The 38th Annual Midwest conference on andean and amazonian archaeology and ethnohistory
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SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20TH - NEFF 101
Coffee and Pastries
7:45 - 8:20 am
Opening Remarks (8:20 am)
Dr. Michael Wartell, Chancellor
Dr. William McKinney, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
Dr. Carl Drummond, Dean of the College of Arts and Scienc
(20 minutes for presentations and 5 minutes for questions and answers)
Saturday Session 1 (8:30 - 10:00 am)
1. Socaire's Entorno (Surrounding), Northern Chile: A Four-Dimensional Interpretation of Andean World View
Ricardo Moyano Vasconcellos (Archaeologist, ENAH Graduate Student, Mexico) Patricio Bustamante Diaz (Photographer, Researcher in Archaeoastronomy, Taller Taucan, Chile)
The introduction of the concept "Entorno" (surrounding) in the study of ceque system at Socaire (23º35' 28.68'' S/67º52' 36.10'' W), northern Chile, provides entrees to link cultural, geographical, climatic, astronomical, and psychological information from ethno-archaeological data. For Andean people the landscape is a living being, it assumes forms like human shapes in the mountains. Specifically, it refers to an area of approximately 1500 km² that includes Socaire and the horizon between Miscanti and Miiques volcanoes, it is interpreted as a human hand by local people. The sky is inhabited by beings, animals, and natural elements as "revolcaderos" or wallows (coal sac), the "zorro" (fox), and the "suri" (a kind of ostrich). The sky and the Earth as a whole are two parts of the greatest instrument of astronomical observation, scale 1:1, which is a prototype of other tools. These celestial and terrestrial elements provide a four-dimensional system of coordinates (x, y, z, and t) represented in the ceremony of cleanliness of channels at the end of October. Its purpose is to invoke local mountains in the "merendadero" (ceremonial center), as facilitator of rains and water in the circular movement of the "talatur". The Coricancha image of Pachacuti Yamqui (ca.1613 A.D.) represents a similar vision, and could be understood as a tetra-dimensional representation of the Andean World view (above, here, down, and time). These two examples suggest that Andean cultures might have been reading directly from the "book of the sky and the Earth". This responds to the psychological phenomena of Pareidolia, Apophenia, and Hierophany.
2. Fitting In or Standing Out? Examining Cultural Motivations for
Artificial Cranial Modification in Three Northern Chilean Valleys
Christine Elisabeth Boston (University of Western Ontario)
Artificial cranial modification (ACM) is the manipulation of the cranial vault through the use of externally applied forces in order to change the natural form of the skull either intentionally or unintentionally. ACM was practiced worldwide for a variety of reasons. It was practiced widely throughout South America, but the motivations for this practice remain unclear, particularly in northern Chile. Several scholars posit that ACM was used as a marker of ethnic identity, while others disagree, claiming it was a marker of social status. The purpose of this study is to test these competing hypotheses within northern Chilean populations using models developed by Christina Torres-Rouff. Torres-Rouff hypothesizes that the diversity and distribution of ACM styles was dependent on societal complexity, with small scale societies having diversity and large scale societies displaying uniformity. Over 500 adult and subadult crania from three northern Chilean valleys, Azapa, Camarones, and Lluta, were examined for this study. Modification styles were scored based on three modification typologies (ranging from simple to complex). The results to be presented in this paper provide preliminary insights into the motivations of practicing ACM in the past for this region.
3. Excavations of a Stratigraphical Column (800 B.C.-Present) in Copacabana, Bolivia
Sergio J. Chavez (Central Michigan University)
Recent excavations conducted at the site of Cundisa, situated in the urban center of the town of Copacabana, show stone structures, burials, and other material remains corresponding to Early Horizon, Early Intermediate, Middle Horizon, Late Horizon, Colonial, and 19th century times. The site, which has superimposed remains to depths up to five meters, provides the unique opportunity to document and study a large chronological sequence and diverse occupations. Among the most important remains are the earliest structures corresponding to a semi-subterranean temple associated with undisturbed levels and two burials containing complete pottery vessels; approximately 100 stone-lined burials containing Tiahuanaco style fancy and plain vessels (some placed inside and within the walls of the earlier temple); superimposed by stone foundations and a multiple Inca burial; followed by a series of Colonial period stone and brick structures associated with porcelain and copper or bronze artifacts; and a large stone foundation and a brick kiln near the modern surface. Based on the excavation of five trenches with a total area of 600 square meters, the site also shows disturbance and reuse of stones during the different periods of occupation, including deep depressions at the top filled with modern refuse. The earliest structure and associated remains correspond to the circumlacustrine Yaya-Mama Religious Tradition. The presence of such a large concentration of Tiahuanaco burials, along with the multiple Inca burial containing complete vessels, serve to document and understand the nature of such occupations, including the long term importance of Copacabana as a sacred center.
