Kelly Knudson | Arizona State University (original) (raw)

Books by Kelly Knudson

Research paper thumbnail of Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas

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Papers by Kelly Knudson

Research paper thumbnail of The use of strontium isotope analysis to investigate Tiwanaku migration and mortuary ritual in Bolivia and Peru

Archaeometry, 2004

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Research paper thumbnail of Stable isotope analysis of a pre-Hispanic Andean community: Reconstructing pre-Wari and Wari era diets in the hinterland of the Wari empire, Peru. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.23339/full

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2017

Objectives: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis is used to reconstruct diet among a pre-H... more Objectives: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis is used to reconstruct diet among a pre-Hispanic population from the Peruvian Andes to evaluate whether local foodways changed with Wari imperial influence in the region. This study also compares local diet to other Wari-era sites.
Materials and methods: Samples derive from the site of Beringa in Peru and correspond primarily to pre-Wari (200–600 CE) and Wari (600–1,000 CE). We examine stable carbon isotopes from enamel (n = 29) and bone apatite (n = 22), and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from bone collagen (n = 29), and we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data on archaeological and modern fauna (n = 37) and plants (n = 19) from the region.
Results: There were no significant differences in either δ13C or δ15N from the pre-Wari to Wari era, indicating that those measurable aspects of diet did not change with Wari influence. There were no sex-based differences among juveniles (as inferred from δ13C from enamel carbonates) nor among adults (based on δ13C and δ15N from adult bone collagen). Comparisons to other Wari era sites show that Beringa individuals exhibited significantly lower δ13C values, suggesting that they consumed significantly less maize, a socially valued food. Further, the Froehle et al. (2012) stable isotope model suggests that the majority of the Beringa individuals consumed more C3 than C4 plants, and dietary protein was derived primarily from terrestrial animals and some marine resources.
Conclusions: The similar diets from pre-Wari to Wari times hint at strong local dietary traditions and durable food trade networks during the period of Wari imperial influence. The presence of limited marine foods in the diet suggests a trade network with coastal groups or sojourns to the coast to gather marine resources.

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Research paper thumbnail of Intra-individual variability and strontium isotope measurements: A methodological study using 87Sr/86Sr data from Pampa de los Gentiles, Chincha Valley, Peru

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2016

Measurement of 87Sr/86Sr relative abundance ratios in tooth enamel is a primary method to determi... more Measurement of 87Sr/86Sr relative abundance ratios in tooth enamel is a primary method to determine human paleomobility, and a growing number of studies now use these measurements to also reconstruct individual life histories and geographical origins. Here we test the utility and validity of this method for reconstructing individual life histories. To investigate intra-individual variability, we present results from blinded measurements of strontiumisotope ratios in 42 tooth enamel samples fromseven individuals found at the late prehistoric site of Pampa de los Gentiles, Chincha Valley, Peru. These samples include enamel that formed early in the development of the individual, as well as enamel that formed during adolescence. This allowed us to investigate normal variation in tooth enamel 87Sr/86Sr ratios. Within the same tooth type in the same individual, differences in 87Sr/86Sr ratios fromright and left dental elements ranged frombelowthe limit of detection (b0.00000, canine, Individual 23) to 0.00015 (first premolar, Individual 11). Because of the scale of this difference, these results validate the utility of intra-individual studies that focus on enamel that formed at different times during human development. The data also validate the utility of these strontium isotope ratio measurements when made to the third and fourth decimal place for making archaeological meaningful inferences about paleomobility.

