Early Village Society in the Formative Period in the Southern Lake Titicaca Basin

Bandy, Matthew

doi:10.1007/0-387-28940-2_10

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The peninsula has been a key region for understanding these processes as it was home to one of the largest Formative Period populations and is located just 20 kilometers northwest of the site of Tiwanaku, where the region's first state arose around C.E. 400 (Bandy ; Bennett ; Browman ). Since 1992, the Taraco Archaeological Project (TAP), directed by Christine Hastorf, has investigated this important time and place through a complete pedestrian survey of the peninsula, multiyear excavations at four major sites, and analysis of all artifact classes.…”

Section: Formative Period Agricultural Production On the Taraco Peninmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Raised Fields: Exploring Farming Practices and Processes of Agricultural Change in the Ancient Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andes

Bruno

2014

American Anthropologist

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In the Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andes, narratives of agricultural change have focused exclusively on a single innovation: raised fields. In this article, I examine macrobotanical remains and other archaeological datasets to elucidate a wider range of past farming practices that contributed to processes of agricultural change on the Taraco Peninsula, Bolivia, during the Formative Period (1500 B.C.E.-C.E. 500). This analysis reveals strong continuities in crop selection through time, with farmers gradually diversifying a basic set of cultigens-quinoa and tubers-but never abandoning them. Patterns in wild plant species indicate continuity in agropastoral land use up to the Late Formative Period (second century C.E.) when the unintended consequences of long-term tilling and camelid grazing transformed the botanical landscape into one that required a new set of practices to remove weeds and replenish nutrients to the soils. Examining how these practices and the farmers enacting them articulated with broader processes of demographic, environmental, and sociopolitical change reveals dynamic, multivariate courses of agricultural change even before the inclusion of raised fields. [agricultural practices, ethnobotany, archaeobotany, Lake Titicaca Basin, Andes]RESUMEN En la cuenca del lago Titicaca de los Andes, las narrativas del cambio agrícola se han enfocado exclusivamente en una sola innovación: los campos elevados. En este artículo, se analizan restos macrobotánicos y otros datos arqueológicos para investigar un rango más amplio de prácticas agrícolas que contribuyeron a los procesos de cambio en la península de Taraco, Bolivia a lo largo del período Formativo (1500 a.C. -500 d.C.). Este análisis revela fuertes continuidades en la selección de cultivos a través del tiempo con la diversificación gradual del conjunto básico de quinua y tubérculos. Los patrones de las especies de plantas silvestres indican una continuidad en el uso agro-pastoral del paisaje hasta el período Formativo Tardío (segundo siglo d.C.) cuando las consecuencias no intencionadas de las precedentes actividades agrícolas y pastoriles de camélidos transformaron el paisaje botánico en uno que requería de un nuevo conjunto de prácticas agrícolas para eliminar las malezas y renovar los nutrientes de los suelos. Evaluar cómo estas prácticas y los agricultores que las llevaron adelante se articularon con procesos de cambio demográficos, medioambientales y socio-políticos revela trayectorias multivariadas y dinámicas de cambios agrícolas que antecedieron a la incorporación de campos elevados. [prácticas agricolas, etnobotánica, arqueobotánica, cuenca de Lago Titicaca, Andes] A nthropologists have a long tradition of studying societies through the ways in which they obtain their food. The expansion and intensification of agriculture and its role in the development of complex societies has been a central

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Section: Formative Period Agricultural Production On the Taraco Peninmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Raised Fields: Exploring Farming Practices and Processes of Agricultural Change in the Ancient Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andes

Bruno

2014

American Anthropologist

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“…For instance, the geochemical separation of mudbrick groups may reflect choices in matrix source, while the thinsection observations may indicate differences in sediment processing to form mudbricks, such as a sieving step to remove pebbles or cutting straw for temper. In the context of Taraco Peninsula prehistory, the Chiripa monument structures have been interpreted as ritual places developed as the site incorporated multiple social groups (Hastorf, 2003;Bandy, 2006). In this case, our collection of mudbricks was opportunistic, and we did not identify a structural explanation for the compositional differences (Hastings & Moseley, 1975;Chaudhry & van Balen, 2008).…”

