Archaeology in Latin Am.erica Edited by Gustavo G. Politis and Benjamin Alberti London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group © 1999 Selection and editorial matter Gustavo G. Politis and Benjamin Alberti; individual chapters, the contributors Typeset in Garamond by Keystroke, Jacaranda Lodge, Wolverhampton Printed and bound in Great Britain by T. J. International Ltd, Padsrow, Cornwall All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data Archaeology in Latin America I edited by Gustavo G. Politis and Benjamin Alberti. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-13308-4.- ISBN 0-415-22158-7 1. Indians of South America-Antiquities. 2. Archaeology-Latin America. 3. Indians-Antiquities. 4. Latin America-Antiquities. I. Politis, Gustavo. II. Alberti, Benjamin, 1968- F2229.A7 1999 980' .0 1-dc21 99-15661 CIP ISBN 0-415-13308-4 (HB) ISBN 0-415-22158-7 (PB) Contents List offigures vn List oftables x List ofcontributors x1 Preface xiii Chapter One INTRODUCTION: LATIN AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY: AN INSIDE VIEW 1 Gustavo G. Politis Part One History and theory: the development of contemporary archaeology in Latin America 15 Chapter Two BRAZILIAN ARCHAEOLOGY: A REAPPRAISAL 17 Pedro Paulo A Funari Chapter Three SOME ASPECTS OF THE FRENCH INFLUENCE UPON URUGUAYAN AND BRAZILIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 38 Jose M. Lopez Mazz Chapter Four ARCHAEOLOGY AS A SOCIAL SCIENCE: ITS EXPRESSION IN LATIN AMERICA 59 lraida Vargas Arenas and Mario Sanoja C'hapter Five THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF HUNTER-GATHERERS IN SOUTH AMERICA: RECENT HISTORY AND NEW DIRECTIONS 76 Jose Luis Lanata and Luis Alberto Borrero • Vl • Contents Part Two Key issues in Latin American archaeology 91 Chapter Six THE EMERGENCE OF COMPLEX URBAN SOCIETIES IN CENTRAL MEXICO: THE CASE OF TEOTIHUACAN 93 Linda Manzanilla Chapter Seven THE DOMESTICATION OF ANDEAN CAMELIDS 130 Duccio Bonavia Chapter Eight EARLY MODES OF LIFE OF THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION OF NORTHEASTERN VENEZUELA 148 Mario Sanoja and lraida Vargas Arenas Chapter Nine TAWANTINSUYU: THE FRONTIERS OF THE INCA EMPIRE 167 Rodolfo Raffino and Ruben Srehberg Part Three New directions 183 Chapter Ten THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE OF SAN AGUSTIN: TOWARDS A NEW INTERPRETATION 185 Cesar Velandia Chapter Eleven CHANGING PERSPECTIVES IN AMAZONIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 216 Eduardo G. Neves Chapter Twelve PRE-COLUMBIAN METALLURGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE: TWO CASE STUDIES FROM COLOMBIA 244 Carl Henrik Langebaek R. Chapter Thirteen ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORICAL MULTIVOCALITY: A REFLECTION FROM THE COLOMBIAN MULTICULTURAL CONTEXT 258 Cristobal Gnecco Index 271 ~ -·.---,,·, =,·. a, ;p%4 Figures 2.1 Tupinambas as seen by early Europeans. 19 2.2 Map showing the rock art traditions in eastern Brazil. 28 2.3 Map of Palmares settlements in the State of Alagoas. 29 6.1 View from south to north of the Street of the Dead. 97 6.2 The Pyramid of the Sun, facing west. 98 6.3 The Temple of the Feathered Serpent. 98 6.4 Map elaborated by 'The Teotihuacan Mapping Project'. 100 6.5 The Yayahuala compound. 107 6.6 An aerial view of the Oztoyahualco 15B:N6W3 compound. 108 6.7 Theatre-type censer found dismantled around a burial in Oztoyahualco 15B:N6W3. 113 6.8 Use ofEkko IV ground penetrating radar. 116 6.9 Cueva de las Varillas main chamber before exploration. 116 6.10 Female seated burial (Burial 2) in the funerary chamber of the Cueva de las Varillas. 117 6.11 Two complete dog skeletons near two infant burials, as guides in the underworld, in the Cueva del Pirul. 118 6.12 Burial 26 near a newborn baby burial inside a jar bottom in the Cueva del Pirul. 119 6.13 View of the Street of the Dead from the Plaza of the Moon. 120 7.1 Climatic-ecological schema of the southern Andes of Peru and northern Bolivia. 131 7.2 Vertical distribution of climates with regular appearance of frost in the equatorial and tropical Andes, in relation to the upper limits of agriculture and the region of perpetual snow. 131 7.3 A llama in the puna. 132 7.4 Map of the Central Andes showing the main sites discussed in the text. 134 7.5 View of the area ofTelarmachay in the Parpacocha puna. 135 7.6 Detail of the excavations of Level VI ofTelarmachay (c. 7200-6800 BP). 136 8.1 Fairbridge's theory on regressive and transgressive stages, related to preceramic and ceramic agricultural sites in northeastern Venezuela. 150 8.2 Preceramic archaeological sites in northeastern Venezuela. 