South America I - Archaeology Notes
South America: Setting and Chronology
South America Setting
The diverse geography of South America includes:
The western desert coast of the Pacific Ocean.
The eastern lowland forests.
The Andean highlands.
Eastern Lowlands
Primarily rainforest with poor soils.
High rainfall: at least 130 days per year with relative humidity exceeding 80%.
Distinct rainy and dry seasons.
90% of the runoff from the Andes drains into these lowlands.
Montaña or la ceja de selva: the eyebrow of the jungle on the eastern face of the Andes.
The Andes
The second highest mountain chain globally.
Elevations exceeding 22,000 feet.
Cordillera: refers to the knotted rope-like appearance of the mountain chain.
Significant tectonic activity resulting in numerous volcanoes, with 46 currently or recently active.
The Andes - Altiplano and Puna
Altiplano: Large high-elevation tracts of land above 4,000 meters.
Puna: Year-round grasslands within the altiplano.
The Andes - Extreme Verticality
Dramatic environmental variation within short distances.
Traveling 200 km east from the coastal desert leads to a climb of over 22,000 feet, followed by a drop into a vast rainforest.
The western coastal plain is largely desert.
Over 50 river valleys exist along the Peruvian coast, but they carry only about 10% of the runoff from the Andes.
Desert Coast - Factors Contributing to Dryness
Rainshadow effect of the Andes Mountains.
Humboldt Current: A cold water current originating in Antarctica that travels north along the Pacific Ocean floor and upwells off the coast of South America.
This creates a temperature inversion that inhibits rain cloud formation.
Humboldt Current
Crucial for the development of ancient and modern South American coastal societies.
The cold water supports phytoplankton, which forms the base of a rich food chain.
The current concentrates fish near the shoreline, creating hotspots for fishing.
Humboldt Current - El Niño Events
El Niño events involve warm water from the western Pacific pushing against the Humboldt Current.
Anchovies and other species become concentrated in small areas, leading to overfishing.
The normally arid coast experiences torrential rainfall, resulting in severe flooding.
South America Chronology
Lithic (Archaic) Period: prior to 3000 BC
Nomadic hunter-gatherers subsisting on wild resources.
Preceramic Period: 3000–1800 BC
Large architectural projects before the advent of ceramics.
Initial Period: 1800–400 BC
Spread of coastal irrigation and agro-pastoralism in the sierras.
Early Horizon: 400–200 BC
Spread of Chavín religious ideology across a large area.
Early Intermediate Period: 200 BC–AD 650
Moche and Nazca cultures.
Middle Horizon: AD 650–1000
Wari and Tiwanaku empires.
Late Intermediate Period: AD 1000–1476
Chan Chan and the Chimú Empire.
Late Horizon: AD 1476–1533
Inca Empire.
Preceramic Sites in South America
Preceramic Period: 3000 to 1800 BC
Aspero.
El Paraíso.
Caral.
Aspero - Near Mouth of Rio Supe
Visited by archaeologists in the 1940s.
Gordon Willey returned in 1971 with Michael Moseley.
Features early monumental architecture.
Huaca de los Idolos and Huaca de los Sacrificios: two of the oldest monumental buildings in the Americas.
Aspero - Huaca Structure
Huacas consist of a large basal platform supporting a complex of rooms and courtyards on top.
Dating back to around 2800 BC, contemporary with the pyramids in Egypt.
1000 years older than Olmec mounds in Mesoamerica.
Aspero - Subsistence Information
Site covered in dark-stained, organic-rich soil from midden material.
Gordon Willey initially thought the dark soil between the mounds was natural.
Radiocarbon dates fall around 3000–2400 BC.
Midden contains birds, fish, shellfish, sea mammals, as well as wild and cultivated plants including gourds, cotton, and maize.
Gourds and cotton are considered industrial plants.
Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilizations Theory
Proposed by Michael Moseley to explain the emergence of settled life and large sites on the Peruvian coast without agriculture or ceramics.
Theory: Dependable and plentiful maritime resources, sustained by the Humboldt Current, allowed for a sedentary fishing lifestyle.
This sedentism is a pre-adaptation for agriculture and the development of complexity.
Coastal sites like Aspero grew cotton and gourds earliest, rather than food crops.
Corporate Labor - Model to Explain Large Constructions
Developed by Gordon Willey and Michael Moseley.
Corporate labor construction: large buildings require an organized workforce larger than several nuclear families.
Reflects information about how people create their social spaces on the landscape.
Buildings consist of a series of large, low basal platforms set one on top of another.