Section: Wallingmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Since mudbricks can be easily made in larger volumes by one or two people (Cavallero & Shimada, 1988), it is notable that the geochemical signatures provide evidence that different source materials were used for building Structure 21 at Chiripa (Emery & Morgenstein, 2007). In the context of Taraco Peninsula prehistory, the Chiripa monument structures have been interpreted as ritual places developed as the site incorporated multiple social groups (Hastorf, 2003;Bandy, 2006). The unusually complex differentiation of mudbricks revealed through geoarchaeological analyses does support an interpretation that multiple groups participated in mudbrick manufacture as revealed by their compositions and manufacturing methods.…”

Section: Wallingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Taraco Peninsula was home to the Chiripa culture, which underwent dramatic social changes during the Formative period from small foraging communities to large villages with monumental architecture (Hastorf, 1999(Hastorf, , 2003Stanish, 2003;Bandy, 2004Bandy, , 2006Hastorf et al, 2008). The Taraco Peninsula was home to the Chiripa culture, which underwent dramatic social changes during the Formative period from small foraging communities to large villages with monumental architecture (Hastorf, 1999(Hastorf, , 2003Stanish, 2003;Bandy, 2004Bandy, , 2006Hastorf et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we determined geochemical signatures of archaeological and ethnographic earthen building materials from the Taraco Peninsula, Bolivia by wavelengthdispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF). The Taraco Peninsula was home to the Chiripa culture, which underwent dramatic social changes during the Formative period from small foraging communities to large villages with monumental architecture (Hastorf, 1999(Hastorf, , 2003Stanish, 2003;Bandy, 2004Bandy, , 2006Hastorf et al, 2008). In this region, pathways to social complexity are evident in increasingly elaborate material culture, particularly polychrome ceramics, found in association with civic-ceremonial architecture including courtyards, tell mounds, and special purpose rooms (Chavez, 1988;Hastorf, 1999;Bandy & Hastorf, 2007;Roddick, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geochemical Characterization of Bolivian Formative Earthen Architecture by Wavelength‐Dispersive X‐ray Fluorescence

2014

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In this study, we employ wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (WDXRF) to characterize construction materials from Formative civic architecture (1000 B.C.E.–C.E. 400), ethnographic mudbricks, and off‐site controls from the Taraco Peninsula, Bolivia. The preparation of earthen construction materials for civic buildings can shed light on aspects of community development such as labor organization, resource management, and architectural technologies. We apply geochemical results to reconstructing how public buildings were made as communities moved toward socio‐political complexity in this region. However, there are few geochemical studies in the Andes, and little prior scientific analysis of earthen architecture. We therefore tested the efficacy of WDXRF for this region, and developed control materials. Our archaeological samples were selected from two Formative villages, Chiripa and Kala Uyuni. In this study, we performed WDXRF analyses on 63 archaeological and control samples including archaeological floors, walling, plasters, and mortars, as well as contemporary ethnographic walling and topsoils. Elemental signatures for 28 elements clearly distinguished the archaeological flooring, walling, plaster, and mortars from ethnographic and off‐site controls. More subtle variations were detected that distinguish study sites and the different material types. Laboratory‐calibrated multi‐element XRF effectively supports efforts to reconstruct the pathways to social complexity in the Titicaca Basin.

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Dental evidence for wild tuber processing among Titicaca Basin foragers 7000 ybp

Watson

Haas

2017

American J Phys Anthropol

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Early Village Society in the Formative Period in the Southern Lake Titicaca Basin

Cited by 20 publications

References 12 publications

Beyond Raised Fields: Exploring Farming Practices and Processes of Agricultural Change in the Ancient Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andes

Beyond Raised Fields: Exploring Farming Practices and Processes of Agricultural Change in the Ancient Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andes

Geochemical Characterization of Bolivian Formative Earthen Architecture by Wavelength‐Dispersive X‐ray Fluorescence

Dental evidence for wild tuber processing among Titicaca Basin foragers 7000 ybp

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