Ethnohistorical Data Research Articles

Un imperio en movimiento: género, movilidad femenina y <i>acllas</i> en el Tahuantinsuyo (1400 - 1532 d. C.)

Numerous studies have explored mobility along the Qhapaq Ñan. Most of them examine how the road influenced local, regional, and imperial dynamics by fostering exchange relationships and connecting societies, people, and territories. These investigations explicitly or implicitly assume that it was male individuals who mobilized to build the Tahuantinsuyo, while women remained within the domestic unit or were confined to imperial buildings. In this study, we seek to acknowledge potential patterns of women’s mobility as part of female collectives, including those identified as acllas (chosen ones) or mamaconas (matrons) within the Tahuantinsuyo territory, through a gender perspective. We do so by drawing on five cases supported by biogenetic data and published textile analysis, as well as ethnohistorical data from Inca llacta cemeteries and capacocha ritual events (a ritual of obligation to the Inca state where infants were offered). We identified modes of movement that consider the distance traveled, the age of female individuals, and the political motives framing each activity, and which, in turn, construct identity, Finally, our analysis indicates that the visualization and analysis of individuals’ mobility experiences are associated with types of movement related to local, regional, or imperial political interests that reveal certain logics of movement that have been hidden, in this case, those of female experiences within the Tahuantinsuyo.

Pig and dog use in the pre‐contact Society Island Chiefdoms: integrated ethnohistoric, archaeological and use‐web analyses

ABSTRACTPig and dog were highly valued animals in pre‐contact Polynesia. In this paper, I focus on pig and dog use in the resource rich, and hierarchically complex, pre‐contact Society Island chiefdoms. Utilizing ethnohistoric data and human‐centred use‐webs data, I provide a preliminary study of the diverse ways that pigs and dogs were used in pre‐contact Mā‘ohi life across 13 use categories. Ethnohistoric analyses indicate that pigs, and to some extent dogs, were intimately associated with elite ceremonial use, yet pigs were commonly associated with war and fertility rituals, while dogs were commonly associated with peacekeeping events. Preliminary comparison of pig and dog frequencies at eight excavated archaeological sites suggests pig bones far outnumber dog bones. There is also differential recovery of pig and dog bone in terms of site function and site status, with high status temples dating to the Centralization Phase having the highest incidence of both species. It is highly likely that the advent of the ‘Oro war cult led to intensified pig husbandry, given this animal's robust associations with ritual use, moral notions of chiefly power and cosmology. Why dog husbandry was less intensified in the Society Islands, and why this animal was perhaps accessed largely through long‐distance trade relationships, is an ongoing question.

Hunting with dogs: a synthesis of ethnohistorical data and discussion of their implications for prehistoric subsistence in New Guinea

ABSTRACTThe advent of the dog is widely recognised as a major development in the economic organisation of ancient and contemporary hunter‐gatherer and agricultural societies. Although the utility of dogs in assisting recent historical and contemporary New Guinean hunters is commonly emphasised in anthropological discourse, to date there has been no critical evaluation of their actual contributions to hunting yields and nutrition. As a result, it remains unclear what significance the advent of hunting dogs is likely to have had for prehistoric economies in New Guinea. Here we present a comprehensive synthesis and review of the evidence for the use of dogs in hunting within New Guinea, focusing on the ways in which they assist; what kinds of game they help to capture; the degree to which they improve hunting yields and efficiency; and how this affects the taxonomic makeup and average body‐size of game in human diets. We then apply the findings to a consideration of how dogs likely affected the prehistoric economies of New Guinea after their introduction in the Late Holocene. As reliance on hunting dogs tends to produce over‐representation of a few mammal species within hunting yields, we identify potential zooarchaeological signatures for the use of dogs, and discuss excavated sites at which these may be visible. Dogs have a transformative effect on the outcomes of hunting in New Guinea's environments, and their novel use likely marked a significant development in the island's economies which has previously been underestimated.

