Early Ceramic Period Research Articles

Exploring physical activity in Central Chile during the Early Ceramic Period and Late Intermediate Period (200-1450 CE).

We explore physical activity in early farming societies of Central Chile during the Early Ceramic and Late Intermediate Periods (200-1450 CE), a time of technological changes and intensification of food production. The existence of differences in entheseal changes (EC) between females and males is evaluated in two periods with different subsistence strategies. EC were recorded with method in the upper and lower limbs of 56 male and female adult individuals from the Early Ceramic Period (ECP) and Late Intermediate Period (LIP). Hierarchical multiple factor analysis and hierarchical clustering on principal components were performed using an exploratory approach. In all the analyzed limbs, the EC scores are higher in males than females, which may be explained by sexual dimorphism. A constant overlap in the variability of the EC among males and females is observed. However, the EC scores show a different pattern of variability when comparing ECP females with LIP females. The results show that the scores increase in the latter. In contrast, when comparing ECP males with LIP males scores decrease in the later period. Physical activity in the societies of Central Chile with incipient agriculture did not vary by sex or during the timeframe studied. Nevertheless, the interaction between sex-period and the variability pattern of the EC from one period to another suggests different ways of doing similar physical activities or different emphases for similar biomechanical actions.

Social differentiation in the pre-Hispanic horticultural societies of central Chile (200–1500 AD). A stable isotope study

The horticultural societies of the central zone of Chile in the first millennium AD and the first half of the second have been the subject of archaeological study for many years, and their cultural contexts have been described extensively. Their material culture, lifeways and settlement patterns present significant differences between the Bato and Llolleo groups in the Early Ceramic period (200–1200 AD) and between these and the Aconcagua groups of the Late Intermediate period (1000–1500 AD) (Falabella et al., 2016). Increasing complexity, social differentiation and changes in polity structure have been proposed, but robust data are still missing for many of these interpretations. The object of this work was to contribute to the identification of inter- and intra-group social differences in mobility, sex and age patterns and maize consumption, based on stable isotope analysis of human bones and a sub-sample of teeth. Analysis of the C, N and O stable isotopes in collagen and bioapatite extracted from the samples showed differences between the three groups studied in spatial mobility patterns and consumption of C4 plants, suggesting that local communities organized themselves according to distinct social strategies at the regional level, and developed different horticultural practices and uses of maize. Among the Aconcagua groups a larger contribution of C4 plants was found in children and in adult males, making visible sex and age categories. The results support archaeological data and contribute to a better understanding of gender issues and social organization in the groups studied.

Amphibiomorphic Modeled and Painted Pottery from Argentine Patagonia and Central-Southern Chile. Functional Interpretation and Identification of Species Based on Mimetic and Aposematic Traits

Abstract This work aims to identify attributes or features related to endemic amphibians in modeled and painted pottery from central-southern Chile and north-western Argentina. From this work, we were able to identify four species of amphibians represented in certain types of modeled and painted pottery, and we also complemented this data with modern references and ethnohistorical chronicles of the potential use given to this pottery in particular. This contribution postulates that some elements of the black-onred pottery of the Early Ceramic Period of Araucanía in central-southern Chile and of Patagonia in northwestern Argentina, seek to highlight amphibiomorphic characteristics such as exophthalmia (protruding eyes) and aposematism (brilliant coloring and brightness of the vessel by using an engobe decoration). Based on the ethnohistorical data of the area, it is also proposed that these vessels could be linked to the exclusive use of highly toxic substances. Finally, the results allowed us to explore the close ecological interaction between human groups and woodlands.

Maize (Zea mays) consumption in the southern andes (30°-31° S. Lat): Stable isotope evidence (2000 BCE-1540 CE).