4. Grandma, what strange teeth you have: An examination of skeletal anomalies in social context.
Jo Ellen Burkholder (University of Wisconsin- Whitewater) and Tyler O'Brien (University of Northern Iowa)
This paper examines the nature and potential causes of a noted skeletal anomaly found on a human mandible at the Tiwanaku site of Iwawi, Department of La Paz, Bolivia. In it we assess several possible explanations for the development of a bony spicule on the mandible of a mature woman who lived at the site somewhere between 725 and 850 CE. Using contextual burial data from Iwawi and other Tiwanaku sites, comparative skeletal data as well as cross-cultural and ethnohistoric information we explore the potential for three different "occupational" roles to produce the observed malformation including "traditional" women's roles as textile weavers and producers of special foods such as chicha, the fermented beverage so highly valued for use in ceremonial contexts. The resulting analysis suggests that we may need to think beyond "traditional" or stereotypically female activities to explain the particular anomaly.
Morning Break
10:00 - 10:20 am
Saturday Session 2 (10:20 am - 12:00 pm)
5. Tiwanaku Volcanic Stone: Preliminary Results of Provenance Analysis, 2009
John W. Janusek (Vanderbilt University), Patrick Ryan. Williams and Mark Golitko (The Field Museum and University of Illinois at Chicago)
As is well-known, much of the monumental sculpture and architecture at Tiwanaku and affiliated sites in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin incorporated volcanic stone quarried from a number of outcrops in and near the region. Early in the Middle Horizon, the shift to large-scale use of durable stone such as basalt and andesite marked a significant shift in Tiwanaku aesthetics and technology. In this paper, we discuss results of the first phase of a project that seeks to precisely locate volcanic sources using x-ray fluorescence (XRF). We focus on the results of our analysis at the site of Tiwanaku and several nearby affiliated sites. We conclude that while most monumental volcanic stonework apparently came from a single source complex, we found intriguing and significant evidence for provenance diversity at Tiwanaku itself and in certain stone materials.
6. Human or Divine? Iconographic Interpretation of the Andean Staff God
Meg Turville-Heitz (University of Wisconsin - Madison)
The term "staff god" has been used by archaeologists and art historians to describe a staff-bearing anthropomorphic, front-facing figure best known from Chavin and Tiwanku iconography. I argue that this figure alternatively called gateway or rayed deity - possesses attributes of a "shaman" or ritual practitioner based on ethnographic, ethnohistoric, iconographic and archaeological evidence of transfiguration, ritual, healing, divining, and hallucinogenic use by ritual practitioners in the region. The earliest image associated with the "staff god" figure appears on gourd fragments from about 2250 BC associated with the North Coast Supe culture. The latest attributions are ethnohistoric and ethnographic associations between the Inca-period origin myth of Wiracocha and a staff-bearing figure linked to the central image on the Gateway of the Sun in Tiwanaku. This incredible span of time and distance amongst groups with significant cultural, linguistic, and artistic differences, suggests iconography depicting a practice, rather than a single pan-Andean being.
I discuss here some key staff god features, figures, and contexts, and present support for them as representing a "shaman" practicing his/her art. I explore different expressions of "shamanism" and suggest that these figures represent a dual ritual tradition in which the role of the ritual practitioner is split between individuals who serve different functions within society, one of which is the performance of public ritual acts while serving a leadership role, which may suggest a path by which increasing complexity led to 'priest-king' style leadership.
7. An ethnohistorical solution to an archaeological problem. The historical relation between Collaguas and Cuzco.
Tom Zuidema (University of Illinois)
The ethnohistorical information on the political organization of the Collaguas province in late Inca and early colonial times is one of the best in the Andes. Especially remarkable is how the Relacion Geografica by Ulloa Mogollon describes the general organization of the province in terms similar to how the Ceque system in Cuzco describes the organization of this city. In his recent archaeological study of Collaguas province Steven Wernke argues that the similarity was a consequence of Inca conquest. From the ethnohistorial information we must conclude, however, that the socio-political organization of Collaguas was of much older origin there. I will indicate the importance and great interest of the consequences to which this conclusion leads.
