livestock. This suggests the existence of large herds that were controlled by the Chimú empire. Our results provide additional insights into the management of camelid herds and show the complexity of pastoralism on the pacific coast during pre-Hispanic times.