Peanuts and Prestige on the Peruvian North Coast: the Archaeology of Peanuts at Huaca Gallinazo (V-59) and Huaca Santa Clara (V-67)
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PEANUTS AND PRESTIGE ON THE PERUVIAN NORTH COAST: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF PEANUTS AT HUACA GALLINAZO (V-59) AND HUACA SANTA CLARA (V-67) by Lindi Jaclyn Masur B.A. (Hons), The University of Western Ontario, 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Anthropology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2012 © Lindi Jaclyn Masur, 2012 i ABSTRACT This thesis explores the role that a single species of plant, the peanut (Arachis hypogaea), played in pre-Hispanic North Coast communities of the Andes. Through a literature review of ethnohistoric accounts, Moche iconographic interpretation, and nutritional analysis, I explore the symbolic importance of the peanut, as well as other special properties that may have contributed to peanuts’ luxury status in the pre-Hispanic North Coast. This study documents the peanut’s use not only as a comestible, but also as a prestige good used in competitive feasts and for veneration of the dead. I show how the peanut was used both practically and symbolically in order to create and reify status differences between elites and commoners, and how this trend extends into the South Coast. Finally, I provide evidence for peanuts’ prestige association through a case study of the archaeobotanical remains from Huaca Gallinazo (V-59) and Huaca Santa Clara (V-67), two important Early Intermediate Period sites located in the Virú Valley and that were part of the Virú polity. ii PREFACE This research was funded in part by a Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS – Master’s Award scholarship (award number #766-2011-4276) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and a University of British Columbia Faculty of Arts Graduate Entrance Scholarship. Collection of archaeobotanical material at Huaca Gallinazo in the 2011 field season was conducted with the assistance of Western University fieldschool students, as well as Ph.D. candidate Jordan Downey of Western University, archaeologist Jeisen Navarro Vega, co-director Estuardo La Torre Calvera, and director, Dr. Jean-François Millaire of Western University. Flotation samples were processed by the author, but identification and quantification of the >1 mm archaeobotanical remains was done by Estuardo La Torre Calvera. Archaeobotanical recovery at Huaca Santa Clara was conducted between 2002 and 2003 under the direction of Dr. Jean-François Millaire, and plant remains were identified and quantified by Estuardo La Torre Calvera, co-director of the project. Many of the images included in this report have been reproduced with the permission of their respective photographers or illustrators, including Dr. Christopher Donnan (Figures 8, 12), Dr. Margaret Jackson (Figure 9), and the Museo Larco, in Lima, Peru (Figures 1-4, 6). Fineline illustrations by Donna McClelland are used with the permission of Don McClelland (Figures 5,7,11). The illustration of O’Neale and Whitaker’s (1947) Nasca unku (Figure 10) is used with the permission of the Journal of Anthropological Research, and the copyright is held by the University of Mexico, with all rights reserved. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. ii PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... viii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................. ix THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE PEANUT: PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION IN PRE- HISPANIC PERU ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Creating and Reifying Status Distinction: Previous Explorations in Food and Status Difference ............ 2 Food and Status Difference in the Andes .................................................................................................. 2 North Coast Environment .......................................................................................................................... 3 Irrigation Agriculture on the North Coast .................................................................................................. 5 The Peanut Plant ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Peanut Processing .................................................................................................................................. 6 Peanut Use in Pre-Hispanic Peru ............................................................................................................... 7 Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 8 PEANUTS AND PRESTIGE ...................................................................................................................... 9 Peanut Domestication: Luxury Foods and the First Domesticates ............................................................ 9 Peanuts as a Luxury Food ........................................................................................................................ 10 Nutritive Qualities ............................................................................................................................... 10 Symbolic Qualities .............................................................................................................................. 13 Chicha de Maní ................................................................................................................................... 15 Medicinal Qualities ............................................................................................................................. 16 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 16 THE RITUAL AND SYMBOLIC CONSUMPTION OF THE PEANUT ............................................ 18 Peanuts and Civic-Ceremonial Activity in the Andes ............................................................................. 18 Elite Consumption of Peanuts.................................................................................................................. 18 Peanuts and Moche Vessels ..................................................................................................................... 19 The Presentation Scene in Moche Iconography .................................................................................. 20 Other Peanut Iconography ................................................................................................................... 22 Other Depictions of Peanuts .................................................................................................................... 23 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 24 PEANUTS FOR THE DEAD .................................................................................................................... 25 Peanuts and Moche Burials...................................................................................................................... 25 The Burial Theme in Moche Iconography .......................................................................................... 25 Feasting for the Dead Elites ..................................................................................................................... 25 Metallic Peanuts and Elaborate Grave Offerings ................................................................................ 25 Peanut Shells and Other Elite Moche Burials ..................................................................................... 27 Peanuts Recorded in Other Virú Valley Burials ...................................................................................... 28 Peanuts in Burials on the South Coast ..................................................................................................... 29 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 30 iv PEANUT USE IN THE VIRÚ POLITY .................................................................................................. 31 Background of the Virú Polity 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