From the Ground Up: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Past Fertility and Population Narratives

Population dynamics form a crucial component of human narratives in the past. Population responses and adaptations not only tell us about the human past but also offer insights into the present and future. Though an area of substantial interest, it is also one of often limited evidence. As such, traditional techniques from demography and anthropology must be adapted considerably to accommodate the available archaeological and ethnohistoric data and an appropriate inferential framework must be applied. In this article, I propose a ground-up, multidisciplinary approach to the study of past population dynamics. Specifically, I develop an empirically informed path diagram based on modern fertility interactions and sources of past environmental, sociocultural, and biological evidence to guide high-resolution case studies. The proposed approach is dynamic and can evolve in response to data inputs as case studies are undertaken. In application, this approach will create new knowledge of past population processes which can greatly enhance our presently limited knowledge of high-frequency, small-scale demographic fluctuations, as well as contribute to our broader understanding of significant population disturbances and change throughout human history.

Pucara Hilltop Settlements in the Lupaca and Pacajes Territories, Southern Andean Altiplano, during the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1450)

AbstractThe quantity of archaeological data for the fortified hilltop settlements of the Late Intermediate period on the Andean altiplano, called pucaras, varies greatly. Some areas, such as the territory of the Colla Aymara chieftaincy east of Lake Titicaca, are well documented thanks to recent and exhaustive research. Other areas, such as the territories of the Lupacas and the Pacajes, are much less documented. From comparative spatial analyses of satellite images from these two territories, we obtained new data on pucaras, whose characteristics seem to differ from those proposed in the archaeological literature. Through a combination of fieldwork and spatial analysis of 295 pucaras, we identified 252 unpublished sites and propose a new typology comprising four categories. Based on ethnohistoric data and the results of the architectural and geographical analyses, we discuss the possible motivations for building so many pucaras; we suggest that some reasons are of a symbolic nature.

Coupled archaeological and ecological analyses reveal ancient cultivation and land use in Nuchatlaht (Nuu-chah-nulth) territories, Pacific Northwest

Indigenous peoples’ legacies of plant cultivation and management can have profound effects on contemporary forest structure and species composition long after cultivation has ceased. Despite rich ethnographic accounts of practices like orcharding and fruit tree management in the Pacific Northwest, archaeological and ecological research documenting these practises have been lacking. To investigate ancient and historical land-use and cultivation in Nuchatlaht (Nuu-chah-nulth) territory, we undertook a multidisciplinary study combining archaeological surveys on Nootka Island and ecological analyses of seven anomalous plant communities found adjacent to former village sites. Fifty-seven archaeological sites were inventoried, and 16 previously recorded sites were updated, including six notable village sites. Intensive botanical surveys were subject to indicator species analysis, NMDS, and ANOSIM analysis, which suggest that three putative orchard sites were highly enriched for culturally important and edible fruit and root plants, such as Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca), saskatoon berry (Amelanchier alnifolia), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), and wild rice root (Fritillaria camschatcensis), and are highly distinctive compared to nearby sites and regional floristic patterns. Four shell midden sites were characterized by plant communities distinct from both orchard sites and control sites. Our archaeological and ecological analyses, alongside ethnohistorical data, strongly suggest a pattern of ancient and/or historical cultural landscape modification by Nuchatlaht peoples to produce food-bearing plant communities in their territories. This compliments findings in other literature, and what Indigenous peoples have long told researchers, that plant resources were routinely encouraged and harvested across their inhabited landscapes.

An Archaeoastronomic Assessment of Angel Mounds, Indiana, with Commentary on Moundville, Alabama, and Cahokia, Illinois

Abstract The Angel Mounds site was a large, fortified Mississippian village located in southwestern Indiana. The site flourished from circa AD 1100 to AD 1450 and represents one of the largest recorded Mississippian settlements in the Ohio River valley. In this article, we use astronomic data, lidar imagery, ethnohistoric data, and computer planetarium simulations to identify solar, stellar, and lunar alignments at the site. Of special interest are new findings showing how mound axes are oriented to the Milky Way on the night of the summer solstice. In traditional Eastern Woodlands belief, the Milky Way was the path that souls of the dead traveled on their journey to the Land of the Dead. Supportive of the findings for Angel are similar Milky Way alignments at Moundville, Alabama, and Cahokia, Illinois.