The timing and dietary role of maize agriculture is central to archaeological discussions in the Andean region. In the semi-arid region of northern Chile (SARNC), archaeological models propose that maize was adopted during the Early Ceramic period in tandem with pottery and sedentism. Through stable isotope (SI) analyses, of bone collagen and apatite, this study assesses the timing of maize introduction, diachronic changes (2,000 BCE to 1,540 CE.), and synchronic dietary variability in the prehistoric SARNC. Fifty-two prehistoric individuals from SARNC were analyzed for δ13 Cap , δ13 Ccol, and δ15 N. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the results by period and location (inland and coast). Between-periods (ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests), and synchronic comparisons (inland vs. coast; Student's t-tests), were conducted. A SIAR model was run to further evaluate dietary changes. Dietary interpretations are based on food web data. Coastal groups show significant changes in the diet during the Middle (900-1,000CE; enrichment in δ13 C), and Late Intermediate periods (100-1450CE; when the Δ13 Cap-col is above 5.2‰). In the inland, significant changes in SI occurred in the Late Intermediate period (δ13 C enrichment). In the Late period, the inland diet became enriched for δ15 N. Synchronic comparisons showed coastal individuals to have higher δ15 N. The popularization of maize in the SARNC was not associated with the appearance of pottery and/or sedentism, and its role as a dietary staple was a late phenomenon (c.a. 1,000CE). The results obtained in this study show that the adoption and consumption of maize varied dramatically in the Southern Andes.

Estudio Antracológico en la Alta Cordillera Mendocina (Argentina): El Caso del Sitio El Indígeno y sus Implicancias A Nivel Macro-Regional

This paper presents the anthracological analysis of El Indígeno site (Mendoza-Argentina), located at 3300 m asl, within an Altoandino environment. The main objective is to estimate which criteria intervened in the management of woody resources in environments with low supply and a high social demand of this resource. Secondly we intend to provide new variables which allow increase knowledge about the site and its implications for the archeology of the Center West Argentina and Central Chile. A total of 14 taxa were identified. Variations in the frequency and the different origins of the taxa allow observeing that, at first, local taxa were used, and gradually genera of lower ecological zones and of remote regions on the both sites of the Andean mountains are incorporated. Plant associations identified on the site permit to conclude that firewood used comes mainly from Chile, which supports the idea that El Indígeno site was part of a circulation circuit of hunter-gatherers groups during the Early Ceramic Period of Central Chile.

Copper Earrings in La Araucanía: Earliest Evidence of Metal Usage in Southern Chile

We report on the archaeometallurgical analysis of eight pieces of copper recovered from the Villa JMC-1 cemetery (Pitren Complex, Early Ceramic period) in the locality of Labranza, La Araucania. These artifacts provide the earliest evidence of metal use in southern Chile. They are also the southernmost prehispanic metal artifacts ever found in South America. These contextualized results complement those obtained from the analysis of an earring from Kilómetro 0—Enlace Temuco (El Vergel Complex, Late Ceramic period), an archaeological residential site dated to almost 500 years after the Labranza cemetery. Particle Induced X-ray Emission, X-ray radiography, and stereomicroscopy analyses allow us to offer an elemental characterization of the pieces, an assessment of their manufacturing process, and a comparison between the metals and alloys discovered. We follow with a discussion of proposals regarding cultural relations in the Araucania region during different time periods.

TRADICIONES TECNOLÓGICAS DEL PERÍODO ALFARERO TEMPRANO DE CHILE CENTRAL: UN ESTUDIO DE BORDES, MATERIAS PRIMAS Y PASTAS DE VASIJAS DE COCINA EN LA MICRORREGIÓN DE ANGOSTURA

Social organization in small scale societies, such as Early Ceramic Period groups in Central Chile, can be understood from a bottom up perspective, exploring...

