Ritual stone‐built architecture and shell midden foundation: A semisubterranean structure in hyperarid Atacama Desert coast, Northern Chile

Abstract

Hunter‐gatherer architectural practices are one of the main sources of data to understand the complex land use of these societies. In the hyperarid Atacama Desert coast (Northern Chile), hunter‐gatherers‐fishers developed standardized stone‐built architecture during the Late Archaic period (∼5,700–4,000 cal years BP), interpreted so far as sedentary villages or long‐term campsites. Nevertheless, the lack of site formation process studies and systematic chronostratigraphies defy such functional interpretations. To address these issues, we reconstruct the lifecycle of a recently discovered semisubterranean structure at the Zapatero site (~25°S, Taltal). Combining stratigraphy, micromorphology, faunal and lithic analysis, as well as radiocarbon dating, we evidence a broad sequence involving different processes: shell midden formation; a stone‐structure; a prepared burial pit; a burning event; a short‐term occupational episode; and the entombment of the structure. We interpret this sequence as ritualized actions related to commemorative and place‐making activities. Our work stresses the need for new research programs at the Atacama Desert coast, based on geoarchaeological approaches, to understand hunter‐gatherer‐fisher middening and architectural practices from the very materiality involved in stratigraphy‐making processes.

Did a 3800-year-old M w ~9.5 earthquake trigger major social disruption in the Atacama Desert?

“…at Playa San Pedro (25.51°S), which are consistent with previous calibrated age ranges from other sites in the region ( Fig. 3 ) ( 26 , 29 , 30 ).…”

“…4 and 5 and fig. S8) is a 6000-m 2 , 2-m-deep, shell midden ( 26 , 29 , 38 ). The effects of strong currents that we associate with a Late Holocene paleotsunami are evident in the erosional surfaces of the upper part of the midden at different locations on the site ( Fig.…”

“…(only few sites show evidence for individual inhumation in rockshelters). Of the 19 Archaic IV sites with architecture in the region (most of them with burials), thought to be residential bases ( 20 , 26 , 52 ) and/or social aggregation sites ( 29 ) (fig. S39), none of them seems to show occupations after 3800 cal yr B.P.…”

“…SPDs of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites were calculated using a compiled database for all ages known from published material ( 29 , 67 , 68 ) and our own results for the coast of the Tarapacá and Antofagasta regions for the period 6500 to 1500 cal yr B.P. ( n = 221).…”

“…We identified a minimum number of individuals (MNI) of 2661 specimens that included 68 families and species of marine invertebrates, marine vertebrates, and tetrapods, all presently found along the northern coast of Chile. Detailed descriptions of faunal groups and their representation have been reported in previous work (26,29,38). NISP and MNI were used to quantify faunal abundance (72)(73)(74)(75).…”