Prehistoric Genetic and Culture Change: A Bioarchaeological Search for Pre-Inka Altiplano Colonies in the Coastal Valleys of Moquegua, Peru, and Azapa, Chile

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. Sutter
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Region ◽  
Genetic Change ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Moquegua Valley ◽  
Dental Traits ◽  
Case Basis

This investigation uses a bioarchaeological approach to test the existence of pre-Inka colonists within the Andean coastal valleys of Moquegua, Peru, and Azapa, Chile, as predicted by Murra's (1972) classic model of verticality. The archaeological evidence and biodistance results obtained using genetically controlled dental traits from 859 skeletal and mummified remains indicate that the Late Intermediate period (A.D. 1100-1476) coastal Chiribaya people of the Moquegua Valley, Peru, likely represent descendants of altiplano populations that migrated to the coastal region following the disintegration of the Middle Horizon (A.D. 750-1100) Tiwanaku colony located in the middle Moquegua Valley. In the neighboring Azapa Valley, Chile, genetic change among prehistoric populations was due to gradual in situ microevolution of local populations rather than colonization by altiplano people. Coastal populations of the Azapa Valley maintained biocultural continuity with the Archaic period Chinchorro coastal population. It is concluded that Murra's model of direct verticality should be evaluated using both biological and archaeological data on a case-by-case basis.

Tiwanaku's Legacy: A Chronological Reassessment of the Terminal Middle Horizon in the Moquegua Valley, Peru

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (03) ◽  
pp. 529-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Sharratt
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Continuity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
State Collapse ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Moquegua Valley

As in other examples of state collapse, political disintegration of the Tiwanaku state circa AD 1000 was accompanied by considerable cultural continuity. In the Moquegua Valley, Peru, the location of the largest Tiwanaku communities outside the altiplano, settlements and practices associated with this postcollapse cultural continuity are termed Tumilaca. Previous research indicated that Tumilaca was short-lived, with all vestiges of Tiwanaku gone from Moquegua's archaeological record by the thirteenth century when the valley was subsequently characterized by Estuquiña-style materials. This article discusses radiocarbon dates from Tumilaca la Chimba, a village established as the political authority of the Tiwanaku state waned. The 21 absolute dates from Tumilaca domestic, public, and funerary contexts span at least 350 years, from the late tenth to the mid-fourteenth centuries AD. They suggest that (1) Tiwanaku-affiliated communities endured well into the later Late Intermediate Period (AD 1200–1470); (2) ongoing debates about the emergence of Estuquiña communities must consider the role of terminal Tiwanaku populations; and (3) analyses of postcollapse continuity can be enhanced by considering peripheral locales and the particularities of continuity.

Graphically Modeling the Prehistory of Regional Interactions in the Moquegua Valley, Southern Peru

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk E. Costion ◽  
Ulrike Matthies Green
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Interaction Model ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Southern Peru ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Moquegua Valley

The Cross-Cultural Interaction Model was first developed specifically to help model the cultural interactions taking place in the Moquegua Valley of Southern Peru during the culturally dynamic early Middle Horizon. This chapter highlights the flexibility of the Cross-Cultural Interaction Model by using it to illustrate how regional interactions changed throughout the prehistoric sequence of this region. The Moquegua drainage is the easiest route from the highlands of the Southern Titicaca altiplano to the Pacific Ocean; in addition the middle Moquegua Valley is ideal for large-scale maize agriculture. As a result, regional interactions have been an integral element in this region’s cultural evolution. Starting with the Archaic Period and continuing through the Late Intermediate Period this chapter graphically explores the nature of the regional interactions that took place in each time period and how these interactions shaped the cultural landscape of the Moquegua Valley over time

Ancient pre-Columbian Peru, Bolivia and Mesoamerica

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R. Ortloff
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Canal Irrigation ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Horizon ◽  
The Many