Geochemical Characterization of Lapita Ceramics From the Western Solomon Islands by Means of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy

ABSTRACTThe study of interaction and exchange among different geographic areas in the Western Pacific occupied by Lapita people (3500–2500 BP) has been an important component of research into the colonization process of the Pacific region. The Western Solomon Islands, lying in the central area of the Lapita distribution, have a unique archaeological record presenting intertidal sites with Late/Post Lapita ceramics as the only material evidence of Lapita occupation. Previous studies have indicated that Lapita ceramic production was mainly local. However, temper analysis has identified exotic ceramics in Late Lapita sites in the New Georgia Group, indicating complex ceramic transfer including from outside the Solomon Islands region. Analysis of Late Roviana (New Georgia) and historic period ceramic sherd temper has also suggested ceramic transfer from the nearby island of Choiseul, where ceramics were manufactured until recent times. Here we present results of a series of portable X-ray fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy analyses carried out on ceramic pastes from the New Georgia group in the Western Solomon Islands. These results confirm that during the Early (Lapita/Post Lapita) ceramic period, production was present at multiple locations and that ceramics were transferred at different geographic scales involving occasional long-distance interactions. During the later period (AD 1400–1900) ceramic production had a more restricted occurrence with transfer networks changing and receding to become exclusively regional.

Trends in thermoluminescence date distributions for the Angostura micro region in Central Chile

This article presents a series of thermoluminescence dates obtained from archaeological sites in the Angostura micro region, at the southern edge of the Santiago basin, an area occupied by Bato and Llolleo groups during the Early Ceramic period (200 BC–AD 1300). This series of dates, which cover a time span of around 1500 years, shows moments when dates are abundant and others when they are remarkably scant. We propose that a comparison of the relative frequency of dates can be used as an indirect measure of variations in the intensity of occupation of each of these groups in the zone. We used a summed probability analysis by decade to evaluate sets of dates according to cultural context and sectors of the study area. The results show that while the Bato and Llolleo were irrefutably contemporaneous, the Bato emerged slightly earlier, and that both –but especially the Llolleo– coexisted in later times with Aconcagua groups. At a micro regional scale significant differences as well as changes in Bato and Llolleo population dynamics were made clear. While the Bato display a natural growth curve and then declines, Llolleo increased their population significantly after AD 700, probably because of their reliance on maize crops. Not only did the chronological curves differ; the sectors where they placed their settlements varied over time depending on their specific horticultural practices, local climatic fluctuations, and each other's proximity.

Nicotine in residues of smoking pipes and other artifacts of the smoking complex from an Early Ceramic period archaeological site in central Chile

Consumption of psychoactive substances has been important in the lives of indigenous American people for several millennia. While numerous studies have reported the occurrence of smoking pipes at archaeological sites, only a few have addressed the question of the substances being smoked. The study of smoking pipes is of particular interest at the Early Ceramic period archaeological site La Granja in central Chile (500–1000 A.D.) given its ritual connotation. Analysis by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry showed the presence of nicotine in a large proportion of the residues extracted from a wide variety of grinding and smoking artifacts from La Granja (total N = 116). Additionally, the likelihood of finding residual nicotine varied along pipe segments, decreasing from the bowl to the mouthpieces. This research has studied the cultural operative chain of the smoking complex of the Early Ceramic period of central Chile and described Nicotiana sp. as a plausible plant source with nicotine as the compound involved in the physiological effect, micromortars and pestles as the artifacts used in the preparation of plants for smoking and finally, the smoking pipe through which the plant compounds were incorporated into the smoker's organism.

MORFOMETRÍA COMPARADA DE SEMILLAS DE NICOTIANA (SOLANACEAE) E IDENTIFICACIÓN DE SEMILLAS CARBONIZADAS PROVENIENTES DE UN SITIO ARQUEOLÓGICO EN CHILE CENTRAL

Planella, M. T.; K. Collao-Alvarado, H. M. Niemeyer & C. Belmar. 2012. Comparative morphometrics of seeds of Nicotiana (Solanaceae), and identification of charred seeds from an archeological site in central Chile. Darwiniana 50(2): 207-217. The frequent presence of smoking pipes in Early Ceramic Period archaeological sites in central Chile and the large body of evidence on the smoking of Nicotiana spp. in prehispanic sites elsewhere in the Americas call for a methodology to identify Nicotiana species used in Chile. We have performed a mor- phometric study on seeds of Nicotiana species which serves as a reference against which archaeological seeds may be compared. Seed shape and size, ornamentation pattern of epidermal cells, and location of the hilum were relevant parameters for reliable taxonomic determinations. Using these characters, we identified Nicotiana seeds found in Las Morrenas 1 archaeological site in central Chile as N. corymbosa.

