Considerable debate surrounds the economic, political, and ideological systems that constitute primary state formation. Theoretical and empirical research emphasize the role of religion as a significant institution for promoting the consolidation and reproduction of archaic states. The Tiwanaku state developed in the Lake Titicaca Basin between the 5th and 12th centuries CE and extended its influence over much of the south-central Andes of South America. We report on recent discoveries from the first systematic underwater archaeological excavations in the Khoa Reef near the Island of the Sun, Bolivia. The depositional context and compositional properties of offerings consisting of ceramic feline incense burners, killed juvenile llamas, and sumptuary metal, shell, and lapidary ornaments allow us to reconstruct the structure and significance of cyclically repeated state rituals. Using new theoretical tools, we explain the role of these rituals in promoting the consolidation of the Tiwanaku polity.
The Lake Titicaca basin was one of the major centers for cultural development in the ancient world. This lacustrine environment is unique in the high, dry Andean altiplano, and its aquatic and terrestrial resources are thought to have contributed to the florescence of complex societies in this region. Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what extent local aquatic resources, particularly fish, and the introduced crop, maize, which can be grown in regions along the lakeshores, contributed to facilitating sustained food production and population growth, which underpinned increasing social political complexity starting in the Formative Period (1400 BCE to 500 CE) and culminating with the Tiwanaku state (500 to 1100 CE). Here, we present direct dietary evidence from stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains spanning over two millennia, together with faunal and floral reference materials, to reconstruct foodways and ecological interactions in southern Lake Titicaca over time. Bulk stable isotope analysis, coupled with compound-specific amino acid stable isotope analysis, allows better discrimination between resources consumed across aquatic and terrestrial environments. Together, this evidence demonstrates that human diets predominantly relied on C(3) plants, particularly quinoa and tubers, along with terrestrial animals, notably domestic camelids. Surprisingly, fish were not a significant source of animal protein, but a slight increase in C(4) plant consumption verifies the increasing importance of maize in the Middle Horizon. These results underscore the primary role of local terrestrial food resources in securing a nutritious diet that allowed for sustained population growth, even in the face of documented climate and political change across these periods.
In: Miller , M J , Kendall , I P , Capriles , J M , Bruno , M C , Evershed , R P & Hastorf , C A 2021 , ' Quinoa, potatoes, and llamas fueled emergent social complexity in the Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andes ' , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 118 , no. 49 , e2113395118 . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113395118
The Lake Titicaca basin was one of the major centers for cultural development in the ancient world. This lacustrine environment is unique in the high, dry Andean altiplano, and its aquatic and terrestrial resources are thought to have contributed to the florescence of complex societies in this region. Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what extent local aquatic resources, particularly fish, and the introduced crop, maize, which can be grown in regions along the lakeshores, contributed to facilitating sustained food production and population growth, which underpinned increasing social political complexity starting in the Formative Period (1400BCE-500CE) and culminating with the Tiwanaku state (500-1100CE). Here, we present direct dietary evidence from stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains spanning over two millennia, together with faunal and floral reference materials, to reconstruct foodways and ecological interactions in southern Lake Titicaca over time. Bulk stable isotope analysis, coupled with compound-specific amino acid stable isotope analysis, allows better discrimination between resources consumed across aquatic and terrestrial environments. Together, this evidence demonstrates that human diets predominantly relied on C3 plants, particularly quinoa and tubers, along with terrestrial animals, notably domestic camelids. Surprisingly, fish were not a significant source of animal protein, but a slight increase in C4 plant consumption verifies the increasing importance of maize in the Middle Horizon. These results underscore the primary role of local terrestrial food resources in securing a nutritious diet that allowed for sustained population growth, even in the face of documented climate and political change across these periods.
The feathers of tropical birds were one of the most significant symbols of economic, social, and sacred status in the pre-Columbian Americas. In the Andes, finely produced clothing and textiles containing multicolored feathers of tropical parrots materialized power, prestige, and distinction and were particularly prized by political and religious elites. Here we report 27 complete or partial remains of macaws and amazon parrots from five archaeological sites in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile to improve our understanding of their taxonomic identity, chronology, cultural context, and mechanisms of acquisition. We conducted a multiproxy archaeometric study that included zooarchaeological analysis, isotopic dietary reconstruction, accelerated mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating, and paleogenomic analysis. The results reveal that during the Late Intermediate Period (1100 to 1450 CE), Atacama oasis communities acquired scarlet macaws (Ara macao) and at least five additional translocated parrot species through vast exchange networks that extended more than 500 km toward the eastern Amazonian tropics. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes indicate that Atacama aviculturalists sustained these birds on diets rich in marine bird guano-fertilized maize-based foods. The captive rearing of these colorful, exotic, and charismatic birds served to unambiguously signal relational wealth in a context of emergent intercommunity competition.
There are many unanswered questions about the population history of the Central and South Central Andes, particularly regarding the impact of large-scale societies, such as the Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, and Inca. We assembled genome-wide data on 89 individuals dating from ~9000-500 years ago (BP), with a particular focus on the period of the rise and fall of state societies. Today's genetic structure began to develop by 5800 BP, followed by bi-directional gene flow between the North and South Highlands, and between the Highlands and Coast. We detect minimal admixture among neighboring groups between ~2000-500 BP, although we do detect cosmopolitanism (people of diverse ancestries living side-by-side) in the heartlands of the Tiwanaku and Inca polities. We also reveal cases of long-range mobility connecting the Andes to Argentina, and the Northwest Andes to the Amazon Basin.
