Investigating cultural heterogeneity in San Pedro de Atacama, northern Chile, through biogeochemistry and bioarchaeology

Abstract

Individuals living in the San Pedro de Atacama oases and the neighboring upper Loa River Valley of northern Chile experienced the collapse of an influential foreign polity, environmental decline, and the appearance of a culturally distinct group during the Late Intermediate Period (ca. AD 1,100-1,400). We investigate cultural heterogeneity at the Loa site of Caspana through analyses of strontium and oxygen isotopes, cranial modification styles, and mortuary behavior, integrating biological aspects of identity, particularly geographic origins, with cultural aspects of identity manifested in body modification and mortuary behavior. We test the hypothesis that the Caspana population (n = 66) represents a migrant group, as supported by archeological and ethnographic evidence, rather than a culturally distinct local group. For Caspana archeological human tooth enamel, mean (87)Sr/(86)Sr = 0.70771 +/- 0.00038 (1sigma, n = 30) and mean delta(18)O(c(V-PDB)) = -3.9 +/- 0.6 per thousand (1sigma, n = 16); these isotopic data suggest that only one individual lived outside the region. Material culture suggests that the individuals buried at Caspana shared some cultural affinity with the San Pedro oases while maintaining distinct cultural traditions. Finally, cranial modification data show high frequencies of head shaping [92.4% (n = 61/65)] and an overwhelming preference for annular modification [75.4% (n = 46/61)], contrasting sharply with practices in the San Pedro area. Based on multiple lines of evidence, we argue that, rather than representing a group of altiplano migrants, the Caspana population existed in the region for some time. However, cranial modification styles and mortuary behavior that are markedly distinct from patterns in surrounding areas raise the possibility of cultural heterogeneity and cultural fissioning.

Examining Local Social Identities Through Patterns of Biological and Cultural Variation in the Solcor Ayllu, San Pedro De Atacama, Chile

“…This study complements and extends upon other recent research combining information from bioarchaeology and archaeological chemistry at San Pedro de Atacama (Knudson and Torres-Rouff 2009;Torres-Rouff and Knudson 2007) by focusing on mechanisms of social demarcation between the Solcor 3 and Solcor Plaza cemeteries. Taken together, these lines of evidence allow us to argue that subgroup identities reflected in multiple aspects of life and mortuary treatment existed within the larger Solcor community and that these identities impacted how Tiwanaku material culture was used in mortuary ritual within San Pedro de Atacama.…”

“…At San Pedro de Atacama, changing cultural influences associated with the Middle Horizon seem to have resulted in the diversification of cranial vault modification styles among the local population (Torres-Rouff 2009). However, tabular forms of modification remain the most common local variant in the San Pedro oases over the course of their occupation (Munizaga 1969;Torres-Rouff 2009). from the analysis of bone collagen, not produced or reported here, which more selectively reflect the isotopic signatures in the protein portion of the diet (Ambrose and Norr 1993;Kellner and Schoeninger 2007;Tieszen and Fagre 1993).…”

“…Ethnohistoric documents from the Andes substantiate the use of cranial modification style as a means of overt, visual differentiation between groups (see Blom 2005a), and previous archaeological studies of cranial modification in the region (e.g., Allison et al 1981;Gerszten 1993;Hoshower et al 1995;Torres-Rouff 2002, 2009) have been able to link specific cranial modification forms and practices to group identity at a variety of sociospatial scales. At San Pedro de Atacama, changing cultural influences associated with the Middle Horizon seem to have resulted in the diversification of cranial vault modification styles among the local population (Torres-Rouff 2009). However, tabular forms of modification remain the most common local variant in the San Pedro oases over the course of their occupation (Munizaga 1969;Torres-Rouff 2009).…”

“…The presence or absence of artificial modification as well as the resulting cranial shape were recorded using the classification system described in Dembo and Imbelloni (1938), which recognizes erect and oblique variants of both annular and tabular modification forms. A similar classification system has been applied to crania from San Pedro de Atacama by a number of previous researchers (e.g., Cocilovo and Zavattieri 1994;Knudson and Torres-Rouff 2009;Munizaga 1969;Torres-Rouff 2002). Individuals displaying only slight alteration to natural head shape were scored as unmodified to account for normal variation.…”

87Sr/86Sr and trace element mapping of geosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere interactions: A case study in Ireland

“…Åberg et al 1998;Bentley & Knipper 2005;Evans et al 2009;Evans et al 2010;Frei & Frei 2011;Frei & Frei 2013;Hartman & Richards 2014;Hedman et al 2009;Hodell et al 2004;Knudson & Torres-Rouff 2009;Kootker et al 2016;Laffoon et al 2012;Nafplioti 2011;Porder et al 2003;Price and Naumann, 2015;Sjögren et al 2009;Thornton 2011;Voerkelius et al 2010;Willmes et al 2014;Zitek et al 2015), however none of these has specifically dealt with detailed Sr isoscapes in Ireland. At present, there are relatively few published data dealing with spatial variation of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr in the Irish biosphere using environmental samples (Cahill Wilson and Standish, 2016;Knudson et al, 2012;Snoeck et al, 2016;Voerkelius et al, 2010), despite the fact that 87 Sr/ 86 Sr are commonplace as a provenance tool applied to archaeological studies (e.g.…”