Room blocks are built on top of the low basal platforms, many of which are non-residential.
Corporate Labor - Shicra Construction Method
Non-residential structures were filled with rocks and soil carried in woven reed bags called shicras, which were left in place.
Using shicras allowed for easy tracking of individual contributions to massive corporate labor projects.
Caral - Supe Valley
One of the largest Late Preceramic sites with monumental architecture and no pottery.
Caral covers 65 hectares (161 acres), significantly larger than Aspero's 13 hectares (32 acres).
Piramide Mayor measures 160 x 150 m, is 18 m high, and was built in two major episodes using shicra bags.
Plaza Hundida Tradition
Sunken Circular Courts: a novel architectural form appearing at Caral.
Believed to have been important in ritual processions through the site centers.
The circular sunken courtyard form persisted for the next couple of thousand years.
At least three of these plaza forms are visible in the site center at Caral.
Organic Preservation at Caral
Botanical remains include a larger number of domesticates than seen at Aspero.
Squash, beans, guava, camote, and cotton are present, but maize is absent.
Site appears to have been occupied between 2600 to 2000 BC, near the end of the Late Preceramic.
Faunal resources show a heavy reliance on marine resources, similar to Aspero.
Relationship Between Coast and Inland Sites
Caral is inland with no direct access to marine resources, while Aspero is near the coast.
The emerging model involves irrigation-fed agricultural fields around inland sites, where crops like cotton are grown.
A regional exchange network existed between these sites and coastal ones, which provided marine resources in exchange for agricultural items.
Evidence for Preceramic Social Stratification
Differences in the elaboration of houses reveal differences in social standing.
Some houses are plain and simple, made of poles and an adobe covering.
Others are more elaborate, with multiple room blocks and cut stone masonry foundations.
Some complexes are located on the tops of the large basal platforms.
Staff God - Earliest Example
Decorated gourd dated to around 2250 BC.
This figure becomes more prominent during the following Initial period.
Appears as the principal deity in many Early Horizon Chavín sites.
Some archaeologists view this development, Chavin, as the first widespread political unit to integrate multiple valleys and regions under a unified art style and system of rulership.
Chinchorro Mummies
Warning: The slides ahead have images of actual mummies
Chinchorro Culture - 7000 to 1500 BC
Represents a complete reliance on coastal resources for their subsistence and technology.
Chinchorro mummies are among the oldest mummies found anywhere in the world.
Chinchorro appears to represent the beginning of a central theme in Andean culture and religious belief systems: death and the integration of the deceased as partially or fully present members of society.
Inca Period
Dead emperors retained all their land holdings, wealth, and possessions.
They were paraded out during public ceremonies by their ‘estates’ (panaqas).
This system elaborated and maintained a focus on individual identity long after the person's death.
Chinchorro Culture - Geographic Extent
Extends from the south coast of Peru down the northern coast of Chile.
Located in the super-arid Atacama Desert.
The aridity of this setting has greatly contributed to the excellent preservation of many of these mummies.
Types of Chinchorro Mummies - Chronological Order
Natural mummies (simple treatment).
Black mummies.
Red mummies (artificial mummification).
Mud-coated mummies.
Bandaged mummies.
Return to natural mummification.
Natural Mummies
Mummified primarily by exposure to the natural elements of the Atacama Desert.
The naturally salty soil of the region accelerates the process.
Commonly found wrapped in reed mats and camelid furs.
Black Mummies
Complex treatments to preserve not just the body but to create specific appearances that distinguish the mummy.
Transformed into sophisticated statues or death images through reinforcement of their inner skeletal structure and the removal of most soft tissue.
Black color due to being painted with a layer of manganese.
Black Mummies - How to Make One!
Remove the head.
Remove the skin.
Deflesh the body.
Using stone tools, remove the brain and fill the cavity with grass, soil, and/or animal hair.
Reassemble and bind together the skull, covering it with a white-ash paste to restore the head to its approximate original volume.
Replace the skin, add a wig of human hair, coat with manganese, and then reinforce with more binding.
Red Mummies
Not disarticulated to the same degree as black mummies.
Much of the skin remained intact; organs and muscles were removed through slits.
Interior body cavities were dried out, often by placing burning embers inside.
Sticks were sometimes slid underneath the skin to maintain shape.
The body was stuffed with feathers, grass, hair, or soil.
The head was reattached and coated similarly to black mummies.
Head and body painted red.
Mummy “Usewear”
Commonly shows signs of use-wear.