Source Determination of an Obsidian Projectile Point from the Massacre Canyon Site (25HK13), A Keith Phase Occupation in Southwest Nebraska and Implications for Social Connections During the Early Ceramic Period

The use of chemical analyses to determine the sources of obsidian in central Plains Early Ceramic sites has potential to illuminate social contacts and patterns of exchange of goods. X-ray fluorescence analysis determined that a diagnostic point from the Massacre Canyon site in southwest Nebraska is made of obsidian from the Valle Grande source of the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. This adds to the small number of central Plains Early Ceramic obsidian samples and suggests differential source use during that period.

Analysis of Stable Isotopes: From the Archaic to the Horticultural Communities in Central Chile

Diet and mobility at the end of the Archaic period and the initial stage of the Early Ceramic period in central Chile are the subjects of this paper and are discussed on the basis of the results of stable isotope analysis of 20 individuals sampled from the Andean cordillera, central valley, and coast. The results indicate that the diet of Archaic groups living along the coast did not incorporate marine resources to any significant extent. Individuals sampled from the Early Ceramic period do not reveal consumption of animal protein, which raises the question of alternative sources for the protein necessary for survival. In terms of mobility, the results of the investigation suggest that the cordillera was occupied by people with a high‐mobility pattern.

DESCOMPONIENDO EL COMPLEJO LLOLLEO: HACIA UNA PROPUESTA DE SUS NIVELES MÍNIMOS DE INTEGRACIÓN

In this study, we attempt to break down the Llolleo Complex of the Early Ceramic Period of Central Chile into its significant social units. The analysis of the ceramic evidence from sites of the Santiago and Rancagua basins indicates some heterogeneity in this complex. This heterogeneity is not randomly distributed, but rather has a clear spatial correlation. The spatial association of specific ceramic traits suggests that the local community is a significant organizational level for the Llolleo Complex. Our argument is based on the anthropology of technology, but there are also correlations in the ethnohistoric information and the information some anthropologists have derived from the ethnohistory.

Reflections on the Early Ceramic Period and the Terminal Archaic in South Central East Texas

The most significant shift in cultural adaptation in eastern Texas is generally attributed to the Caddoan cultures. Consequently, considerably more archaeology has been focused on the period from ca. A.D. 800-1750 than to the preceding 1000 years of culture change and adaptation. During this period, ceramics and the bow and arrow were incorporated into the subsistence tool kit of the indigenous Archaic cultures of the region. Demographic shifts on the landscape suggest that these societies were exploiting and/or settling on a different and/or greater range of environmental niches than the previous or subsequent societies. The archaeological record also suggests the Early Ceramic societies of the region were also participating in the wide-ranging trade networks that were extremely important factors in the success of the Caddoan societies that followed them.

Reconstruction of the Part Vegetation on the Headwaters of the Piney Creek Watershed in Houston and Trinity Counties, Texas

The National Forests and Grasslands of Texas began a project in 1994 for ecosystem management involving multiple disciplines in an holistic approach to resource inventories. We first began with an intensive archival study of the forest acquisition files and the General Land Office (GLO) files in an effort to identify the western limits of the longleaf pine at the time of initial Anglo-American settlement ca. 1850. Vegetation information was gleaned from this work along with an understanding of the historical occupation of the area, aided by plotting this information onto USGS 7.5' maps overlain by the historic Tobin landownership maps. We have since narrowed our focus from the mosaic of a broad area, to the headwaters of the Piney Creek watershed, an area rich in prehistory and history. Archeological survey has provided data for prehistoric occupations dating to the Early Ceramic period (ca. A.D. 500). More recent deed records, and subsequent landline surveys, have data on witness trees in the 1830s, 1860s, and 1890s, and then again after the Forest Service acquired the land in the 1930s, offering an opportunity to study specie composition over a 100 year period. This study on specie composition, tree density, and basal area, provides preliminary indications that fire suppression in the historic period significantly altered the forest composition.