Following The Milky Way Path of Souls

Cahokia was a major Native American city on the east side of the Mississippi River, across from the modern-day city of St. Louis, Missouri. Cahokia flourished from c.1050 AD to c.1250. In this paper archaeoastronomic and ethnohistoric data along with computer simulations are used to explore the idea that the Cahokia site axis and the Rattlesnake Causeway were intentionally aligned to the Milky Way. It is proposed that this alignment accounts for the peculiar 5° offset of the site from the cardinal directions. Following Sarah Baires, it is suggested that Rattlesnake Causeway was a terrestrial metaphor for the Milky Way Path of Souls used by the deceased to cross to the Land of the Dead. Rattlesnake Mound at the end of the Causeway is suggested as a portal to the Path of Souls. According to ethnohistoric accounts, the Land of the Dead was guarded by a Great Serpent – suggested here as visible in the night sky as either the constellation Serpens or that of Scorpius.

Mapping Pre-Contact Keahuamanono Heiau in Haleakalā National Park, Maui, Hawai‘i

ABSTRACT Native and Indigenous peoples’ critiques of archaeological research address both methodological approaches to data recovery and the way data is interpreted. This paper addresses two such critiques concerning invasive excavation methods and static interpretations of the past. The authors argue that non-invasive archaeological techniques such as mapping are beneficial when investigating sacred sites. In addition, this paper argues that interpretations of data should not only rely on standardized categories for identification but also consider the specific environmental, historical, and cultural context of sites. This paper takes as a case study the investigation of pre-Contact Keahuamanono heiau (place of worship, shrine) in Haleakalā National Park, using plane table mapping paired with ethnohistorical data to interpret the structure within its local context. The resulting evidence supports the interpretation that Keahumanono heiau does not neatly fit into any existing Hawaiian heiau categories and was most likely used for celestial and political observation.

Surnames and population structure in the Doctrine of Belén, Altos de Arica, Viceroyalty of Peru (1750-1813).

The analysis of multiple population structures (biodemographic, genetic and socio-cultural) and their inter-relations contribute to a deeper understanding of population structure and population dynamics. Genetically, the population structure corresponds to the deviation of random mating conditioned by a limited number of ancestors, by restricted migration in the social or geographic space, or by preference for certain consanguineous unions. Through the isonymic method, surname frequency and distribution across the population can supply quantitative information on the structure of a human population, as they constitute universal socio-cultural variables. Using documentary sources to undertake the Doctrine of Belén's (Altos de Arica, Chile) historical demography reconstruction between 1763 and 1820, this study identified an indigenous population with stable patronymics. The availability of complete marriage, baptism and death records, low rates of migration and the significant percentage of individuals registered and constantly present in this population favoured the application of the isonymic method. The aim of this work was to use given names and surnames recorded in these documentary sources to reconstruct the population structure and migration pattern of the Doctrine of Belén between 1750 and 1813 through the isonymic method. The results of the study were consistent with the ethno-historical data of this ethnic space, where social cohesion was, in multiple ways, related to the regulation of daily life in colonial Andean societies.

Indigenous navigation in the Caribbean Basin: a historical, ethnoarchaeological and experimental approach to the Caribbean-Guyanese kanawa

The early human occupation of the Antilles was based on the manufacture and use of expanded and extended dugout canoes named kanawa. The same boat type is also associated with the Carib linguistic family groups precolonial expansion along the coasts from Brazil to Venezuela. This paper describes this type of boat and its construction process in a comparative approach to archaeological and ethnohistorical data related to the Antillean archipelago and an ethnoarchaeological study of the contemporary construction process of the kanawa by the Kali’na Amerindians of Guiana (French Guiana/Suriname). Lastly, an experimental maritime archaeology programme carried out in the Antilles over several years allows us to discuss the nature of navigation permitted by this type of boat.

Coaque: An Astronomical Icon in the Middle of the World*

Abstract This study aims to contribute to the astronomical studies for the creation of the astronomical and archaeological museum in Ecuador. Coaque, a fishermen village in the north coastal of Ecuador, is an iconic place where astronomy and archeology converge and portrays the geodesic and astronomical history of Ecuador. The 16th Century ethnohistorical data is rich on descriptions about abundance of wealth and land fertility within equinoctial zones. This awoke the curiosity of Europeans on the geodesic position. Two centuries later, La Condamine and Bouguer of the French-Hispanic Geodesic Mission, first measured the zero-degrees latitude at Punta Palmar, just south of Coaque. We present the detectability of the Crab Nebula, a high energy TeV source revealing the potential for astroparticles field of study. Also, we clarified the wrong idea of the equilibrium of an egg at zero latitude, a popular misinterpreted physical phenomenon.