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Research paper thumbnail of Migration and Viking Dublin: palaeomobility and palaeodiet though isotopic analysis

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Research paper thumbnail of Tiwanaku Influence and Social Inequality: A Bioarchaeological, Biogeochemical, and Contextual Analysis of the Larache Cemetery, San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile

Objectives: To assess the relationship between the Tiwanaku polity and the individuals buried at ... more Objectives: To assess the relationship between the Tiwanaku polity and the individuals buried at the Middle Horizon (􏰁AD500-1000) cemetery of Larache in northern Chile, a site that has been singled out as a potential elite foreign enclave.
Materials and Methods: We explore this association through the skeletal remains of 48 individuals interred at the cemetery of Larache using bioarchaeological, biogeochemical, and artifactual evidence. Data from cranial modification practices, violent injury, and the mortuary assemblage are used to explore culturally constructed elements of status and identity, radiogenic strontium isotope analyses provide us with a perspective on the geographic origins of these individuals, and stable carbon and nitrogen analyses allow discussion of paleodiet and access to resources.
Results: Radiogenic strontium isotope values show the presence of multiple first generation migrants at Larache. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data reveal significant differences among individuals. The mortuary context reveals a standard pattern for the oases but also includes a series of unusual burials with abundant gold and few other objects. Interestingly, both local and nonlocal individuals with different head shapes had access to the differen- tiated burial context; however nonlocal individuals appear to be the only ones with a heavily maize-based diet.
Conclusions: Our evidence shows that Larache served as a burial place for a diverse, yet culturally integrated and potentially elite segment of the Atacameño population, but not a foreign enclave as had been postulated.

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Research paper thumbnail of The Complex Relationship between Tiwanaku Mortuary Identity and Geographic Origin in the South Central Andes

Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Cranial Modification among the Maya: Absence of Evidence or Evidence of Absence?

Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Embodiment and the Enigmatic Identity of the Lovers from Lamanai

Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Investigating human responses to political and environmental change through paleodiet and paleomobility

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2015

Bioarchaeological approaches are well suited for examining past responses to political and enviro... more Bioarchaeological approaches are well suited for examining past responses to political and environmental changes. In the Andes, we hypothesized that political and environmental changes around AD 1100 resulted in behavioral changes, visible as shifts in paleodiet and paleomobility, among individuals in the San Pedro de Atacama oases and Loa River Valley. To investigate this hypothesis, we generated carbon and oxygen isotope data from cemeteries dating to the early Middle Horizon (Larache, Quitor-5, Solor-3), late Middle Horizon (Casa Parroquial, Coyo Oriental, Coyo-3, Solcor-Plaza, Solcor-3, Tchecar), and Late Intermediate Period (Caspana, Quitor-6 Tardío, Toconce, Yaye-1, Yaye-2, Yaye-3, Yaye-4). Carbon isotope data demonstrate a greater range of carbon sources during the late Middle Horizon compared with the Late Intermediate Period; while most individuals consumed largely C3 sources, some late Middle Horizon individuals consumed more C4 sources. Oxygen isotope data demonstrate greater diversity in drinking water sources during the late Middle Horizon compared with the Late Intermediate Period. Water samples were analyzed to provide baseline data on oxygen isotope variability within the Atacama Desert, and demonstrated that oxygen isotope values are indistinguishable in the San Pedro and Loa Rivers. However, oxygen isotope values in water sources in the high-altitude altiplano and coast are distinct from those in the San Pedro and Loa Rivers. In conclusion, instead of utilizing a wider variety of resources after environmental and political changes, individuals exhibited a wider range of paleodietary and paleomobility strategies during the Middle Horizon, a period of environmental and political stability. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Research paper thumbnail of Paleodiet in the Paracas Necropolis of Wari Kayan: Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Keratin Samples from the South Coast of Peru

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2015

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining the Life History of an Individual from Solcor 3, San Pedro De Atacama: Combining Bioarchaeology and Archaeological Chemistry

Chungará (Arica), 2007

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining the Life History of an Individual from Solcor 3, San Pedro De Atacama: Combining Bioarchaeology and Archaeological Chemistry Examinando La Vida De Un Individuo De Solcor 3, San Pedro De Atacama: Combinando La Bioarqueología y La Química Arqueológica

Detailed life history information using multiple lines of evidence including the identification o... more Detailed life history information using multiple lines of evidence including the identification of geographic origins, health, and body use indicators, can be used to elucidate the complex process of acculturation in the San Pedro de Atacama oases of northern Chile during the Middle Horizon. This paper presents the results of bioarchaeological and archaeological chemical analyses of the skeletal remains of an adult male (tomb 50, catalog number 1948) from the cemetery of Solcor 3 (ca. AD 500- 900). Strontium isotope ratios in human tooth enamel reveal information about where a person lived during their childhood, when enamel was being formed. Individual 1948 showed strontium isotope ratios decidedly outside the range of the local San Pedro de Atacama strontium isotope signature. Given these data implying that individual 1948 was originally from elsewhere, an examination of his health status, social role, and mortuary context provides insight into the treatment of foreigners in San P...