There are many unanswered questions about the population history of the Central and South Central Andes, particularly regarding the impact of large-scale societies, such as the Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, and Inca. We assembled genome-wide data on 89 individuals dating from ∼9,000-500 years ago (BP), with a particular focus on the period of the rise and fall of state societies. Today's genetic structure began to develop by 5,800 BP, followed by bi-directional gene flow between the North and South Highlands, and between the Highlands and Coast. We detect minimal admixture among neighboring groups between ∼2,000–500 BP, although we do detect cosmopolitanism (people of diverse ancestries living side-by-side) in the heartlands of the Tiwanaku and Inca polities. We also highlight cases of long-range mobility connecting the Andes to Argentina and the Northwest Andes to the Amazon Basin. Video Abstract: [Figure presented] Genome-wide data from 89 ancient humans illuminates the changes to the genetic landscape in the Central Andes over 9,000 years, revealing large-scale gene flow and cosmopolitan societies in the Tiwanaku and Inca polities. ; Fil: Nakatsuka, Nathan. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Lazaridis, Iosif. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Barbieri, Chiara. Max Planck Institute For The Science Of Human History; Alemania ; Fil: Skoglund, Pontus. University Of Zurich; Suiza ; Fil: Rohland, Nadin. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Mallick, Swapan. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Posth, Cosimo. Max Planck Institute For The Science Of Human History; Alemania ; Fil: Harkins Kinkaid, Kelly. University of California; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Ferry, Matthew. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Harney, Éadaoin. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Michel, Megan. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Stewardson, Kristin. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Novak-Forst, Jannine. The Pennsylvania State University; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Capriles, José M. University of California; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Durruty, Marta Alfonso. Kansas State University; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Álvarez, Karina Aranda. Sociedad de Arqueología de la Paz; Bolivia ; Fil: Beresford-Jones, David. University of Cambridge; Reino Unido ; Fil: Burger, Richard. University of Yale; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Cadwallader, Lauren. University of Cambridge; Reino Unido ; Fil: Fujita, Ricardo. Universidad de San Martín de Porres; Perú ; Fil: Isla, Johny. No especifíca; ; Fil: Lau, George. University of East Anglia; Reino Unido ; Fil: Aguirre, Carlos Lémuz. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; Bolivia ; Fil: LeBlanc, Steven. Harvard University; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Maldonado, Sergio Calla. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; Bolivia ; Fil: Meddens, Frank. University of Reading; Reino Unido ; Fil: Messineo, Pablo Geronimo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina ; Fil: Culleton, Brendan J. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Harper, Thomas K. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Quilter, Jeffrey. Harvard University; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Politis, Gustavo Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina ; Fil: Rademaker, Kurt. Michigan State University; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Reindel, Markus. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Rivera, Mario. Michigan State University; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Salazar, Lucy. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Sandoval, José R. Universidad de San Martín de Porres; Perú ; Fil: Santoro, Calogero M. Universidad de Tarapacá; Chile ; Fil: Scheifler, Nahuel Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina ; Fil: Standen, Vivien. Universidad de Tarapacá; Chile ; Fil: Barreto, Maria Ines. Museo de Sitio Huaca Pucllana; Perú ; Fil: Flores Espinoza, Isabel. Museo de Sitio Huaca Pucllana; Perú ; Fil: Tomasto Cagigao, Elsa. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú; Perú ; Fil: Valverde, Guido. University of Adelaide; Australia ; Fil: Kennett, Douglas J. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos. University of California; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Cooper, Alan. University of Adelaide; Australia ; Fil: Krause, Johannes. Max Planck Institute For The Science Of Human History; Alemania ; Fil: Haak, Wolfgang. Max Planck Institute For The Science Of Human History; Alemania ; Fil: Llamas, Bastien. University of Adelaide; Australia ; Fil: Reich, David. Harvard University; Estados Unidos. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos ; Fil: Fehren Schmitz, Lars. University of California; Estados Unidos
There are many unanswered questions about the population history of the Central and South Central Andes, particularly regarding the impact of large-scale societies, such as the Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, and Inca. We assembled genome-wide data on 89 individuals dating from ∼9,000-500 years ago (BP), with a particular focus on the period of the rise and fall of state societies. Today's genetic structure began to develop by 5,800 BP, followed by bi-directional gene flow between the North and South Highlands, and between the Highlands and Coast. We detect minimal admixture among neighboring groups between ∼2,000–500 BP, although we do detect cosmopolitanism (people of diverse ancestries living side-by-side) in the heartlands of the Tiwanaku and Inca polities. We also highlight cases of long-range mobility connecting the Andes to Argentina and the Northwest Andes to the Amazon Basin. VIDEO ABSTRACT:
There are many unanswered questions about the population history of the Central and South Central Andes, particularly regarding the impact of large-scale societies, such as the Moche, Wari, Tiwanaku, and Inca. We assembled genome-wide data on 89 individuals dating from ∼9,000-500 years ago (BP), with a particular focus on the period of the rise and fall of state societies. Today's genetic structure began to develop by 5,800 BP, followed by bi-directional gene flow between the North and South Highlands, and between the Highlands and Coast. We detect minimal admixture among neighboring groups between ∼2,000-500 BP, although we do detect cosmopolitanism (people of diverse ancestries living side-by-side) in the heartlands of the Tiwanaku and Inca polities. We also highlight cases of long-range mobility connecting the Andes to Argentina and the Northwest Andes to the Amazon Basin. VIDEO ABSTRACT.