Abstract
To explore the possible emergence and lived consequences of social inequality in the Atacama, we analyzed a large set (n = 288) of incredibly well preserved and contextualized human skeletons from the broad Middle Period (AD 500-1000) of the San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) oases. In this work, we explore model-based paleodietary reconstruction of the results of stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen and hydroxyapatite. The results of this modeling are used to explore local phenomena, the nature of the Middle Period, and the interaction between local situations and the larger world in which the oases were enmeshed by identifying the temporal, spatial, and biocultural correlates and dimensions of dietary difference. Our analyses revealed that: 1) over the 600-year period represented by our sample, there were significant changes in consumption patterns that may evince broad diachronic changes in the structure of Atacameño society, and 2) at/near 600 calAD, there was a possible episode of social discontinuity that manifested in significant changes in consumption practices. Additionally, while there were some differences in the level of internal dietary variability among the ayllus, once time was fully considered, none of the ayllus stood out for having a more (or less) clearly internally differentiated cuisine. Finally, sex does not appear to have been a particularly salient driver of observed dietary differences here. While we do not see any de facto evidence for complete dietary differentiation (as there is always overlap in consumption among individuals, ayllus, and time periods, and as isotopic analysis is not capable of pinpointing different foods items or preparations), there are broad aspects of dietary composition changing over time that are potentially linked to status, and foreignness. Ultimately, these stand as the clearest example of what has been termed "gastro-politics," potentially tied to the emergence of social inequality in the San Pedro oases.
Highlights
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, lies at the northern end of the Atacama salt flat, where the San Pedro and Vilama Rivers supply a series of small oases in the otherwise inhospitable expanse of the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert in the world (Fig 1)
Our analyses revealed that: 1) over the 600-year period represented by our sample, there were significant changes in consumption patterns that may evince broad diachronic changes in the structure of Atacameño society, and 2) at/near 600 calAD, there was a possible episode of social discontinuity that manifested in significant changes in consumption practices
While we do not see any de facto evidence for complete dietary differentiation, there are broad aspects of dietary composition changing over time that are potentially linked to status, and foreignness
Summary
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, lies at the northern end of the Atacama salt flat, where the San Pedro and Vilama Rivers supply a series of small oases in the otherwise inhospitable expanse of the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert in the world (Fig 1). 1200 BC), saw a florescence of human activity in the Middle Period (AD 500–1000), a time that is often described as one of unparalleled regional prosperity and peace Many of this period’s benefits have been ascribed to the incorporation of local societies within the sphere of influence of Tiwanaku—an expansive polity that arose in modern-day Bolivia—and the growing role of Atacama societies in a system of regional exchange and mobility. Given that the distribution of, and access to, varied kinds or quantities of food is a common mechanism and/or consequence of intra-societal differentiation [9, 10], knowledge of how patterns of consumption may have differed over time, among oases, and between various subsets of the population under study (e.g., males and females) offers unique insights into past processes of inequality Combining these data with a rigorous program of radiocarbon dating and detailed analysis of grave contents, among other sources of information, has the potential to reveal how resource access may have varied along multiple axes of difference in the oases. We argue that this integrative approach comes with a precision unobtainable by other archaeological means and allows us to explore in far greater detail the complex shifts occurring in local prehistory
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