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Research paper thumbnail of The Bioarchaeology of Identity: Case Studies from the South Central Andes

Atlanta, 2004

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Research paper thumbnail of Changing patterns of mobility as a response to climatic deterioration and aridification in the middle Holocene southern Sahara

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2014

The African Humid Period witnessed a rapid human re-occupation of the Sahara as numerous lakes fo... more The African Humid Period witnessed a rapid human re-occupation of the Sahara as numerous lakes formed during the Holocene climatic optimum circa 10-5 kya. Permanent waters attracted a variety of aquatic and terrestrial fauna allowing for long-term occupation of specific paleolake basins. The Gobero paleolake in central Niger was one such location that preserves a unique mortuary record from the southern Sahara. Here, we use radiogenic strontium isotope analysis to investigate how human communities adapted to aridification throughout the Holocene. In particular, we examine the effects of increasing climate instability on patterns of human mobility. Results of radiogenic strontium isotope analysis of enamel and bone samples from Middle Holocene burials (∼7.2-4.9 kya) indicate predominantly local values with no evidence for sex-based variation. Comparisons of radiogenic strontium isotope data with previously published (Stojanowski and Knudson: Am J Phys Anthropol 146 (2011) 49-61) Early Holocene burials (∼9.7-8.3 kya) indicate significant differences in both enamel and bone values. Middle Holocene individuals demonstrate a predominantly non-local signature for enamel values and a predominantly local signature for bone values. Those individuals with non-local bone values always demonstrated non-local enamel values; however, the opposite was not the case. This suggests a divergence of mobility strategies during the Middle Holocene with a minority of individuals maintaining a more mobile existence throughout their life and others maintaining a similar strategy as Early Holocene hunter-gatherers that was tied to the paleolake basin. The more mobile individuals likely lived during the terminal phase of the lake's occupation. One response to aridification by Saharan peoples, then, was increasing mobility.

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Research paper thumbnail of Book review: Between Biology and Culture

American Journal of Human Biology, 2009

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Research paper thumbnail of Assessing the Life History of an Andean Traveller through Biogeochemistry: Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Analyses of Archaeological Human Remains from Northern Chile

Bioarchaeology and biogeochemistry can elucidate aspects of individual life histories that are of... more Bioarchaeology and biogeochemistry can elucidate aspects of individual life histories that are often lost in the archaeological record. Here, we use stable and radiogenic isotope analyses of enamel, bone and hair to reconstruct paleodiet and paleomobility in an adult male interred along a pre-Columbian route connecting the northern Chilean coast to the inland Loa River Valley. Although this well-preserved burial included mortuary goods typical of coastal cultures, it was discovered in a vast, uninhabited part of northern Chile’s hyper-arid Atacama Desert.
Variation in carbon and nitrogen isotopes reflects dietary differences, while strontium and oxygen isotopes vary geologically and geographically. We use these data to examine paleodiet and paleomobility and to assess whether this was a coastal traveller seeking provisions from the interior or vice versa. Enamel stable isotope analysis is consistent with the consumption of a mixture of terrestrial and marine resources during the first years of life. Bone stable isotope analyses indicate habitual consumption of marine foodstuffs over the last 10–30 years of this individual’s life. Interestingly, stable isotope analysis of hair samples provides more fine- grained information on this individual, suggesting movements between the coast and highlands in the months before his death. Radiogenic strontium isotope data are consistent with residence on the coast or in the Atacama Desert, but are lower than strontium isotope values from higher altitudes. These dietary and geological patterns are reconcilable with coastal residency; the isotopic data are consistent with foodstuffs and textiles found with the burial. Therefore, we argue that this individual was regularly moving from the coast to inland areas, crossing the hyper-arid Atacama Desert by following strategic interzonal routes that provided access to particular resources.

