From Queshqa to Callango: a Paracas obsidian assemblage from the lower Ica Valley, Peru

Abstract

Obsidian constitutes a significant lithic material recovered from Paracas (first millennium B.C.) sites in south coastal Peru. Its presence in a variety of site contexts indicates that interaction with the neighboring highlands was well established, as one of the principal sources is Quispisisa at a distance of 225 km. In this study we discuss an obsidian assemblage from the Callango sector of the lower Ica Valley and the results of neutron activation analysis (NAA) that have determined Quispisisa as the source. These analyses advance and refine our understanding of local and long-distance interaction between the coast and highlands and contribute to broader concerns about the activities associated with procurement and exchange. Test results produce the first chemical signatures for a Paracas residential site in the lower Ica Valley. Our study adds to the ongoing inquiry about obsidian geochemistry and how source loci analysis complements questions about the materials and social interactions of pre-Hispanic cultures.La obsidiana es un material lítico significativo recuperado en los sitios paracas (1 er milenio a.C.) de la costa sur del Perú. Su presencia en diversos contextos de los sitios indica que la interacción con la sierra vecina se encontraba bien establecida, puesto que Quispisisa, que se encuentra a unos 225 km, fue una de sus fuentes más importantes. En el presente estudio examinamos un conjunto de obsidiana procedente del sector de Callango del valle bajo de Ica, así como los resultados del análisis de activación de neutrones (NAA) que determinó que su fuente fue Quispisisa. Estos análisis mejoran y refinan nuestra comprensión de la interacción local y de larga distancia entre costa y sierra, y contribuyen a un examen más amplio de las actividades asociadas con su adquisición e intercambio. Los resultados de las pruebas arrojaron las primeras firmas químicas de un sitio residencial paracas en el valle bajo de Ica. Nuestro estudio se suma a la investigación en curso acerca de la geoquímica de la obsidiana, y cómo el análisis de las fuentes complementa las preguntas referidas a los materiales y las interacciones sociales de las culturas prehispánicas.

Interregional Obsidian Exchange During the Late Initial Period and Early Horizon: New Perspectives From Campanayuq Rumi, Peru

“…Pottery during this time includes the sudden appearance of Paracas-related assemblages from the south coast of Peru. At the same time that Paracas pottery appears at Campanayuq Rumi, there is a corresponding influx of obsidian at Early Horizon Paracas settlements (DeLeonardis and Glascock 2013; see also Burger and Asaro 1977), suggesting exchange relationships between these two regions. Equally significant is the appearance of pottery styles with iconographic motifs that are clearly linked to the Janabarriu Phase of Chavín de Huántar (Burger 1984; Matsumoto 2010; Matsumoto and Cavero Palomino 2010).…”

Economic Directness in the Western Andes: A New Model of Socioeconomic Organization for the Paracas Culture in the First Millennium BC

“…Since its earliest definition in the 1920s by Tello (2005; Tello and Mejía Xesspe 1979), the Paracas archaeological culture has been conceived of as a coastal phenomenon unfolding in the first millennium BC between the Cañete and Acarí Valleys of southern Peru, although its interaction sphere was wider (Balbuena 2013; Canziani 2013; Cook 1999; DeLeonardis 2005; Dulanto 2013; Dulanto et al 2019; Kriss et al 2018; Peters 1988; Tantaleán et al 2013, 2017; Young 2017). Yet our recent findings in the northern Nasca Drainage demonstrate that Paracas settlement extended continuously across the entire western flank of the Andes up to the puna highlands (Reindel and Isla 2017, 2018; Reindel et al 2015).…”

“…Obsidian was a valued lithic material by the Paracas culture (Burger 2007; DeLeonardis and Glascock 2013; Van Gijseghem 2006), and—compared to other lithics—it was their key preferred material for the production of formal stone tools and weapons in the northern Nasca Drainage (Mader 2019a). The obsidian assemblage analyzed here is composed of 2,351 artifacts, classified into formal tools, which were modified by retouch; and debitage, which were lithic waste products of formal tool fabrication without evidence of intended surface alteration (Figure 3).…”

Marine shellfish exploitation as a means of reducing vulnerability to resource uncertainty in southern coastal Peru (200 BCE–150 CE)

“…People also exploited marine organisms, including mammals, seabirds, fish, seaweed, crustaceans, and mollusks (Knudson et al, 2015; Pezo-Lanfranco et al, 2015). Exchange relationships operating via regional travel routes circulated subsistence resources between shoreline settlements, including sites on the Paracas Peninsula and around Independence Bay, and inner-valley and highland communities (DeLeonardis, 1997; García Soto, 2010; Massey, 1986; Peters, 1997, 2013; Wallace, 1962). By the final centuries BCE, communities appear to have been integrated into regional and extra-regional exchange networks that provided access to varied resources obtained via herding, hunting, fishing, foraging, and agricultural activities.…”