Modeling Past and Present in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea

The existence of “fringe societies” in Papua New Guinea has long been recognized by anthropologists. In the New Guinea Highlands, the term refers to peoples who occupy the fringes of more populous and better-known valleys. In many instances, these groups also subsist on staples other than Ipomoea batatas, more commonly known as sweet potato, a tuber introduced to the highlands within the last 300 years. The Awa at the far eastern edge of the Eastern Highlands are such a group, and the word fringe has often been used to describe them. Surprisingly, anthropologists and archaeologists have not seized on the possibility that their unusual subsistence represents a survival of a previous adaptation that has not completed its conversion to the new crop. The authors of this paper use the Awa economy to model a pre-ipomoean past for members of the Tairora language subfamily, namely, the South Tairora, Auyana, and Awa languages. Using archaeological, paleoenvironmental, demographic, and ethnohistorical data from our study area; data for Awa from ethnographer David Boyd’s research; and other sources and simulation modeling, we explore long-standing questions about the dispersal of early horticultural peoples, its determinants, the differentiation of languages, possible time frames for their migrations, and impacts on the resulting landscapes.

Revelations of ancient head shape: Cranial modification in the Cuzco region of Peru, Early Horizon to Inca Imperial Period.

Cranial vault modification (CVM), the intentional reshaping of the head, indicated group affiliation in prehistoric Andean South America. This study aims to analyze CVM data from the Cuzco region of Peru to illuminate patterns of early migration and settlement along with the later impact of the Inca Empire (AD 1438-1532) on the ethnic landscape. 419 individuals from 10 archaeological sites spanning over 2300 years were assessed for CVM using morphological analysis. CVM patterns show distinct temporal attributes: the tabular type of modification appeared first and dominated the early sample (900 BC-AD 600), followed by an influx of unmodified crania during the Middle Horizon (AD 600-1000). The annular type appeared later during the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000-1438). In the subsequent period of Inca imperialism, modification rates were higher at sites in the Cuzco countryside than in Cuzco city sites. The study results, combined with archaeological and ethnohistoric data, reveal the sociopolitical transformations that occurred prior to and during the rise of the Inca Empire. The influx of unmodified crania during the Middle Horizon resulted at least partly from Wari occupation, while the appearance of the annular type during the LIP points to migration into the area, possibly from the Lake Titicaca region. In the Inca Imperial Period, Inca individuals at Cuzco city sites refrained from modification as a sign of their ethnic identity, while modification patterns in the Cuzco countryside likely reflect state-coerced resettlement of different ethnic groups.

Mortuary Rituals and the Suttee among Mapuche Chiefdoms of Pampa-Patagonia: The Double Human Burial of Chimpay (Argentina)

This article discusses a Mapuche Indigenous mortuary context of the nineteenth century from the middle valley of the Negro River in northern Patagonia, Argentina, which is characterized by a double burial of a man and a woman. The use of both archaeological and ethnohistorical data allows us to hypothesize that the burial is of a man with a high status in the political and military hierarchy (cacique or capitanejo) and that the corpse of the woman was one of his wives who was sacrificed so she could accompany the man in his trip to Allhue Mapu, the land of souls. We contextualize this site with existing knowledge about the suttee practice in the Pampas and Norpatagonia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This case is an example of the burial ritual known as suttee that occurred between the last decades of Indigenous autonomy (1850–1880) and the first decades after the state conquest of their territory (1880–1900).

Cosmological Expressions and Medicine Stones in the Ancestral Pueblo World

Chaco Canyon (850–1130 CE) served as the regional center for Ancestral Puebloan communities in the northern U.S. Southwest. Pueblo ethnographic traditions and the archaeological record demonstrate the importance of cosmological beliefs with origins at Chaco. We suggest archaeologists can develop more dynamic interpretations of how ancient peoples manifested conceptions of the cosmos by focusing greater attention to the temporality and semiotic properties of material culture. To illustrate this point, we argue that marine fossil shells, concretions, and water-worn pebbles were seen to be indexical of a past watery world at Chaco Canyon and elsewhere in the Ancestral Pueblo World. Perceived as traces of a primordial time and place that existed before cosmic emergences into the world, this class of artifacts called “medicine stones” evokes the essential element needed to sustain life for all Ancestral Puebloan people – water. Through the analysis of museum collections, ethnohistorical data, and creation narratives from Pueblo and other Native descendant groups, we present evidence that these medicine stones were interpreted in the past as manifestations of a pre-Pueblo cosmovision. As such, these artifacts were incorporated into a wide array of cultural contexts and media, and may have in part been associated with psychosocial healing practices.

