ENVIRONMENT, COMMUNITY, AND BIOSOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN FORMATIVE TILCARA, QUEBRADA DE HUMAHUACA, JUJUY PROVINCE, NW ARGENTINA
Abstract
The following functional and anatomical synthesis of Early Ceramic Period human skeletons recovered at Tilcara, Quebrada de Humahuaca, in Jujuy Province, NW Argentina is an extension of earlier research carried out by (Bordach et al., 1999). Funerary traits consist of primary and double interments in pits and in stone burial chambers, as well as juvenile urn burials. The research is
multidimensional in scope, articulating environmental, biological, and cultural evidence. Our results are discussed in terms of mortality, stress markers, trauma, body use, and chronological, economic and cultural data are presented. The biological evidence indicates patterns that correspond with those expected for a relatively egalitarian Formative household, with a relatively simple technology based upon an agropastoral economy. Although the funerary evidence suggests that this population is representative of a consolidated group of commoners with special functions, there are some indicators suggesting the presence of social differentiation or stratification. Our chronological evidence indicates the funerary population was associated with the Early Ceramic Period. 13C/12C -11,4 o/oo values derived from the AMS dates are also discussed and interpreted with the goal of determining a probable menue of the available food resources.
Downloads
References
ALLISON, M.J., E. GERSZTEN, J. MUNIZAGA, C.A. SANTORO and D. MENDOZA (1981) Tuberculosis in Pre-Columbian Andean Populations. In JE Buikstra, ed., Prehistoric Tuberculosis in the Americas. Northwestern University Archaeological Program Scientific Papers, 5:49-61. Evanston, III. Norsthwestern University.
BORDACH, M.A., L.B. DALERBA y O.J. MENDONÇA (1999) Vida y Muerte en Quebrada de Humahuaca. Antropología Física Prehistórica del Sitio SJTil 20. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Córdoba.
BROTHWELL, D.R. (1981) Digging Up Bones. Cornell University Press. Ithaca, New York.
BROWMAN, D.L. (Ed) (1978) Advances in Andean Archaeology. Mouton Publishers-Aldine, Chicago.
BROWMAN, D.L. (1992) Tiwanaku hinterlands: Influence, integration or incorporation?. Washington University.
BUIKSTRA, J.E. (1981) Prehistoric Tuberculosis in the Americas. Pages 1-23. Evanston, IL: Northwestern Univesity Archaeological Program, Scientific Papers, no. 5.
BUIKSTRA, J.E. y D.H. UBELAKER (eds) (1994) Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research Series No. 44. Fayetteville, Arkansas.
DEMBO, A. y J. IMBELLONI (1938) Deformaciones intencionales del cuerpo humano de carácter étnico. Humanior. Bs. As.
GENOVÉS, S. (1967) Proporcionality of the long bones and their relation to stature among amerindians. AJPA 26:67-78.
GILLESPIE, R. (1984) Radiocarbon User’s Handbook. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
GONZÁLEZ, A.R. y PÉREZ J.A. (1966) El area andina meridional. En: Actas y Memorias del 36° Congreso Internacional de Americanistas. Sevilla, 1964; I(241-265)
KOLATA, A.L. (1993) The Tiwanaku. Portrait of an Andean Civilization. Blackwell Publishers. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
LARSEN, C.S. (1987) Bioarchaeological interpretations of subsistence economy and behavior from human skeletal remains. En:Schiffer, M. (ed): Advances in archaeological method and theory, 10:339-445.
LUMBRERAS, L. (1981) Arqueología de la América Andina. Milla Batres. Lima, Perú.
MENDONÇA, O.J., M.A. BORDACH, M.S. RUIZ y M.B. CREMONTE (1991) Nuevas evidencias del período agroalfarero temprano en Quebrada de Humahuaca. Los hallazgos del sitio Til 20 (Tilcara, Jujuy). Comechingonia, Revista de Antropología e Historia, Año 8(7):29-48.
MERCHANT, V.L. y D.H. UBELAKER (1977) Skeletal growth of the protohistoric Arikara. AJPA 46:61-72.
NEUMANN, G. (1942) Types of artificial cranial deformation in the eastern United States. American Antiquity 7:306-310.
ORTNER, D.J. y WGJ PUTSCHAR (1981) Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology Nr. 28. Smithsonian Institution Press. City of Washington.
PÉREZ, J.A. (1978) Concerning the archaeology of the Humahuaca Quebrada. En: DL Browman (ed) Advances in Andean Archaeology. Mouton, The Hagne.
ROGERS, J. y T. WALDRON (1995) A field guide to joint disease in archaeology. John Wiley & Sons. Chichester, England.
SMITH, P. et al (1984) Archaeological and skeletal evidence for dietary change during the Pleistocene/early Holocene in the Levant. In: Cohen MN and GJ Armelagos (Eds) 1984:101-136 Paleopathology at the origins of agriculture. New York. Academic Press.
STEINBOCK, R.T. (1976) Paleopathological diagnosis and interpretation. CC Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.
TARRAGÓ, M.N. (1993) Las Sociedades Originarias. En: Historia General de América Latina, I(18).
TARRAGÓ, M.N. y M.E. ALBECK (1995) Fechados radiocarbónicos para el sector medio de la Quebrada de Humahuaca. Avances en Arqueología (3):1-19. Buenos Aires.
UBELAKER, D.H. (1978) Human skeletal remains. Excavation, analysis, interpretation. Aldine Publishing Company. Chicago
UBELAKER, D.H. (1979) Skeletal evidence for kneeling in prehistoric Ecuador. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 51 (4):679-685
UBELAKER, D.H. (1981) The Ayalán Cemetery. A late integration period burial site on the South Coast of Ecuador. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology Nr. 29, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.
UBELAKER, D.H. (1980) Prehistoric Human Remains from the Cotocollao Site, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. J.Wash.Acad.Sci.Vol.70 (2): 59-74
UBELAKER, D.H. (1980) Human bones and archaeology. Cultural Resource Management Series. US Department of the Interior HCRS. US Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C. 20402.
WEAVER, D.S. (1979) Application of the Likelihood Ratio Test to Age Stimation Using the Infant and Child Temporal Bone. AJPA Nro. 50:263-270.
WRIGHT, L.E. (1994) The sacrifice of the earth? Diet, health, and inequality in the Pasion Maya Lowlands. Ph D. Dissertation. Dept. of Anthropology. The University of Chicago.