8. Sex and Gender at the Paracas Necropolis: Preliminary results
Ann H. Peters (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology)
Despite characterization of the elaborate burials at the Paracas Necropolis as "elder males," Julio C. Tello and his assistant Toribio Meja Xessspe organized systematic study of a number of complex burials of women, which have remained unpublished. Comparisons between male and female burials provide new insights on the nature of social status in the Paracas-Nasca transition. In the first phases of our analysis of a cross section of Necropolis mortuary assemblages, both elaborate and simpler burials offer a wealth of information on sex and gender roles over the life cycle based on treatments after death. Preliminary results include reconstruction of mortuary practices, comparisons of grave goods present in over 150 burials, and the evidence to date from an initial set of bio-anthroplogical studies.
Lunch Break
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Saturday Session 3 (1:30 - 3:10 pm)
9. Political transformations in the Central-South Coast of Peru, Asia Valley
Emily Baca Marroquin (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Political changes and social transformations occur when imperial and non imperial societies encounter and this can be observed when Incas conquered regions along the Tahuantinsuyo. However, everything is not rigid in politics and different situations in between took place in determining the strategy of domination. This situation can be observed in Central-South coast of Peru where particular policies were employed during the Inca conquest of Asia Valley. In this presentation I will explore this problematic in the archaeological site of Uquira, Asia Valley and attempt to reconstruct the political scenario of the conquest of this area.
10. Marriage and Conflict Among Chanka Kurakas, 1570 - 1775
Sabine Hyland (St. Norbert College) and Donato Amado Gonzalez (the Asociación Kuraka)
This presentation will analyze the ayllu leadership of the Chanka ethnic group in Peru from 1570 to 1775 based on unpublished documents in the Archivo General de las Indias (Seville), the Archivo General de la Nacion (Lima), the Biblioteca Nacional (Lima), the Archivo Departamental del Cuzco, and the Ministerio de la Agricultura (Andahuaylas). Particular attention will be paid to the role of kuraka marriage strategies in the struggle between the Guaraca and Guachaca ayllus over headship of the Chanka nation.
11. The destruction of Yurak Rumi
Brian S. Bauer, Miriam Dayde Aroz Silva, George S. Burr (University of Illinios at Chicago)
The site of Yurak Rumi is one of the most impressive carved rock shrines of the Inca Empire. It is located approximately 100 aerial kilometers to the northwest of Cuzco, within the vast subtropical region that the Inca once called Antisuyu. More precisely, the shrine complex is situated within the Inca province of Vilcabamba near the town of Vitcos. This province has gained notoriety among historians, archaeologists and other students of the Inca, since it was from Vilcabamba that the last independent Incas waged a nearly forty year long war (AD 1536-1572) against Spanish control of the Andes; and the shrine of Yurak Rumi holds especial importance since it was the last regional shrine to be worshiped by the Inca elite. In this paper we discuss the results of recent excavations at this shrine complex in conjunction with a suite of eleven radiocarbon dates, many of which were taken from well preserved roofing materials. Our research provides insights into when the Vilcabamba region was first conquered by the Inca and how the shrine was destroyed by the Spaniards.
12. Late Archaic Temples in the Norte Chico Region of Peru
Winifred Creamer (Northern Illinois University), Jonathan Haas (The Field Museum), and Alvaro Ruiz (Instituto Cultural del Norte Chico)
In the north central highlands of Peru during the Late Archaic (3000 - 1800 B.C.) there is a distinctive architectural type commonly referred to as the Mito Temple, first associated with the Mito Phase at the site of Kotosh. These temples are identified by a generally square room with niched walls. In the center of these structures there is a central sunken square space associated with a hearth, sometimes vented below the floor. Although these are generally seen as having a highland origin, recent research in the Norte Chico region on the coast has revealed structures with the features of Mito-type temples, but with substantially earlier radiocarbon dates. Examples of these coastal Mito temples from the Late Archaic sites of Caballete and Huaricanga in the Fortaleza Valley, immediately to the west of Kotosh, are discussed, along with the significance of these early examples in terms of Peruvian prehistory.