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Research paper thumbnail of EXPLORANDO LA DIVERSIDAD DIETÉTICA EN LA PREHISTORIA DEL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA: UN ACERCAMIENTO A LOS PATRONES REGIONALES

During its prehistory, Chile’s desert north was occupied by numerous cultures scattered across th... more During its prehistory, Chile’s desert north was occupied by numerous cultures scattered across the various ecological niches of the region. However, from the Late Archaic forward there is archaeological evidence for the sharing of resources and cultural elements across groups, a practice that intensified during the Middle and Late Intermediate Periods. We explored the dietary composition of local populations through stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. Our results show a high consumption of marine protein along the coast and nearby regions as well as a possible increase in maize consumption over time. Interestingly, these results show that there was substantial dietary variety internal to these groups. This supports the idea of a regular flow of people and food between the coast and the highlands throughout the prehistoric period.

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining Local Social Identities through Patterns of Biological and Cultural Variation in the Solcor Ayllu, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Studies of local forms of social organization in peripheral areas can enrich our understanding of... more Studies of local forms of social organization in peripheral areas can enrich our understanding of the sociopolitical factors structuring core-periphery interactions. This research explores how local group identities impacted the ways in which individuals and communities at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, expressed their relationship to the Tiwanaku polity during the Middle Horizon. Combining information from body modification practices, burial contexts, and isotopic indicators of diet and geographic origin, we demonstrate that differential incorporation of Tiwanaku goods and practices may have served alongside other local customs to mark social group distinctions between individuals interred in the Solcor 3 and Solcor Plaza cemeteries.

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Research paper thumbnail of Pre-Columbian Andean sickness ideology and the social experience of leishmaniasis: A contextualized analysis of bioarchaeological and paleopathological data from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

International Journal of Paleopathology, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas

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Research paper thumbnail of The use of strontium isotope analysis to investigate Tiwanaku migration and mortuary ritual in Bolivia and Peru

Archaeometry, 2004

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Research paper thumbnail of Stable isotope analysis of a pre-Hispanic Andean community: Reconstructing pre-Wari and Wari era diets in the hinterland of the Wari empire, Peru. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.23339/full

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2017

Objectives: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis is used to reconstruct diet among a pre-H... more Objectives: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis is used to reconstruct diet among a pre-Hispanic population from the Peruvian Andes to evaluate whether local foodways changed with Wari imperial influence in the region. This study also compares local diet to other Wari-era sites.
Materials and methods: Samples derive from the site of Beringa in Peru and correspond primarily to pre-Wari (200–600 CE) and Wari (600–1,000 CE). We examine stable carbon isotopes from enamel (n = 29) and bone apatite (n = 22), and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from bone collagen (n = 29), and we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data on archaeological and modern fauna (n = 37) and plants (n = 19) from the region.
Results: There were no significant differences in either δ13C or δ15N from the pre-Wari to Wari era, indicating that those measurable aspects of diet did not change with Wari influence. There were no sex-based differences among juveniles (as inferred from δ13C from enamel carbonates) nor among adults (based on δ13C and δ15N from adult bone collagen). Comparisons to other Wari era sites show that Beringa individuals exhibited significantly lower δ13C values, suggesting that they consumed significantly less maize, a socially valued food. Further, the Froehle et al. (2012) stable isotope model suggests that the majority of the Beringa individuals consumed more C3 than C4 plants, and dietary protein was derived primarily from terrestrial animals and some marine resources.
Conclusions: The similar diets from pre-Wari to Wari times hint at strong local dietary traditions and durable food trade networks during the period of Wari imperial influence. The presence of limited marine foods in the diet suggests a trade network with coastal groups or sojourns to the coast to gather marine resources.

