Department of Anthropology, Economics and Political Science
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Browsing Department of Anthropology, Economics and Political Science by Subject "archaeological sites"
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Item Arqueologia de la Cuenca del Qaracha, Ayacucho, Peru(1994) Valdez, Lidio M.; Vivanco, CiriloIn order to evaluate the Precolumbian occupation of the Qaracha Basin (Ayacucho, Peru), we carried out an archaeological survey in 1988, which yielded evidence of three main occupations, the first under Wari domination ca. A.D. 600, with settlements located 2,800-3,650 m asl, in control of farmland linked to corn cultivation. Around A.D. 900 the Wari sites were abandoned, and new fortified sites were built in strategic positions in the upper elevations. Inka control of the central Andes brought about abandonment of the fortified sites and the founding of new Inka sites (mitimaes) near the ancient Wari sites. We believe that the first change was tied to collapse of the Wari state, which was followed by an unsettled situation in which former elements of the Wari state were at war. The final change ended the chaotic period with the birth of the Inka state in the Andes.Item A bird bone necklace from Amato, Acari Valley, Peru(2005) Valdez, Lidio M.This paper reports the recent discovery of a bird bone necklace from Amato, an Early Intermediate Period site located in the Acari Valley of Peru. The necklace was found in association with an approximately 60 year-old adult male, around whom had been buried several dozen headless human individuals of different sexes and ages, the likely victims of ritual sacrifice. The necklace was made from about 200 carpometacarpus bones of a small bird species that remains to be identified.Item Cahuachi: new evidence for an early Nasca ceremonial role(1994) Valdez, Lidio M.Having conducted archaeological excavations at the early Nasca site of Cahuachi in 1952-53, Strong concluded that the site was composed of temples, cemeteries, and house mounds. Subsequent scholars stressed the apparent presence of house structures, and this and its size led to an interpretation of the site as an urban center. This interpretation remained dominant in Peruvian archaeology until very recently.Item Coca leaves in the context of the central Andean Wari state(2013) Valdez, Lidio M.; Taboada, JuanCoca, of the genus Erythroxylum (family Erythroxylacea) is a stimulant and painkiller that at the time of the Spanish conquest was widely used in the Central Andean region. Despite its undisputed position within the Andean society in general, archaeologically coca remains little investigated, particularly in the Peruvian central highland region. Consequently, it is uncertain, for instance, when coca leaves began being used in this region. This uncertainty is largely due to the difficulties of finding coca leaves at highland archaeological sites. New evidence coming from the northern part of Ayacucho Valley in the Peruvian central highlands which consists of several coca leaves represents the first direct proof for the presence of coca leaves in an archaeological context that, based on ceramic stylistic grounds, dates sometime between the end of the Early Intermediate Period (ca. 1 – 550 CE) and the beginning of the Middle Horizon Period (ca. 550 – 1100 CE). This unprecedented finding demonstrates that as early as the Middle Horizon, therefore several centuries before the rise of the Inka State, coca leaves were already used in the Peruvian central highlands. This paper presents the new evidence and discusses its immediate implications.Item Environmental risk and population pressure: conflict over food and resources in the Acari Valley, Peru(2007) Valdez, Lidio M.The South Coast of Peru is a hot and dry region with high sand dunes that is relieved only by a series of small rivers that carry water a few months per year and form valleys made fertile by irrigation. One such valley is Acari, a narrow valley with limited arable land and scarce water. Despite such limitations, recent archaeological research carried out in the Acari valley indicates that during the Early Intermediate Period (circa AD 1 – 550) the inhabitants of this valley successfully managed to cultivate a variety of crops. Perhaps as a response to the harsh environmental conditions, food storage was also developed. This research also indicates that guinea pigs were locally raised and constituted a fundamental source of protein. Nonetheless, scarcity of resources, in particular of arable land, appears to have prompted stress manifested in form of conflict. Walled sites, buffer zones, and evidence for human decapitation strongly indicate that during