Irrigation agriculture is a transformational technology used to secure high food yields from undeveloped lands. Specific to ancient South America, the Chimú Empire occupied the north coast of Peru from the Chillon to the Lambeyeque Valleys (Figure 1.1.1) from800 to 1450 CE (Late Intermediate Period (LIP)) and carried canal reclamation far beyond modern limits by applying hydraulics concepts unknown to Western science until the beginning of the 20th century. The narrative that follows examines hydraulic engineering and water management developments and strategies during the many centuries of agricultural development in the Chimú heartland of the Moche River Basin. The story examines how Chimú engineers and planners managed to greatly expand the agricultural output of valleys under their control by employing advanced canal irrigation technologies and the economic and political circumstances under which large-scale reclamation projects took place. The following time period conventions are used in the discussion that follow: Preceramic and Formative Period (3000–1800 BCE) Initial Period (IP) 1800–900 BCE Early Horizon (EH) 900–200 BCE Early Intermediate Period (EIP) 200 BCE–600 CE Middle Horizon (MH) 600–1000 CE Late Intermediate Period (LIP) 1000–1476 CE Late Horizon (LH) 1476–1534 CE. Chimú political power and state development was concentrated in Peruvian north coast valleys. Each valley contained an intermittent river supplied by seasonal rainfall runoff/glacial melt water from the adjacent eastern highlands. Over millennia, silts carried by the rivers from highland sources formed gently sloping alluvial valleys with fertile desert soils suitable for agriculture. An arid environment tied the Chimú economy to intravalley irrigation networks supplied from these rivers; these systems were supplemented by massive intervalley canals of great length that transported water between river valleys, thus opening vast stretches of intervalley lands to farming. The Chimú accomplishments and achievements in desert environment agricultural technologies brought canal-based water management and irrigation technology to its zenith among ancient South American civilizations, with practically all coastal cultivatable intervalley and intravalley lands reachable by canals brought under cultivation.

A Reevaluation of the Absolute Chronology of Cabuza and Related Ceramic Styles of the Azapa Valley, Northern Chile

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti Korpisaari ◽  
Markku Oinonen ◽  
Juan Chacama
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Influence ◽  
Bayesian Probability ◽  
The Political ◽  
Northern Chile ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
The Absolute

The nature and extent of the political and cultural influence of the Tiwanaku state (ca. A.D. 500—1100) in the Azapa Valley of northern Chile are debated topics. The absolute chronology of these contacts also remains somewhat unclear. Much of the debate has centered on the origins and chronological position of the Tiwanaku-related black-on-red ceramic style called Cabuza. In order to reevaluate the chronological position of the Cabuza, Maytas-Chiribaya, and San Miguel ceramic styles and associated cultural phases of the Azapa Valley, we obtained a total of 16 new radiocarbon dates for the Azapa-6, Azapa- 71a, Azapa-141, and Azapa-143 cemeteries. All but one sample dated to the Late Intermediate period (ca.A.D. 1000-1450). We compare our results with previously published radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates and carry out Bayesian probability calculations, establishing the most likely chronological ranges for the three ceramic styles. Based on this research, we argue that the undeniable Tiwanaku influence seen in the Azapa Valley more likely reflects processes set in motion by the collapse of the Tiwanaku state rather than an attempt to colonize or indirectly control the Azapa Valley during the Middle Horizon (ca. A.D. 550-1000).

scholarly journals Dating the Dead: New Radiocarbon Dates from the Lower Ica Valley, South Coast Peru

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 765-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Cadwallader ◽  
Susana Arce Torres ◽  
Tamsin C O'Connell ◽  
Alexander G Pullen ◽  
David G Beresford-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Peruvian Coast ◽  
Early Horizon ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Burial Practice

This article presents radiocarbon dates from human bone samples (n = 13) from seven pre-Columbian cemeteries in the Samaca and Ullujaya Basins of the lower Ica Valley, south coast of Peru, spanning from the end of the Early Horizon to the Inca Late Horizon. These contexts have been severely looted. Yet, in all cases, their putative dating by material culture remains is confirmed by these 14C dates. This shows that such disturbed contexts, sadly typical of the Peruvian coast, can nonetheless still yield valuable bioarchaeological and burial practice data. These dates elaborate upon an emerging picture of the absolute dating of the cultural phases of the wider south coast region, in particular casting new light on the poorly understood Middle Horizon to Late Intermediate period transition. A paucity of archaeological data for this 3-century period has been taken as evidence of some sort of environmentally or socially induced lacuna. Instead, the 14C dates presented here suggest that the basins of the lower Ica Valley were continuously occupied over this period.