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Research paper thumbnail of Intra-individual variability and strontium isotope measurements: A methodological study using 87Sr/86Sr data from Pampa de los Gentiles, Chincha Valley, Peru

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2016

Measurement of 87Sr/86Sr relative abundance ratios in tooth enamel is a primary method to determi... more Measurement of 87Sr/86Sr relative abundance ratios in tooth enamel is a primary method to determine human paleomobility, and a growing number of studies now use these measurements to also reconstruct individual life histories and geographical origins. Here we test the utility and validity of this method for reconstructing individual life histories. To investigate intra-individual variability, we present results from blinded measurements of strontiumisotope ratios in 42 tooth enamel samples fromseven individuals found at the late prehistoric site of Pampa de los Gentiles, Chincha Valley, Peru. These samples include enamel that formed early in the development of the individual, as well as enamel that formed during adolescence. This allowed us to investigate normal variation in tooth enamel 87Sr/86Sr ratios. Within the same tooth type in the same individual, differences in 87Sr/86Sr ratios fromright and left dental elements ranged frombelowthe limit of detection (b0.00000, canine, Individual 23) to 0.00015 (first premolar, Individual 11). Because of the scale of this difference, these results validate the utility of intra-individual studies that focus on enamel that formed at different times during human development. The data also validate the utility of these strontium isotope ratio measurements when made to the third and fourth decimal place for making archaeological meaningful inferences about paleomobility.

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Research paper thumbnail of Migration and Viking Dublin: palaeomobility and palaeodiet though isotopic analysis

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Research paper thumbnail of Tiwanaku Influence and Social Inequality: A Bioarchaeological, Biogeochemical, and Contextual Analysis of the Larache Cemetery, San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile

Objectives: To assess the relationship between the Tiwanaku polity and the individuals buried at ... more Objectives: To assess the relationship between the Tiwanaku polity and the individuals buried at the Middle Horizon (􏰁AD500-1000) cemetery of Larache in northern Chile, a site that has been singled out as a potential elite foreign enclave.
Materials and Methods: We explore this association through the skeletal remains of 48 individuals interred at the cemetery of Larache using bioarchaeological, biogeochemical, and artifactual evidence. Data from cranial modification practices, violent injury, and the mortuary assemblage are used to explore culturally constructed elements of status and identity, radiogenic strontium isotope analyses provide us with a perspective on the geographic origins of these individuals, and stable carbon and nitrogen analyses allow discussion of paleodiet and access to resources.
Results: Radiogenic strontium isotope values show the presence of multiple first generation migrants at Larache. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data reveal significant differences among individuals. The mortuary context reveals a standard pattern for the oases but also includes a series of unusual burials with abundant gold and few other objects. Interestingly, both local and nonlocal individuals with different head shapes had access to the differen- tiated burial context; however nonlocal individuals appear to be the only ones with a heavily maize-based diet.
Conclusions: Our evidence shows that Larache served as a burial place for a diverse, yet culturally integrated and potentially elite segment of the Atacameño population, but not a foreign enclave as had been postulated.

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Research paper thumbnail of The Complex Relationship between Tiwanaku Mortuary Identity and Geographic Origin in the South Central Andes

Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Cranial Modification among the Maya: Absence of Evidence or Evidence of Absence?

Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Embodiment and the Enigmatic Identity of the Lovers from Lamanai

Bioarchaeology and Identity in the Americas, 2011

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Investigating human responses to political and environmental change through paleodiet and paleomobility