Afternoon Break
3:10 - 3:30 pm
Saturday Session 4 (3:30 - 5:10 pm)
13. Evidence for Late Archaic Temporary Occupation at Caballete, Norte Chico
Jennifer Wulffen (University of Illinois at Chicago)
The site of Caballete is one of thirty large Late Archaic sites that lie in the Norte Chico region of Peru. Like its counterparts, Caballete contains large monumental mounds with associated sunken circular plazas and stone housing complexes indicative of a complex society. In this paper I discuss the results of two test excavations conducted in an open area 400 meters in front of the central mounds that reveal temporary, possibly seasonal, occupations that appear to be contemporary with the major architecture. One unit revealed evidence of day-to-day activities associated with fishing while the other yielded indications of feasting. These findings support current theories that a trade network, which may have included mound building labor, linked the site with coastal populations.
14. Isotopic Evidence for Traded Fabrics and Camelid Management Practices in the Viru Valley, Northern Peru (Early Intermediate Period)
Paul Szpak (University of Western Ontario)
This paper presents stable isotope (d13C and d15N) data for textiles composed of camelid fibre (hair keratin) and butchered camelid remains (bone collagen) from two Early Intermediate period occupations in the Viru Valley of northern Peru: Huaca Santa Clara (V-67), a mid-sized regional administrative centre, and the Gallinazo Group, though to be the capital of the Viru polity. There are marked differences in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of textiles vs. camelid bone collagen from the same contexts. Additionally, there is a positive correlation between d13C and d15N for bone collagen, but not for textiles. This strongly suggests that the textiles were composed of wool from non-local animals and that there were significant differences in the diet, habitat and management practices of the animals used as fibre producers, and those that ended up in the midden deposits.
15. Reconstructions of diet of Moche human sacrifices using stable isotopes at Huaca de la Luna, Peru
J. Marla Toyne (Department of Anthropology, The University of Western Ontario), Christine D. White (Department of Anthropology, The University of Western Ontario), John W. Verano (Tulane University, Fred J. Longstaffe (Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario), and Santiago Uceda Castillo (Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Trujillo, Peru)
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of bone and tooth collagen (d13Ccol, d15Ncol) and structural carbonate (d13Csc) were used to reconstruct the diets of the young males who were executed and physically mutilated on Plaza 3C at Huaca de la Luna (n= 16) and site inhabitants from a residential complex (N=18) in order to address the current debate about their social identity. It has been hypothesized that the victims were warriors sacrificed as part of ritual battles conducted by the Moche elite to legitimize their ideology and power. An alternate hypothesis is that they were captives taken from neighbouring highland groups (either Moche or non-Moche) during external conflicts.
Preliminary data suggest there is a significant difference in the types and range of food resources between the two groups. The Δ13Csc–coll spacings, and d13C and d15N values of most sacrificial victims are typical of highland diets, which are based on terrestrial protein and C3 plant resources. Those interred in the residential complex of the urban center had diets more typical of local coastal agricultural populations, with significant contributions of C4 plants (such as maize) and higher tropic level marine resources. The socio-political implications of these findings are discussed.
16. Ukhupacha: Defying the landscape by enabling archaeologists to explore the verticality of the Andean World
Salvador Guinot Castello (Asociacion Ukhupacha, Universidad Jaume I, Spain)
Archaeology has traditionally been limited to sites that are readily accessible. However, the Andes of South America presents an environment of impossibly high peaks and steep slopes that challenge archaeological investigations though seemingly not the Prehispanic cultures who transformed them. The Ukhupacha Association brings technical skills in spelunking and vertical progression to facilitate the scientific exploration of particularly difficult to reach archaeological sites. The approach involves three aspects: facilitating access for those without knowledge of vertical progression, training archaeologists and technicians to be able to reach these sites, or exploring sites on behalf of researchers and carrying out required tasks in more difficult or dangerous situations. The results of collaborations at Machu Picchu demonstrate these possibilities, where in 2009, we successfully mapped two previously unknown Inca roads. After 8 years of work in Peru and Ecuador, it is clear that these technical skills are essential to archaeologists, biologists, among other scientists to expand areas of study and obtain better results. It is with this knowledge and experience that our future objectives in Machu Picchu include organizing a course specializing in the application of these exploratory tools for archaeologists and anthropologists working in these geographically challenging environments.
