Archaeological Approaches to Obsidian Quarries: Investigations at the Quispisisa Source

Tripcevich, Nicholas; Contreras, Daniel

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-5200-3_2

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(37 reference statements)

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“…Under what mechanisms did the Chinchorro populations supply themselves with animal skins and fiber of camelids, chinchilla and vizcacha, or with manganese and various lithic raw materials? It is possible that they obtained these materials through interregional exchanges with Andean hunter-gatherers (Núñez, Zlatar, & Núñez, 1975;Núñez & Dillehay, 1979;Santoro & Núñez, 1987;Santoro, 1989;Castillo & Sepúlveda, 2015;Sepúlveda et al, 2013;Tripcevich & Contreras, 2013;Herrera et al, 2015), or directly through travel to the highlands (Schiappacasse & Niemeyer, 1975;Sandweiss et al, 1998;Standen et al 2004;Sandweiss, 2008;Sandweiss & Rademaker, 2011). Alternatively, it has been suggested that Andean huntergatherers came down to the coast to exchange goods with coastal populations (Lynch, 1973).…”

Section: General Background Chinchorro Hunter-gatherers and Fishermenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunting, Gathering, and Fishing on the Coast of the Atacama Desert: Chinchorro Population Mobility Patterns Inferred from Strontium Isotopes

et al. 2017

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We discuss how the Chinchorro population of hunter‐gatherers and fishermen organized their mobility patterns between the rich marine ecosystems of the Pacific coast and the extreme hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert through the application of strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr). We analyzed tooth enamel samples of 35 individuals from the coast (n = 28), inland oasis (n = 6), and the Andean highlands (n = 1). The Sr isotopic composition of modern and archaeological bone samples from sea mammals and land herbivores were obtained from 10 localities. Coastal human individuals show a similar Sr signal to sea mammals, confirming that the former were born and raised in the littoral zone. These results along with archaeological data suggest that the Chinchorro maintained logistic mobility along the coast. Similarly, a woman buried in the highlands (Patapatane) has a Sr signal closer to marine values, suggesting that some Chinchorro also maintained a logistic mobility linked to the Andean interior. In contrast, the Sr ratios of individuals from the inland oasis (Tiliviche) are intermediate between marine Sr values and those of local fauna. This seems to indicate that, although these Chinchorro individuals were raised in this oasis, they were part of a broad logistic mobility pattern connected with the coast.

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Section: General Background Chinchorro Hunter-gatherers and Fishermenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunting, Gathering, and Fishing on the Coast of the Atacama Desert: Chinchorro Population Mobility Patterns Inferred from Strontium Isotopes

et al. 2017

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“…Obsidian was preferred by many stone-tool-using societies around the world, both because it possesses these attributes and because it produces razor-sharp edges when flaked (e.g. Shackley 1988;Ambrose 2012;Tripcevich & Contreras 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithic technological strategies of the earliest herders at Lake Turkana, northern Kenya

Goldstein

2019

Antiquity

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“…Research in the central Andes of Peru has helped to locate and characterize some of the most important obsidian sources in the region, including Alca, Chivay and Quispisisa (Jennings and Glascock ; Tripcevich ; Tripcevich and Contreras ; Tripcevich and Mackay , ; Rademaker et al . ; Tripcevich, Contreras ). Similar work across the Argentinean and Chilean southern Andes has helped to locate and differentiate the complex landscape of sources in those regions (Seelenfreund et al .…”

Section: Obsidian Sources Studies In the Andesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Pleistocene Lithic Procurement and Geochemical Characterization of the Cerro Kaskio Obsidian Source in South‐western Bolivia

et al. 2018

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Primary questions regarding the foraging behaviour of the first hunter–gatherers who colonized the New World are how they found, procured and utilized high‐quality raw materials for manufacturing stone tools. In this paper, we present evidence from the late Pleistocene site of Cueva Bautista in the highlands of south‐western Bolivia, which demonstrates that a substantial portion of the recovered stone tool assemblage originated in Cerro Kaskio, a recently discovered obsidian source located 15 km south‐west of the site. In addition to describing the geological and geochronological setting, we provide the first geochemical characterization of the Cerro Kaskio source by means of instrumental neutron activation analysis and energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence. Supported on the technological analysis and archaeometric sourcing of the obsidian lithics found in Cueva Bautista, we discuss the nature of the procurement strategies practised by the earliest mobile hunter–gatherers who explored and colonized the Andean highlands. We conclude that opportunistic lithic resource procurement was probably an important component of the first foraging societies that explored the highland Andes.

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Archaeological Approaches to Obsidian Quarries: Investigations at the Quispisisa Source

Cited by 19 publications

References 38 publications

Hunting, Gathering, and Fishing on the Coast of the Atacama Desert: Chinchorro Population Mobility Patterns Inferred from Strontium Isotopes

Hunting, Gathering, and Fishing on the Coast of the Atacama Desert: Chinchorro Population Mobility Patterns Inferred from Strontium Isotopes

Lithic technological strategies of the earliest herders at Lake Turkana, northern Kenya

Late Pleistocene Lithic Procurement and Geochemical Characterization of the Cerro Kaskio Obsidian Source in South‐western Bolivia

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