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2015

Bioarchaeological approaches are well suited for examining past responses to political and enviro... more Bioarchaeological approaches are well suited for examining past responses to political and environmental changes. In the Andes, we hypothesized that political and environmental changes around AD 1100 resulted in behavioral changes, visible as shifts in paleodiet and paleomobility, among individuals in the San Pedro de Atacama oases and Loa River Valley. To investigate this hypothesis, we generated carbon and oxygen isotope data from cemeteries dating to the early Middle Horizon (Larache, Quitor-5, Solor-3), late Middle Horizon (Casa Parroquial, Coyo Oriental, Coyo-3, Solcor-Plaza, Solcor-3, Tchecar), and Late Intermediate Period (Caspana, Quitor-6 Tardío, Toconce, Yaye-1, Yaye-2, Yaye-3, Yaye-4). Carbon isotope data demonstrate a greater range of carbon sources during the late Middle Horizon compared with the Late Intermediate Period; while most individuals consumed largely C3 sources, some late Middle Horizon individuals consumed more C4 sources. Oxygen isotope data demonstrate greater diversity in drinking water sources during the late Middle Horizon compared with the Late Intermediate Period. Water samples were analyzed to provide baseline data on oxygen isotope variability within the Atacama Desert, and demonstrated that oxygen isotope values are indistinguishable in the San Pedro and Loa Rivers. However, oxygen isotope values in water sources in the high-altitude altiplano and coast are distinct from those in the San Pedro and Loa Rivers. In conclusion, instead of utilizing a wider variety of resources after environmental and political changes, individuals exhibited a wider range of paleodietary and paleomobility strategies during the Middle Horizon, a period of environmental and political stability. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Research paper thumbnail of Paleodiet in the Paracas Necropolis of Wari Kayan: Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Keratin Samples from the South Coast of Peru

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2015

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining the Life History of an Individual from Solcor 3, San Pedro De Atacama: Combining Bioarchaeology and Archaeological Chemistry

Chungará (Arica), 2007

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Research paper thumbnail of Examining the Life History of an Individual from Solcor 3, San Pedro De Atacama: Combining Bioarchaeology and Archaeological Chemistry Examinando La Vida De Un Individuo De Solcor 3, San Pedro De Atacama: Combinando La Bioarqueología y La Química Arqueológica

Detailed life history information using multiple lines of evidence including the identification o... more Detailed life history information using multiple lines of evidence including the identification of geographic origins, health, and body use indicators, can be used to elucidate the complex process of acculturation in the San Pedro de Atacama oases of northern Chile during the Middle Horizon. This paper presents the results of bioarchaeological and archaeological chemical analyses of the skeletal remains of an adult male (tomb 50, catalog number 1948) from the cemetery of Solcor 3 (ca. AD 500- 900). Strontium isotope ratios in human tooth enamel reveal information about where a person lived during their childhood, when enamel was being formed. Individual 1948 showed strontium isotope ratios decidedly outside the range of the local San Pedro de Atacama strontium isotope signature. Given these data implying that individual 1948 was originally from elsewhere, an examination of his health status, social role, and mortuary context provides insight into the treatment of foreigners in San P...

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Research paper thumbnail of The Bioarchaeology of Identity: Case Studies from the South Central Andes

Atlanta, 2004

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Research paper thumbnail of Changing patterns of mobility as a response to climatic deterioration and aridification in the middle Holocene southern Sahara

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2014

The African Humid Period witnessed a rapid human re-occupation of the Sahara as numerous lakes fo... more The African Humid Period witnessed a rapid human re-occupation of the Sahara as numerous lakes formed during the Holocene climatic optimum circa 10-5 kya. Permanent waters attracted a variety of aquatic and terrestrial fauna allowing for long-term occupation of specific paleolake basins. The Gobero paleolake in central Niger was one such location that preserves a unique mortuary record from the southern Sahara. Here, we use radiogenic strontium isotope analysis to investigate how human communities adapted to aridification throughout the Holocene. In particular, we examine the effects of increasing climate instability on patterns of human mobility. Results of radiogenic strontium isotope analysis of enamel and bone samples from Middle Holocene burials (∼7.2-4.9 kya) indicate predominantly local values with no evidence for sex-based variation. Comparisons of radiogenic strontium isotope data with previously published (Stojanowski and Knudson: Am J Phys Anthropol 146 (2011) 49-61) Early Holocene burials (∼9.7-8.3 kya) indicate significant differences in both enamel and bone values. Middle Holocene individuals demonstrate a predominantly non-local signature for enamel values and a predominantly local signature for bone values. Those individuals with non-local bone values always demonstrated non-local enamel values; however, the opposite was not the case. This suggests a divergence of mobility strategies during the Middle Holocene with a minority of individuals maintaining a more mobile existence throughout their life and others maintaining a similar strategy as Early Holocene hunter-gatherers that was tied to the paleolake basin. The more mobile individuals likely lived during the terminal phase of the lake's occupation. One response to aridification by Saharan peoples, then, was increasing mobility.