Un fragment de stèle inédit de Dendara

2018 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-227
Author(s):  
Jérémie Florès
Keyword(s):  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Poor State ◽  
Registration Number ◽  
First Intermediate Period ◽  
The University

This article studies a fragment of a stele found by Clarence Stanley Fisher in 1915 at Dendara necropolis and most probably left in situ. Nevertheless, based on a photograph kept in the archives of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, it has been pointed out that the artefact, also known under the registration number D 628, presents a cut biography and a very damaged decorated scene. Despite its poor state of preservation, two themes have been recognized in the hieroglyphic text. The first is about the management of a grain silo, the second concerns the economic role of the owner for the funerary cult of his father. In addition to a phraseological analysis based on the terms mḫr/mẖr and šnwt, taking into account different information such as archaeological data, allowed an identification of the stele owner. It appears that he was a middle-ranking official who lived during the First Intermediate Period.

Rebuilding the State in Highland Peru: Herder-Cultivator Interaction during the Late Intermediate Period in the Tarama-Chinchaycocha Region

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Parsons ◽  
Charles M. Hastings ◽  
Ramiro Matos M.
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Sociopolitical Evolution ◽  
State Organization ◽  
Andean Highlands ◽  
Economic Specialization

We address the general problem of sociopolitical evolution in highland Peru during the Late Intermediate period (ca. A.D. 1000-1470) from the perspective of changing relationships between herders and cultivators in the Tarama-Chinchaycocha region. First, we use ethnographic and ethnohistoric information to help model central Andean herder-cultivator interaction. Here we emphasize the ecological and sociological foundations for economic specialization, the ritually based integration of pastoral and agricultural groups in the absence of strong state organization, and how the ritually interactive units define and maintain their borders. Second, in the light of these perspectives, we examine archaeological settlement pattern data from our study area in the central highlands of Peru. We conclude that the Late Intermediate period was a time of significant organizational change that included new forms of ritually based local and regional integration of pastoral and agricultural economies. Third, we briefly consider the general implications of our findings for understanding organizational change throughout the central Andean highlands during the Late Intermediate period. We suggest that the largest and most complex Late Intermediate highland polities depended on the full integration of specialized pastoralists and agriculturalists in those regions where both economies could attain maximal combined productivity in the aftermath of the breakdown of large states at the end of the Middle Horizon (ca. A.D. 600-1000).

War, Chronology, and Causality in the Titicaca Basin

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Arkush
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Agricultural Lands ◽  
Middle Horizon ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Late Intermediate Period ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Titicaca Basin ◽  
Traditional Assumption ◽  
Andean Highlands

In the Late Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1000-1450), people in many parts of the Andean highlands moved away from rich agricultural lands to settle in defensive sites high on hills and ridges, frequently building hilltop forts known as pukaras in Quechua and Aymara. This settlement shift indicates a concern with warfare not equaled at any other time in the archaeological sequence. While the traditional assumption is that warfare in the Late Intermediate Period resulted directly from the collapse of the Middle Horizon polities of Wari and Tiwanaku around A.D. 1000, radiocarbon dates presented here from occupation and wall-building events at pukaras in the northern Titicaca Basin indicate these hillforts did not become common until late in the Late Intermediate Period, after approximately A.D. 1300. Alternative explanations for this late escalation of warfare are evaluated, especially climate change. On a local scale, the shifting nature of pukara occupation indicates cycles of defense, abandonment, reoccupation, and wall building within a broader context of elevated hostilities that lasted for the rest of the Late Intermediate Period and beyond.

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