Ceramic technology, ethnic identification and multiethnic contacts: The archaeological example of the Cuyes river valley (Southeastern Ecuadorian highlands)

Located in the south-eastern corner of Ecuador, the Cuyes River valley is a conduit between the Andes and the Amazon. In the late 1970s, monumental structures (presumably pre-Columbian) discovered in this area raised the question of who the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of this valley were: Andean or Amazonian peoples? The research summarized here describes how this question was approached through a technological and petrographic analysis of the ceramics excavated in the Cuyes valley. Results point to the presence both of a Cañari (Andean) and an Aénts Chicham (Amazonian) tradition. Along with archaeological and ethno-historic data the geographic distribution of these traditions supports the hypothesis of a strong interaction between the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Cuyes river valley.

A tough travesía: Mobility constraints among late Holocene Patagonian hunter-gatherers through oxygen stable isotopes in enamel and water sources

Central-eastern North Patagonia is characterized by a severe environmental fragmentation due to the scarce and heterogeneous distribution of fresh water. The main local wet zones, the Negro and Colorado river valleys in the North and the Somuncurá Foothills in the South are separated by a large and harsh dry land, the travesía. In this paper, we assess the effects of this environmental fragmentation in the mobility of the Late Holocene hunter-gatherers through the analysis of the stable isotopes of oxygen in both enamel and water sources. We analyzed the δ18O of the enamel carbonate of 64 human teeth from 42 individuals from the Negro River valley (n = 30) and the Somuncurá Foothills (n = 12) and transformed them into drinking water values (δ18Odw) to be compared with an oxygen water baseline built from the most important surface water sources of the area. Our results show variable mobility, but they also highlight two trends regarding the direction of the movement. First, people buried at the Negro River valley seem to have consumed more regularly water from the Colorado River in the North than from other water sources located farther south (e.g. Somuncurá Foothills). Second, the δ18Odw values from the Somuncurá sample show east-to-west prevalent mobility along the foothills, far from the northern water sources (e.g. Colorado River). This weak connectivity between the northern and the southern parts of the study area (Negro and Colorado river valleys and Somuncurá Foothills) is probably related to the harsh environmental constraints imposed by the travesía. Our isotopic results in conjunction with the available archaeological and ethnohistorical data indicate that this large dry land acted as a marginal space in terms of human exploitation and that it certainly influenced human mobility.

Indigenous Disk Beads in the Southern Southwest: Contemporary, Ethnographic, Ethnohistorical, and Archaeological Evidence

Within the Phoenix Basin in southern Arizona, disk beads have long been highly valued. Remarkably, the Akimel O’Odham (i.e., Pima) and Pee Posh (i.e., Maricopa) still place great importance on them today. Similar beads were formed from shell, stone, and clay. The effort necessary to manufacture beads from these constituents varies, but beads made from different materials are often macroscopically indistinguishable. Furthermore, some raw materials had to be imported, while other constituents were locally available. These factors should have affected the value of different bead types, and ethnographic evidence shows that indigenous people have clearly defined preferences for attributes, including color and material. In particular, beads made from shell and turquoise are recognized as being most valuable. This paper presents archaeological, ethnohistorical, ethnographic, and contemporary data that show that small disk beads were a form of wealth that was employed in trade transactions.

Water, movement and landscape ordering: A GIS-based analysis for understanding the mobility system of late Holocene mound-builders in southern Brazil

The present paper shows a GIS-based analysis for understanding the mobility system of the mound-builders (cerriteiros) of Patos and Mirim lagoons, located in southern Brazil, during the late Holocene. A geospatial model of mobility and centrality was developed using the least-cost path and network analysis methodologies. The degree of traffic and the settlement centrality allowed the interpretation of movement patterns and the connectivity of people in the coastal aquatic environment. The comparison between the terrestrial and aquatic models of mobility illustrates the permeability of the landscape suggesting the higher efficiency of movement via canoe in some environments as opposed to a purely walking-based model. Considering the GIS modeling and the archaeological and ethnohistorical data, we suggest that settlement and mobility patterns in some parts of the coastal plains were driven by the water-heavy landscape and the settlement positioning acted as mechanism of ordering the landscape.