Business Meeting
5:10 - 5:30 pm
Dinner Break
5:30 - 8:00 pm
Reception - IPFW Holiday Inn
8:00 - 11:00 pm
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 21ST - NEFF 101
Coffee & Pastries
8:15 - 8:45 am
Sunday Session 1 (8:30 - 10:00 am)
17. Preserving Archaeological Sites by Forming Community Partnerships: A Case Study from the North Coast of Peru
Brian Billman (Moche, Inc/UNC-Chapel) and Jesus Briceno Rosario (Moche, Inc. and Instituto Nacional del Peru - La Libertad)
As you read these words archaeological sites in Peru are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. If we do not act now, most of the archaeological sites in many regions of Peru will be destroyed within the next 10 years. Results of our preservation efforts in the Moche Valley since 1998 indicate that destruction of sites can be averted by forming community partnerships that integrate development, education, and preservation. This community-based approach may be a key to stemming the tide of destruction in Peru and beyond.
18. Finding Ancestors in Archaeological Record: A Respond to Whitley's "Too Many Ancestors"
Go Matsumoto (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale)
A British archaeologist James Whitley (2002) warned that many mortuary archaeologists tend to focus solely on burial locations and give short shrift to potentially much more complicated conceptions and practices but simply lumping them together under the heading of “ancestor cults.” There has very little attempt to get over this critical problem at least in Andean archaeology during the last decade. In order to respond to Whitley's argument, in this article, I will demonstrate how we should approach ancestor veneration and what evidence we need to define it in archaeological record, referring to recent excavations at the site of Sicán in the Middle La Leche Valley, northern North Coast of Peru.
19. Ethnohistoric Sources on Maize and Andean Political Economy
John E. Staller (The Field Museum)
Review of the primary and secondary 16th century sources on maize (Zea mays L.) and its role to tribute, mit, ethnic identity and ritual ceremony indicate it was central to Andean political economy. Many of the concepts and ideas scholars currently have regarding the economic and ritual significance of food crops such as maize to the development of Andean civilization were directly influenced by ethnohistorians and 16th century documents, as well as its role as a primary present day economic crop. Maize appears to have a close symbolic, sometimes metaphorical and mythological association with the Inca ruling elite. Feasting, in its various forms and cultural contexts, appears to be a reciprocal enterprise often carried out in the context of ritual performance or engagement, which reifies status and hierarchical relationships among Andean cultures. Maize played a central role in sociocultural development, particularly in rituals that rationalized and sanctified the social order, providing labor, tribute and goods to fill huge storehouses. The propensity of European colonial officials to keep detailed records of their affairs in their colonies has been shown to be of considerable value to students and scholars of the Pre-Columbian New World.
Morning Break
10:00 - 10:20 am
Sunday Session 2 (10:20 am - 12:00 pm)
20. Maize Use and Food Residues from Yumbo and Inca Pottery Recovered at Palmitopamba, Ecuador
Robert Thompson (University of Minnesota)
The site of Palmitopamba is located northwest of Quito, in the cloud forest on the western slope of the Ecuadorian Andes. Under the direction of Dr. Ronald Lippi, excavations have revealed a long Yumbo occupation, followed by a mixed Inca and Yumbo occupation. One of the central research questions being addressed is the nature of Inca and Yumbo interaction, using a number of analytical techniques. The examination of phytoliths recovered from food residues has yielded data which bear on this research question. Five Yumbo and three Inca sherds yielded assemblages of maize phytoliths sufficient to identify the lineages from which they were derived. The Yumbo and Inca sherds contained similar assemblages of phytoliths. While the Inca frequently brought Cuzco maize varieties along with them, and encouraged their utilization in new areas, there is no evidence of this behavior at Palmitopamba. The food residue evidence reflects a pattern of behavior in which the Inca adopted the ways of their Yumbo predecessors at the site. This is consistent with other lines of evidence.
21. Antagonistic Tolerance in the Andes, a Comparative Study of Conflict and Coexistence over Sacred Sites in Andean Late Pre-Columbian and Early Colonial Periods.
Enrique Lopez-Hurtado and Robert M. Hayden (University of Pittsburgh)
The peaceful assimilation, hostile transformation, and even destruction of religious centers has been recognized as an important component of political contestations and manifestations of domination between co-resident groups that distinguish each other as Self and Other communities. The Antagonistic Tolerance (AT) project is an NSF and Wenner-Gren funded initiative that is undertaking the comparative study of competitive sharing of religious centers between such groups, using ethnographic, historical and archeological data.
During its first stage (2008-2009) members of the project have collected information about contested religious centers in contemporary and past Old World's societies. The second stage of the project hopes to extend the scope of the analysis to the Late Pre-Columbian and Early Colonial Andes. In this presentation we will present the theoretical foundations and research questions that the Andean component of the project pursuits.
Conference Program
