Multi-isotopic and morphometric evidence for the migration of farmers leading up to the Inka conquest of the southern Andes

Abstract

We present isotopic and morphometric evidence suggesting the migration of farmers in the southern Andes in the period AD 1270–1420, leading up to the Inka conquest occurring ~ AD 1400. This is based on the interdisciplinary study of human remains from archaeological cemeteries in the Andean Uspallata Valley (Argentina), located in the southern frontier of the Inka Empire. The studied samples span AD 800–1500, encompassing the highly dynamic Late Intermediate Period and culminating with the imperial expansion. Our research combines a macro-regional study of human paleomobility and migration based on a new strontium isoscape across the Andes that allows identifying locals and migrants, a geometric morphometric analysis of cranio-facial morphology suggesting separate ancestral lineages, and a paleodietary reconstruction based on stable isotopes showing that the migrants had diets exceptionally high in C4 plants and largely based on maize agriculture. Significantly, this migration influx occurred during a period of regional demographic increase and would have been part of a widespread period of change in settlement patterns and population movements that preceded the Inka expansion. These processes increased local social diversity and may have been subsequently utilized by the Inka to channel interaction with the local societies.

Arqueología del valle de Uspallata (noroeste de Mendoza): una síntesis actualizada

“…En este sentido se puede mencionar la hipótesis de la procedencia foránea de la cerámica gris de Uspallata, producida por artesanos itinerantes del valle de Potrerillos (Terraza 2020). Por último, se habrían instalado grupos de migrantes en la microrregión, generando un contexto social diverso que luego interactuó con agentes incaicos en la conexión con otros sitios del imperio inca (Barberena et al 2020).…”

“…Respecto a la movilidad humana, un estudio reciente de isótopos de estroncio ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) identifica una llegada importante de migrantes al valle de Uspallata entre 1270-1420 cal d.C., aunque su origen no se ha determinado (Barberena et al 2020). Los individuos muestreados provienen de sitios funerarios como Uspallata Usina Sur, Barrio Ramos I, Potrero El Canal, Potrero Las Colonias y Monte de Algarrobos.…”

“…Los individuos muestreados provienen de sitios funerarios como Uspallata Usina Sur, Barrio Ramos I, Potrero El Canal, Potrero Las Colonias y Monte de Algarrobos. La subida en densidad de sitios en estos siglos podría indicar un aumento demográfico (Rusconi 1962;Schobinger 1974;Bárcena 1974Bárcena , 1998aBárcena , 2001Gil et al 2009;Durán et al 2018;Barberena et al 2020). Por su parte, estudios morfométricos craneales permitieron diferenciar biológica y culturalmente un conjunto de individuos con marcadas modificaciones artificiales del cráneo, en los sitios Las Colonias y en Túmulo I y II.…”

“…El segundo sitio, ubicado a pocos metros del anterior, es un enterratorio simple de un individuo femenino con una huella de estroncio no local (Barberena et al 2020), acompañado por un ajuar funerario notable: una jarra completa con pintura roja, otra jarra conservada solo en su mitad inferior con restos de hollín y un puco engobado y pintado, en el interior del cual se hallaron torteros de hueso elipsoidales (Rusconi 1962: 220).…”

Scale of human mobility in northwestern Patagonia: An approach based on regional geology and strontium isotopes in human remains

“…While systematically applied in many regions of the world for decades, its use in South America is largely limited to productive economies and complex societies from the south‐central Andes of Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile, and northwestern Argentina (e.g., Dantas & Knudson, 2016; Knudson et al, 2014; Mader et al, 2018), to the so‐called southern agricultural frontier in central Argentina and Chile (Barberena, Durán, et al, 2017; Barberena, Tessone, et al, 2021; Barberena et al, 2020), and a first approach to northern Patagonia (Serna et al, 2020). In this study, we present a preliminary application of strontium isotopes to study the spatial scale of human mobility in the context of hunter–gatherer societies from northwestern Patagonia (Neuquén Province, Argentina).…”