this particular time period violence prevailed in the Acari Valley.Item From rural to urban: archaeological research in the periphery of Huari, Ayacucho Valley, Peru(2017) Valdez, Lidio M.; Valdez, J. ErnestoFor hundreds upon hundreds of years, humans lived in small settlements where most individuals, if not all, were linked by kinship ties. Many of these villages were occupied for generations and thus their occupants had a strong connection to the place. The villages were politically and economically autonomous, yet they were connected with adjacent villages by means of barter and intermarriage. Within a relatively short period of time, centuries-long occupied small villages were left vacant and replaced by fewer but much larger settlements identified as cities. In contrast to the rural based villages, cities began to house much larger numbers of residents, who not only were unfamiliar with each other but also were mainly concerned with their own well-being. Recent archaeological research carried out in the immediate periphery of Huari provides crucial information that indicates that the growth of Huari paralleled the abandonment of rural villages apparently in the midst of increasing conflict. The rural settlement of Huaqanmarka was occupied for several centuries, yet it was abandoned within a short period of time simultaneously with the desertion of other adjacent settlements.Item On ch'arki consumption in the ancient central Andes: a cautionary note(2000) Valdez, Lidio M.Recently, Andeanist zooarchaeologists have introduced the so-called "ch'arki effect": a taphonomic factor to explain the disproportional occurrence of some camelid skeletal parts at archaeological sites. Briefly, it has been argued that the lower frequency of head and foot bones is the by-product of ch 'arki (dried meat) exchange and therefore indicative of ch 'arki consumption. This generalization, however, is problematic. When fresh meat is distributed (by trade) and consumed, exactly the same pattern as with charki distribution is produced. To infer ch'arki consumption on the basis of the absence of head and lower limb bones is therefore misleading.Item Reconsidering the archaeological rarity of guinea pig bones in the Central Andes(1997) Valdez, Lidio M.In his Peru Before the Incas, E. P. Lanning suggested that guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) might have been one of the most important food animals in the ancient central Andes (1967:18): "If we had any way of estimating the number of guinea pigs eaten in ancient times, we might find that they ranked with seafood as the most important sources of protein in the ancient diet, well ahead of the camelids and the Andean deer." Lanning was convinced that these small rodents, often kept in the kitchen and usually fed table scraps, were seriously underrepresented in the archaeological record and thus the quantity of their bones uncovered during excavation was not a true reflection of what might have been eaten in the past. Since Lanning's observation, excavations have been carried out at many central Andean archaeological sites, and they have yielded guinea pig bones only occasionally. Compared with the quantity of bones of the South American camelids, the quantity of guinea pig bones is insignificant.Item La tradicion cultural de Huarato de Acari y sus relaciones con Nasca(2000) Valdez, Lidio M.On the basis of recent archaeological research, the author discusses the Early Intermediate Period occupation of the Acari valley. The study is oriented to verify whether occurred a nasca conquest and occupation of Acari. The pottery study indicates the presence of a local tradition, at which context Early Nasca ceramics were introduced.Item El valle de Ayacucho y el Tawantinsuyo(2002) Valdez, Lidio M.; Valdez, J. ErnestoThis paper is aimed to assess the situation of the Ayacucho Valley of the Peruvian central highlands before and during the lnka occupation. Until very recently, it was argued that this valley was largely abandoned during lnka times and consequently played no role within the lnka Empire. Because of new fieldwork carried out on the northern portion of the valley, it is becoming evident that in the region there were several important lnka period sites. Before the lnka conquest, the inhabitants of the region occupied sites established in defensive positions and often at higher elevation. Following lnka conquest, most of these sites were relocated to Lower elevations. At the same time, the Local pre-lnka pottery style survived and continued being manufactured during lnka times, as its occurrence at both defensive sites and low elevation sites indicates. lnka related artifacts, however, are present only at lower elevation sites.