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Research paper thumbnail of Book review: Between Biology and Culture

American Journal of Human Biology, 2009

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Research paper thumbnail of Assessing the Life History of an Andean Traveller through Biogeochemistry: Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Analyses of Archaeological Human Remains from Northern Chile

Bioarchaeology and biogeochemistry can elucidate aspects of individual life histories that are of... more Bioarchaeology and biogeochemistry can elucidate aspects of individual life histories that are often lost in the archaeological record. Here, we use stable and radiogenic isotope analyses of enamel, bone and hair to reconstruct paleodiet and paleomobility in an adult male interred along a pre-Columbian route connecting the northern Chilean coast to the inland Loa River Valley. Although this well-preserved burial included mortuary goods typical of coastal cultures, it was discovered in a vast, uninhabited part of northern Chile’s hyper-arid Atacama Desert.
Variation in carbon and nitrogen isotopes reflects dietary differences, while strontium and oxygen isotopes vary geologically and geographically. We use these data to examine paleodiet and paleomobility and to assess whether this was a coastal traveller seeking provisions from the interior or vice versa. Enamel stable isotope analysis is consistent with the consumption of a mixture of terrestrial and marine resources during the first years of life. Bone stable isotope analyses indicate habitual consumption of marine foodstuffs over the last 10–30 years of this individual’s life. Interestingly, stable isotope analysis of hair samples provides more fine- grained information on this individual, suggesting movements between the coast and highlands in the months before his death. Radiogenic strontium isotope data are consistent with residence on the coast or in the Atacama Desert, but are lower than strontium isotope values from higher altitudes. These dietary and geological patterns are reconcilable with coastal residency; the isotopic data are consistent with foodstuffs and textiles found with the burial. Therefore, we argue that this individual was regularly moving from the coast to inland areas, crossing the hyper-arid Atacama Desert by following strategic interzonal routes that provided access to particular resources.

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Research paper thumbnail of EXPLORANDO LA DIVERSIDAD DIETÉTICA EN LA PREHISTORIA DEL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA: UN ACERCAMIENTO A LOS PATRONES REGIONALES

During its prehistory, Chile’s desert north was occupied by numerous cultures scattered across th... more During its prehistory, Chile’s desert north was occupied by numerous cultures scattered across the various ecological niches of the region. However, from the Late Archaic forward there is archaeological evidence for the sharing of resources and cultural elements across groups, a practice that intensified during the Middle and Late Intermediate Periods. We explored the dietary composition of local populations through stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. Our results show a high consumption of marine protein along the coast and nearby regions as well as a possible increase in maize consumption over time. Interestingly, these results show that there was substantial dietary variety internal to these groups. This supports the idea of a regular flow of people and food between the coast and the highlands throughout the prehistoric period.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Examining Local Social Identities through Patterns of Biological and Cultural Variation in the Solcor Ayllu, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Studies of local forms of social organization in peripheral areas can enrich our understanding of... more Studies of local forms of social organization in peripheral areas can enrich our understanding of the sociopolitical factors structuring core-periphery interactions. This research explores how local group identities impacted the ways in which individuals and communities at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, expressed their relationship to the Tiwanaku polity during the Middle Horizon. Combining information from body modification practices, burial contexts, and isotopic indicators of diet and geographic origin, we demonstrate that differential incorporation of Tiwanaku goods and practices may have served alongside other local customs to mark social group distinctions between individuals interred in the Solcor 3 and Solcor Plaza cemeteries.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Pre-Columbian Andean sickness ideology and the social experience of leishmaniasis: A contextualized analysis of bioarchaeological and paleopathological data from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

International Journal of Paleopathology, 2011

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Research paper thumbnail of Isotopic Investigation of Pre-Hispanic Macaw Breeding In Northwest Mexico

Journal of Anthropological …, Jan 1, 2010

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Research paper thumbnail of Diet and gender in the Tiwanaku colonies: Stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen and apatite from Moquegua, Peru

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