150 8.3 Theoretical representation of an ancient wind-breaker at the Guayana shell midden, Paria. 152 8.4 Habitation floor, Guayana shell midden. 153 8.5 Habitation floor at Las Varas shell mound, layer three. 153 8.6.1 El Bajo. Primary burial under ash layer number 4. 155 • Vlll • Figures 8.6.2 Habitation floor, El Bajo shell mound. 155 8.7.1 Habitation floors, La Aduana shell midden, Cubagua Islands. 156 8.7.2 Habitation floor, La Aduana shell midden, Cubagua Islands. 156 8.8 (a) Fragment of winged pendant in mica schist. (b) and (c) Vagina-form and phallic carvings in mica schist, Guayana shell midden. (d) Biomorph conch carving, Las Varas shell midden. 157 8.9 (a) Chopper, No Carlos site. (b) and (c) Unifacial artifacts, scrapers and i burins. (d) and (e) Flakes used as scrapers. (f) Pyramidal tool, Guayana shell midden. 158 8.10 (a) Conch gouge, La Aduana shell midden, Cubagua Island. (b) Stone net sinker. (c) Polished stone bowl, Las Varas shell midden. (d) Pottery fragments, Guayana shell midden. 159 8.11 (a) Stone petaloid celt. (b) and (c) Conical pestles. (d) Wood and bone projectile points. (e) Modified and standard conch gouges, Las Varas shell midden, Paria. (f) Scraper in crystalline quartz, La Aduana shell midden, Cubagua Island. 160 8.12 (a), (b), (c) Celts showing abrasion areas due to utilisation. (d) Stone adze showing indication of abrasion. 161 8.13 Chronological table of modes oflife of the shell-gatherers, hunters and fishers in Paria. 164 9.1 Map ofTawantinsuyu: general area and Inca roads at the time of the Spanish Conquest. 168 9.2 Pukard of Aconquija (Argentina) built by the Incas on the eastern border of the Andes. 172 9.3 Pukard of Quilmes (Argentina), an Inca-Diaguita site in the Yocavil Valley. .173 9.4 View of Cerro Grande de Ia Campania in Cachapoal Valley. 174 9.5 Detail of the interior of Cerro Grande de Ia Campania. 175 10.1 Map of the geographical position of the archaeological culture of San Agustin. 186 10.2 Schematic diagram of the structure of space in the Kogi cosmology, indicating the seven cardinal points. 192 10.3-11 San Agustin sculptures from various sites depicting women giving birth on the ground (humi positio). 194-5 10.12 Tomb from the Mesita B site demonstrating a 'chinese box' construction of funeral space. 197 10.13 Structural model of the cosmos in the culture of San Agustin. 200 10.14 Sculpture currently found in the 'Bosque de las Estatuas', Archaeological Park of San Agustin. 201 10.15 Sculpture depicting a jaguar overpowering a woman, La Parada site, Municipality of San Agustin. 203 10.16-17 Two examples of a 'harpy eagle' with snake. 205 10.18-20 Sculptures representing ritual officiates, Mesita C site, Archaeological Park of San Agustin. 207 10.21 Sculpture representing the dissection of a womb. 208 10.22 Sculpture of a figure with a quiropterous head. 208 10.23 Comparison of two sculptures: the 'deity with rwo sceptres' from the Puerta del Sol, Tiahuanaco, and an officiate from the Mesita C site, Archaeological Park of San Agustin. 209 10.24 Two figures from Conchopata depicting 'deity with sceptres' 212 Figures • IX • 11.1 Map of the Amazon Basin showing places and areas mentioned in the text. 219 11.2 View of the vdrzea (floodplains) of the Solimoes River, upstream from the city of Manaus, at the beginning of the flood season. 220 11.3 View of a road-cut, exposing ceramic remains and layers of anthropogenic black earth in the central Amazon. 223 11.4 Surface view of Figure 11.3, located in a papaya plantation, with ceramic sherds on the surface. 224 11.5 A Nukak woman cracking nuts to feed her children in a summer residential camp in the Colombian Amazon. 224 11.6 Sherds of polychrome ceramics from the Guatita sub-tradition of the central Amazon. 228 11.7 Granite outcrop in the upper Rio Negro, near the borders of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. 230 11.8 Test pit at the Ac;utuba site, lower Rio Negro, revealing an intact ceramic context beneath the plough zone. 232 11.9 View of the Tukanoan indigenous village on the Uaupes River, in the upper Rio Negro basin, an area of extremely acidic and sandy soils. 235 12.1 Funerary urn (Quimbaya Clasico, c. fifth century BC). 251 12.2 Calima-Yotoco period pottery. 252 12.3 Late Tairona nose-ring. 254 ~- Chapter Six The emergence of complex urban societies in Central Mexico The case of Teotihuacan Linda Manzanilla INTRODUCTION The Classic Horizon (the first nine centuries AD) in Mesoamerica is characterised by the first phase of macro-regional integration and the popularisation of a common tradition whose prece­ dent is found in the Middle Formative Period.