Suggests they were left out in sight or placed in prominent or public settings for some time after mummification.
Eventually, they were interred (buried).
Mud-Coated Mummies - Shift in Beliefs?
Corpses were smoked to dry them out and then covered from head to toe with a thick layer of cement-like paste or mud.
Much less mobile or portable than other types.
This change in how mummies were made and transported may represent a shift in beliefs about ancestors, with the dead being more permanently affixed to a single spot on the landscape.
Chinchorro Cemeteries
Important for tying social groups to a fixed spot on the landscape.
Family groups are often reconstructed based on common interment.
Reveal the continuity of occupation and progression of mummification techniques for the Chinchorro.
South America Setting
Diverse geography includes western desert coast, eastern lowland forests, and Andean highlands.
Eastern Lowlands
Rainforest with poor soils and high rainfall.
Rainy and dry seasons.
Most Andes runoff drains here.
Montaña: jungle on the Andes' eastern face.
The Andes
Second highest mountain chain.
High elevations with significant tectonic activity.
Cordillera: mountain chain appearance.
The Andes - Altiplano and Puna
Altiplano: High-elevation land.
Puna: Grasslands within the altiplano.
The Andes - Extreme Verticality
Environmental variation in short distances.
Coastal plain: largely desert with river valleys.
Desert Coast - Factors Contributing to Dryness
Rainshadow effect of the Andes.
Humboldt Current inhibits rain cloud formation.
Humboldt Current
Supports phytoplankton, creating a rich food chain.
Concentrates fish near the shoreline.
Humboldt Current - El Niño Events
Warm water pushes against the Humboldt Current.
Causes overfishing and torrential rainfall.
South America Chronology
Lithic (Archaic) Period: Nomadic hunter-gatherers.
Preceramic Period: Large architecture before ceramics.
Initial Period: Coastal irrigation and agro-pastoralism.
Early Horizon: Chavín religious ideology spread.
Early Intermediate Period: Moche and Nazca cultures.
Middle Horizon: Wari and Tiwanaku empires.
Late Intermediate Period: Chan Chan and Chimú Empire.
Late Horizon: Inca Empire.
Preceramic Sites in South America
Aspero, El Paraíso, Caral.
Aspero - Near Mouth of Rio Supe
Early monumental architecture.
Huaca de los Idolos and Huaca de los Sacrificios.
Aspero - Huaca Structure
Large basal platform supporting rooms and courtyards.
Contemporary with Egyptian pyramids.
Aspero - Subsistence Information
Dark-stained, organic-rich soil.
Midden contains birds, fish, shellfish, sea mammals, and plants.
Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilizations Theory
Maritime resources allowed sedentary fishing lifestyle.
Coastal sites grew cotton and gourds earliest.
Corporate Labor - Model to Explain Large Constructions
Large buildings require organized workforce.
Corporate Labor - Shicra Construction Method
Shicras: woven reed bags used for tracking contributions.
Caral - Supe Valley
Largest Late Preceramic site with monumental architecture.
Piramide Mayor built using shicra bags.
Plaza Hundida Tradition
Sunken Circular Courts: important in ritual processions.
Organic Preservation at Caral
Domesticates present, maize absent.
Heavy reliance on marine resources.
Relationship Between Coast and Inland Sites
Regional exchange network between inland and coastal sites.
Evidence for Preceramic Social Stratification
Differences in houses reveal social standing.
Staff God - Earliest Example
Decorated gourd dated to around 2250 BC.
Chinchorro Mummies
Warning: The slides ahead have images of actual mummies
Chinchorro Culture - 7000 to 1500 BC
Reliance on coastal resources.
Oldest mummies found.
Integration of deceased in society.
Inca Period
Dead emperors retained possessions and were paraded.
Chinchorro Culture - Geographic Extent
South coast of Peru to northern coast of Chile.
Arid Atacama Desert.
Types of Chinchorro Mummies - Chronological Order
Natural, Black, Red, Mud-Coated, Bandaged.
Natural Mummies
Mummified by natural elements.
Black Mummies
Complex treatments with manganese layer.
Black Mummies - How to Make One!
Remove and reassemble body parts, fill cavities, and coat with manganese.
Red Mummies
Skin intact, organs removed, body stuffed, and painted red.
Mummy “Usewear”
Shows signs of use, interred later.
Mud-Coated Mummies - Shift in Beliefs?
Corpses smoked and covered with mud.
Chinchorro Cemeteries
Tie social groups to a fixed spot.
Reveal continuity of occupation and mummification techniques.