Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Analysis of Human and Faunal Skeletal Remains from the Formative Period of the Northern Highlands of Ecuador by Paula Nathaly Torres Peña A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology University of Alberta © Paula Nathaly Torres Peña, 2018 Abstract In Ecuador, the diet of prehispanic populations has been interpreted mostly based on the evidence recovered by archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological studies, if available. In contrast, stable isotope analysis for reconstructing diet is still a novel method that has been employed on only a few occasions. This study presents the results from the first stable isotope analysis that has been conducted on Formative sites (3500 – 500 BC) from the northern highlands. Values are reported for a total of 61 samples (n= 47 human and 14 faunal) collected from the sites Rancho Bajo (n= 13), Cotocollao (n= 27), and Las Orquídeas (n= 21). Besides identifying intra-site dietary patterns, the main purpose of this study was to examine any shifts in diet that may have occurred between the Early and the Late Formative Periods. Given that isotopic data was available for the sites La Florida, Tajamar, and NAIQ from the Regional Development and Integration periods, the results of these studies were compared to examine the diet over the three subsequent periods, giving special emphasis to observing the role played by maize in their subsistence. The results indicate that Formative groups had a predominantly C3 diet that also included small quantities of maize, and that there was no apparent age or sex-based differential consumption of this C4 resource. In the following periods the increase in the consumption of the maize crop is evident until it became a staple, supporting the connection between the intensification of maize consumption and the increasing sociopolitical complexity that characterizes the subsequent periods. ii Preface This thesis is an original work by Paula Nathaly Torres Peña. The research project, of which this thesis is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, Project Name “Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Analysis of Human and Faunal Skeletal Remains from the Formative Period of the Northern Highlands of Ecuador”, No. Pro00071391, March 22, 2017. iii Acknowledgements This research could not have been made possible without the help of many people to whom I will always be grateful. My special thanks go to my supervisor, Dr. Sandra Garvie- Lok, who saw potential in me two years ago, and gave me the opportunity to achieve this goal. Thank you for all the support and training I received, as well as for the opportunity of participating in your workshop in China. I would also like to thank you for all the dedication you put into reading and editing this thesis. I want to thank the Department of Anthropology for opening its doors and providing me the opportunity of teaching as well as for the financial support that helped me carry out my studies and this research. I would like to thank Dr. Robert Losey for always being open to answering my inquiries and for reading this manuscript; and Professor Ruth Gruhn for also reading this thesis and for the support I received through the Bryan-Gruhn Graduate Research Award. I would also like to thank Lesley Harrington and Pamela Mayne Correia for their kindness and support. Thanks Pam for letting me gain experience in the field of forensics. I cannot express how much your friendship has meant to me over the course of this degree. The availability of many of the samples for this research was possible thanks to the support of archaeologists María Fernanda Ugalde, Eric Dyrdahl, and Carlos Montalvo. Thank you for your enthusiasm, and for sharing all the information about the sites. I also want to thank the Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural (INPC), the Instituto Metropolitano de Patrimonio (IMP), and the officials of these entities, especially Fernando Mejía, Mauricio Velasco, Silvia Figueroa, and Dayuma Guayasamín, who helped me obtain the permits to perform the analysis and export the samples from Ecuador. I would also like to thank those who gave me support during the lab stage and sample analysis. Special thanks to Alvin Kwan iv from the Biogeochemical Analytical Service Laboratory and to Harvey Friebe from the Laboratory of Anthropology. Thanks to Helena, Talisha, Kayleigh, and Alex; more than friends you have become a family to me. Kevin, Anna, Christina, and Xiao: thank you for being there for me each in your own way. Magie, thank you for being like a sister to me during our trip to China. Jill, I could not have asked for someone better with whom I could spend all those hours in the lab. To my friends in Ecuador, Andre, Estefanía, Diana, and Stephanie, I am in debt to you for being there for me despite the miles between us. Your friendship is invaluable to me. Thanks, Silvia, Pablo, and Mara for always checking on me and for our conversations. Andre and Eric, I am grateful that you took the time to read part of this thesis. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents Verónica and Augusto, who since I was little motivated me to work hard to achieve my goals. Thank you for all the incredible moral and economic support I received from you. Thanks to my sister María Verónica and her husband David who offered me their help even before I started my master's degree, despite living on the other side of the world. Thanks to my sister Denisse; I do not know what would have been of me without you. Thank you for all the long calls, the movies we saw despite not being together, and for devoting all your free time to reading this manuscript and giving me advice. Finally, to my aunts Glenda and Ruth, thank you for your unconditional love. Words cannot express how deeply thankful I am to all of you. v Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. vi List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Diet in the Ecuadorian Formative Period ....................................................... 6 2.1. Environment and Topography of Ecuador and the Northern Highlands ..................... 6 2.1.1. Ecuador.................................................................................................................. 6 2.1.2. The Northern Highlands ........................................................................................ 9 2.2. The Formative Period ................................................................................................ 11 2.3. Historical Background of the Formative Period in Ecuador...................................... 12 2.3.1. The Formative Period in the Western Lowlands ................................................. 15 2.3.2. The Formative Period in the Highlands .............................................................. 17 2.3.3. The Formative Period in the Eastern Lowlands .................................................. 19 2.4. Available sources of information on Formative Diets ............................................... 20 2.4.1. Archaeobotanical Evidence for Formative diets ................................................. 20 2.4.2. Zooarchaeological Evidence ............................................................................... 28 2.4.3. Stable Isotope Analysis of Formative Diets ........................................................ 30 2.4.4. Summary of the Dietary Evidence ...................................................................... 36 2.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 38 Chapter 3: Sites .................................................................................................................. 39 vi 3.1. Archaeological Background ...................................................................................... 40 3.2. Rancho Bajo ............................................................................................................... 40 3.2.1. The Burials .......................................................................................................... 47 3.3. Cotocollao .................................................................................................................. 54 3.3.1 Cotocollao’s Early Settlement .............................................................................. 54 3.3.1.1 The Burials .................................................................................................... 57 3.3.2. Cotocollao’s Late Settlement .............................................................................