The Caddoan Occupation of the Attoyac and Angelina River Basins in the Middle Caddoan Period

The Angelina River basin, including the drainage of its largest tributary, the Attoyac Bayou, encompasses all of Nacogdoches County and portions of Cherokee, Rusk, Angelina, San Augustine, Shelby, and Sabine counties in deep East Texas. Archaeological studies in the region that have illuminated our understanding of Caddoan developments have been meager and spotty at best. There is no archaeological evidence in the Angelina River basin of extensive Caddoan occupation during the Early Caddoan period (ca. A.D. 1000-1200). Jelks presented the results of the largest archaeological project conducted in the area in his dissertation dealing with the archaeology of the McGee Bend Reservoir (Lake Sam Rayburn) by reviewing 13 sites excavated between 1956 and 1962. Every site excavated was multicomponent, and included at least some Archaic dart points, Early Ceramic period sandy paste sherds, and grog-tempered Caddoan ceramics. Jelks has been the other archaeologist to propose an archaeological taxonomic unit for the Caddoan sites based on work in the basin with his formulation of the "Angelina focus." This broad unit appears to include sites that date from ca. A.D. 1200 until historic Caddoan times, and was based, in part, upon the presence of Broaddus Brushed and Pineland Punctated-Incised ceramics at the sites.

Test Excavations at Prehistoric Site 41SM203, Smith County, Texas

Site 41SM203 is a prehistoric campsite situated along the southwestern outskirts of the city of Tyler, Smith County, Texas. The site occupies the apex and lower slopes of a north-south trending ridge that runs for several miles. The lower part of the site lies relatively near springs located along the headwaters of Butler Creek. These springs or similar ones are thought to have been a major attraction of this locale, but significant cultural deposits were not found near them or in any part of the site subject to the investigation. The cultural materials that were found indicate sporadic and nonintensive use of the site through different parts of the Archaic period, particularly the Late Archaic. Following the Late Archaic, there is a gap in the cultural record caused by the apparent absence of the Early Ceramic period. Later, there is meager evidence of Late Prehistoric occupation in the way of Caddoan ceramics.

Ancient Metallurgy in the Atacama: Evidence for Copper Smelting during Chile's Early Ceramic Period

AbstractInvestigations at the Ramaditas site (Guatacondo Valley, northern Chile) were successful in the discovery of small quantities of ancient metallurgical slag, copper ore, and metal from sealed archaeological contexts dating to the first centuries B. C., and in the discovery of adjacent off-site furnace ruins that appear to be contemporaneous. Laboratory tests are positive in identifying both the surface and subsurface slag as a copper smelting by-product. These results are significant in that they demonstrate that copper smelting and metal manufacture were taking place in the Atacama in antiquity, constituting the first conclusive proof of what many Chilean scholars have anticipated since the early 1970s. These results support the view that the mining of minerals and the winning of metals played a valuable role in the economy of the first sedentary villages of interior Chile, in the foothills and valleys that rim the Atacama desert.

A Revised Chronology and Phase Sequence for the Lower Tonto Basin of Central Arizona

ABSTRACTRecent research in the Tonto Basin of central Arizona as part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Roosevelt Lake Project has led to the formulation of a new chronology and phase sequence. This chronology is presented and phases defined. Issues discussed include the presence of an indigenous, Early Ceramic period population (ca. A.D. 100–600); immigration of Hohokam groups into the Tonto Basin during the Gila Butte phase (A.D. 750–850); a change from a buffware- to whiteware-dominated ceramic interaction network during the transition between the Sacaton (A.D. 950–1050) and Ash Creek (A.D. 1050–1150) phases; immigration of pueblo groups during the Roosevelt phase (A.D. 1250–1350); and the construction of platform mounds beginning around A.D. 1280.