Utility of multiple chemical techniques in archaeological residential mobility studies: Case studies from Tiwanaku‐ and Chiribaya‐affiliated sites in the Andes

Abstract

In the south central Andes, archaeologists have long debated the extent of Tiwanaku colonization during the Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000). We tested the hypotheses regarding the nature of Tiwanaku influence using strontium isotope, trace element concentration, and oxygen isotope data from archaeological human tooth enamel and bone from Tiwanaku- and Chiribaya-affiliated sites in the south central Andes. Strontium isotope analysis of 25 individuals buried at the Tiwanaku-affiliated Moquegua Valley site of Chen Chen demonstrates that it was likely a Tiwanaku colony. In contrast, no immigrants from the Lake Titicaca Basin were present in 27 individuals analyzed from the San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries of Coyo Oriental, Coyo-3, and Solcor-3; it is likely that these sites represent economic and religious alliances, but not colonies. However, strontium isotope analysis alone cannot distinguish movement between the Tiwanaku- and Chiribaya-affiliated sites in the Moquegua and Ilo Valleys of southern Peru. Analyzing oxygen isotope and trace element concentration data and comparing it with strontium isotope data from the same individuals provides a more detailed picture of residential mobility in the Tiwanaku and Chiribaya polities. In addition to monitoring diagenetic contamination, trace element concentration data identified movement during adulthood for certain individuals. However, these data could not distinguish movement between the Moquegua and Ilo Valleys. While oxygen isotope data could clearly distinguish the high-altitude sites from others, more data is needed to characterize the local oxygen isotope ratios of these regions. These data demonstrate the potential for archaeological reconstruction of residential mobility through multiple lines of evidence.

Integrating Identities: An Innovative Bioarchaeological and Biogeochemical Approach to Analyzing the Multiplicity of Identities in the Mortuary Record

“…To investigate geographic origins and their relationships to social identities in northern Chile, radiogenic strontium isotope data were collected from 435 enamel and bone samples from 305 individuals ( (Price et al 1992;Sillen and LeGros 1991) and analyzed in the W. M. Keck Foundation Laboratory for Environmental Biogeochemistry (see data and laboratory methods in Knudson and Price 2007;Knudson andTorres-Rouff 2009, 2014;Knudson, TorresRouff, and Stojanowski 2015). Using radiogenic strontium data from 305 individuals and stable oxygen isotope data from 251 individuals, we inferred geographic origins and then compared these data to other aspects of social identity, both mutable and immutable.…”

Examining Local Social Identities Through Patterns of Biological and Cultural Variation in the Solcor Ayllu, San Pedro De Atacama, Chile

“…In addition to these five individuals, a number of individuals from Solcor 3 were found to have enamel strontium isotope values only slightly outside the published local baseline values for San Pedro de Atacama ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0.7074-0.7079;Knudson 2007Knudson , 2008Knudson and Price 2007). It is possible that the current baseline characterization of (Knudson 2009).…”

“…Due to differences in the precision of these analytical techniques, strontium isotope ratios produced at UNC-Chapel Hill are reported to the sixth decimal place, while ratios produced at ASU are reported to the fifth decimal place. b These data have been previously published elsewhere (Knudson and Price 2007;Knudson 2008; see also Torres-Rouff and Knudson 2007).…”

“…Because tooth enamel is much less susceptible to diagenetic alteration than is bone (Budd et al 2000;Kohn et al 1999;Lee-Thorp and Sponheimer 2003) and because previous assessments of tooth samples from the San Pedro area have not identified diagenetic alteration to tooth enamel (Knudson 2007;Knudson and Price 2007), trace element concentration analysis was not undertaken for the majority of tooth enamel samples.…”

Dental metric variability associated with human migration from skeletal remains of two Jomon sites (Yoshigo and Inariyama) in the Atsumi Peninsula area

“…Strontium isotope analysis is an effective tool to reveal prehistoric human migration patterns (e.g. Ezzo et al, 1997;Price et al, 2002;Bentley et al, 2007;Knudson and Price, 2007;Montgomery et al, 2007). Tooth enamel records the Sr isotope ratio ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) in the environment where the person lived during the formative period of the tooth enamel, and undergoes little subsequent change.…”