Daniela Valenzuela

ARTE RUPESTRE EN ASENTAMIENTOS DEL PERÍODO TARDÍO EN LOS VALLES DE LLUTA Y AZAPA, NORTE DE CHILE

This paper intends to contribute to discussion of the Inka state expansion toward the peripheral areas of the southern Andes, including the Lluta and Azapa coastal valleys, northern Chile. This process is analysed through exploration of the role of rock art -as a material medium for ideological transmission- in the Inka integration of local populations. We try to demonstrate whether it is possible to recognize an Inka rock art and how this was related to the Inka expansion. We analyse three small residential sites, which include engraved stones and were occupied, at least, during the Late period (ca. 1300-1450 A.D.). Millune and Vinto are in the Lluta valley and Achuyo is in the Azapa valley. Based on differences in the formal attributes of the rock art, and associated features such as decorated pottery, architecture and spatial organization of the rock art, we postulate the existence of a local and pre-Inka rock art style. This style was transformed and utilized by the Inka state as an ideological tool, based on their imperial interest, for the conquest and control of this province. We conclude that the most remarkable change took place in the conversion of formal aspects of the local rock art style to more standardized, Inka style, and in the relocation of the rock art scenario from private to public spaces

ÓXIDOS DE MANGANESO EN EL EXTREMO NORTE DE CHILE: ABASTECIMIENTO, PRODUCCIÓN Y MOVILIDAD DEL COLOR NEGRO DURANTE EL PERÍODO ARCAICO

La utilizacion de oxidos de manganeso se evidencia en el extremo norte de Chile desde el periodo Arcaico (ca. 10.500-4.000 cal. a.p.) en tierras bajas (costa y valles) y tierras altas (precordillera y altiplano). En tierras bajas aparece en contextos de cazadores-recolectores y pescadores Chinchorro, en los procesos de momificacion artificial y en cuerpos momificados de forma natural. En tierras altas se encuentra en aleros ocupados por cazadores-recolectores terrestres altoandinos. Adicionalmente, la informacion geologica existente apunta a que las fuentes de los oxidos de manganeso se encuentran solo en sectores altoandinos. Con toda esta informacion, sumado a nuestros resultados obtenidos a partir de analisis fisico-quimicos de los pigmentos y pinturas de contextos arqueologicos se discute sobre la produccion o cadena operativa del color negro a partir del mineral de manganeso, la criptomelana. Adicionalmente, se proponen alternativas interpretativas en torno al abastecimiento y movilidad de los oxidos de manganeso desarrollados por las sociedades arcaicas de la region.

Prehistoric polydactylism: Biological evidence and rock art representation from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile

A review of the bioarchaeological collections from the site Morro de Arica in northern Chile allowed the identification of two cases of human polydactyly. Both cases are from the Chinchorro culture, hunters, fishers, and gatherers with a maritime orientation who inhabited the coast of the Atacama Desert (9000-3400 BP). Additionally, the analyses of 75 rock art sites in the area, from the Formative to Late Intermediate Periods (3000-550 BP), allowed the identification of hands and feet with six digits. Given the bioarchaeological record of polydactyly, it is highly probable that the rock art images were based on real individuals with polydactyly. However, the Sr chemical signal in a juvenile with polydactyly is the same as the Sr chemical signal in the rest of the individuals buried in the same site, proving that all the individuals were born and lived on the coast. We discuss the idea that, although these anomalies could have been the result of genetic mutations, endogamy and exposition to ecotoxic environments could also be at play within the Chinchorro groups.

Loco or no Loco? Holocene Climatic Fluctuations, Human Demography, and Community Based Management of Coastal Resources in Northern Chile

The abundance of the southern Pacific mollusk loco (Concholepas concholepas), among other conspicuous marine supplies, are often cited as critical resources behind the long-term cultural and demographic fluctuations of prehistoric hunter-gatherers at the coastal Atacama Desert. These societies inhabited one of the world’s most productive marine environments flanked by one the world’s driest deserts. Both of these environments have witnessed significant ecological variation since people first colonized them at the end of the Pleistocene (c. 13,000 cal yr BP). Here, we examine the relationship between the relative abundance of shellfish (a staple resource) along a 9,500-year sequence of archaeological shell midden accumulations at Caleta (a small inlet or cove) Vitor, with past demographic trends (established via summed probability distributions of radiocarbon ages) and technological innovations together with paleoceanographic data on past primary productivity. We find that shellfish extraction varied considerably from one cultural period to the next in terms of the number of species and their abundance, with diversity increasing during periods of regionally decreased productivity. Such shifts in consumption patterns are considered community based management decisions, and for the most part they were synchronous with large and unusual regional demographic fluctuations experienced by prehistoric coastal societies in northern Chile. When taken together with their technological innovations, our data illustrates how these human groups tailored their socio-cultural patterns to what were often abrupt and prolonged environmental changes throughout the Holocene.

A WORLDWIDE NETWORK FOR COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON CARAVANS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Persis B. Clarkson1, Calogero M. Santoro2*, Thomas E. Levy3, Lautaro Núñez4, Axel Nielsen5, Steven Rosen6, Frank Förster7,8, José M. Capriles9, Anatoly M. Khazanov10, Michael Frachetti11, Daniela Valenzuela12, Vivien G. Standen12, Barbara Cases13, Gonzalo Pimentel4, Patrice Lecoq14, Ximena Medinacelli15, Luis Briones16, André Wink17, Nicholas Tripcevich18, Heiko Riemer19, Enelidolfo O’Ryan16, Ximena Loayza16, Thomas F. Lynch20, and Helina Woldekiros21