Refining oxygen isotope analysis in the Nasca region of Peru: An investigation of water sources and archaeological samples

Abstract

The development of complex societies, irrigation agriculture and sociopolitical transitions are of interest to researchers working in the Nasca region on the south coast of Peru. Occupied for thousands of years, many questions regarding the circumstances of these changes in the area are being investigated. Oxygen isotope analysis provides a method for exploring residential mobility of past peoples during these transitions. This study presents new d 18 O data from water sources that would have been used by the ancient inhabitants, providing important information regarding the oxygen isotope variability in the region and the necessary baseline data for migration studies in this region. Our results suggest that the isotopic composition of water sources in the Nasca region is not highly variable. In addition, archaeological human tooth enamel samples from the sites of La Tiza and Pajonal Alto are analysed.

The consequences of Wari contact in the Nasca region during the Middle Horizon: archaeological, skeletal, and isotopic evidence

“…2). In comparison with the previously reported La Tiza samples from all three time periods (À6.7&, Buzon et al, 2011), this mean is slightly, though not statistically, lower. Some of the teeth used in this study reflect a diet before weaning was complete.…”

“…The demographic and carbonate isotopic data from a subset of these burials have been previously published in Conlee et al (2009) and Buzon et al (2011). Of the nine discrete burials, three date to the Early Intermediate Period, four date to the Late Intermediate Period, and two date to the Middle Horizon.…”

Geographic variation in bone carbonate and water δ18O values in Mendoza, Argentina and their relationship to prehistoric economy and settlement

“…Archaeologists regularly use oxygen isotopes ( 16 O/ 18 O) to assess mobility and residence patterns in ancient populations (Buzon et al, 2011;Dupras and Schwarcz, 2001;Knudson, 2009;Sanhueza and Falabella, 2010;Sponheimer and Lee-Thorp, 1999;Turner et al, 2009). These isotopes occur in the phosphate and carbonate components of bone and enamel hydroxyapatite and reflect the isotopic composition of body water at the time bone and enamel are formed.…”

Recursos y Dietas Humanas en Laguna Llancanelo (Mendoza, Nordpatagonia): Una Discusión Isotópica del Registro Arqueológico

“…A pesar de ello la relación entre el incremento en los valores de δ 15 N asociados directamente a los niveles tróficos está bien fundada y parece no cuestionada (Hedges & Reynard 2007 Knudson 2009;Sanhueza & Falabella 2010;Buzon et al 2011). Estos isótopos se registran en el fosfato y carbonato de la hidroxiapatita y reflejan principalmente la composición isotópica del agua corporal, determinada básicamente por el agua ingerida en el momento de formación de los huesos y dientes (Longinelli & Nuti 1973;Longinelli 1984;Luz et al 1984;Sponheimer & Lee-Thorp 1999;White et al 2004;.…”