Et of Agriculture Is an Important Research Topic in Archaeology
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VOLUME I 1 THE ROLE OF PLANT PRODUCTION IN SUBSISTENCE AND CULTURAL CHANGES DURING THE FORMATIVE PERIOD IN THE ATACAMA PUNA, SOUTHERN ANDES, CHILE (1400BC-500AD). A RE-EVALUATION BASED ON THE ANALYSES OF MICROFOSSILS ATTACHED TO HOES AND GRINDING TOOLS, AND ISOTOPIC ANALYSES OF HUMAN BONES. Virginia McRostie Bustamante PhD University College London July 2013 2 ABSTRACT The onset of agriculture is an important research topic in archaeology. Nonetheless, several areas of the world still lack sufficient datasets to participate critically within this debate. This is the case for the western slope of the Puna de Atacama, where explanations about plant production have been based on limited evidence resulting in assumptions about the role of agriculture associated with the Formative. More recent research in the Americas has acknowledged the diversity of developments taking place during the Formative period, including regional differences in the degree of wild and domestic plants food production. This research identifies and analyses new evidence in order to revaluate current hypothesis and models of plant production in the Atacama. The analyses are based on the identification of plant microfossils taken from hoes and grinding tools and isotopes within human bones (δ13Ccol, δ13Cap, δ15N, δ18O, Sr87/Sr86). The result of these analyses argues that crops in the area were limited or absent and highlights different levels and managements for native plants such as Scirpus, Cactaceae and still unidentified tubers. Insights’ regarding an anthropical origin of Prosopis forests and a silvo- pastoralist system provides a new model for the Formative of this arid highlands and the American continent. 3 Table of Contents Volume I VOLUME I ................................................................................................................ 1 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ 3 Table of Contents Volume I ...................................................................................... 4 List of Figures Volume I ............................................................................................ 7 List of Tables Volume I ........................................................................................... 15 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 23 The context for the onset of food production ..................................................... 23 Agriculture in the western slope of the Puna de Atacama .................................. 25 Research questions ............................................................................................ 30 Structure and brief outline of the thesis ............................................................. 30 CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL APPROACH ................................................................... 35 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 35 II.1 A comparative review of the onset of agriculture ...................................... 35 II.2 Perspectives for the western slope of the Puna de Atacama ..................... 46 Summary ............................................................................................................ 55 CHAPTER III. The western slope of the Puna de Atacama. Ecological and cultural background ............................................................................................................ 56 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 56 III.1 Ecological Background.............................................................................. 56 4 III.2 Archaeological Background ...................................................................... 68 Summary ............................................................................................................ 82 CHAPTER IV. Tracking the domestication and the entrance of crops in South America. ................................................................................................................ 85 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 85 Crop complexes .................................................................................................. 85 The High elevation Complex ........................................................................... 88 The Mid elevation Complex ............................................................................ 93 The Low elevation Complex ............................................................................ 98 Non-indigenous pre-Columbian plants .......................................................... 109 Summary .......................................................................................................... 118 CHAPTER V. Foodways on the western slope of the Puna de Atacama. An evaluation with emphasis on plants. .................................................................... 120 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 120 V.1 Plants ...................................................................................................... 122 V.2 Technologies associated with plants ....................................................... 141 V.3 Animals in subsistence ............................................................................ 153 V.4 Bio-anthropological data ......................................................................... 155 Summary .......................................................................................................... 169 CHAPTER VI. Contextualising the sites sampled .................................................... 172 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 172 VI.1 Middle Loa ............................................................................................. 175 5 VI.2 Salar de Atacama area ........................................................................... 182 Northern area ............................................................................................... 182 Southern area ............................................................................................... 195 Summary .......................................................................................................... 207 CHAPTER VII. METHODOLOGY.............................................................................. 209 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 209 VII.1 Microfossil reference collection, archaeological sampling and microfossil characterization ............................................................................................ 209 VII.2. Isotopes: Principles, reference collection and archaeological samples . 224 Summary .......................................................................................................... 233 CHAPTER VIII. RESULTS ........................................................................................ 235 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 235 VIII.1 Microfossils .......................................................................................... 235 VIII.2 Isotopes ............................................................................................... 290 Summary .......................................................................................................... 308 CHAPTER IX. DISCUSSION New perspectives about the role of plant production in the Formative changes of the western slope of the Puna de Atacama ................. 311 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 311 IX.1 Answering the research questions ......................................................... 312 IX.2 An alternative model for the western slope of the Atacama Puna Atacama and Formative human-plant interactions ...................................................... 362 IX.3 Methodological and future issues .......................................................... 371 6 CHAPTER X. CONCLUSION .................................................................................... 375 Final remarks .................................................................................................... 375 Future Research ............................................................................................... 381 References ........................................................................................................... 384 List of Figures Volume I Figure 1. Stages and methods of plant food production. Reproduced from Ford (1985, 2). ............................................................................................................... 39 Figure 2. Classificatory and evolutionary model of plant-food yielding systems. Reproduced from Harris (1989, 17). ....................................................................... 40 Figure 3. Conceptual development map of the middle ground between hunting-