Kenny Sutherland | Louisiana State University (original) (raw)

Journal Articles by Kenny Sutherland

Artifacts Bones Discourse, 2020

Foodways frequently provide anthropologists with a framework for understanding the beliefs and pr... more Foodways frequently provide anthropologists with a framework for understanding the beliefs and practices of a culture. The treatment, preparation, display, and disposal of the deceased also provide key insights into cultural beliefs related to both the natural and spiritual world. These concepts become culturally entangled when a group develops particular foodways related to rituals and customs of death, both for the living and for the deceased. Traditions involving food for the dead exist within many cultures around the world. These traditions can differ between groups within a particular culture based on class, status of the deceased or the survivors, access to resources, and differing religious beliefs. This manuscript examines several theoretical concepts of death and the meaning of being deceased in various cultures. It continues with a review of different rituals and cultural practices related to treatment of the recently and distantly deceased, with a particular emphasis placed on foodways associated with death. It concludes with a discussion of the ways in which archaeologists can approach the floral and faunal ecofacts and food-related artifacts found at tombs, burial mounds, family altars, and other contexts related to death as a method for identifying the presence of foodways of – and for – the dead.

Ñawpa Pacha, 2020

This contribution examines feasting strategies in Early Horizon Nepeña (800–200 BC), coastal Anca... more This contribution examines feasting strategies in Early Horizon Nepeña (800–200 BC), coastal Ancash, north-central Peru. Through the analysis of volumetric capacities of vessels, we estimate scales of food and drink production at three coeval sites of Caylán, Huambacho, and Samanco. Production scales at those communities are used as proxies for domestic economies, their prosperity and ability to sponsor feasts. We compare and analyze scales of domestic production in light of the complex relationships between the different settlements, including variations in their overall functions and place within regional geopolitics. Results shed light on variations in scales of potential commensal hospitality, size of feasting events, and amplitude of commensal communities. The study informs on foodways in incipient urban contexts and suggests economic asymmetries between households from different settlements. We hypothesize that differences between the three sites shaped local politics and played significant roles in the trajectory of the Early Horizon system.

Esta contribución examina festines durante el Horizonte Temprano (800-200 aC) en Nepeña, Perú norcentral. Através del análisis volumétrico de las vasijas, estimamos las escalas de producción de alimentos y bebidas en tres sitios contemporáneos: Caylán, Huambacho y Samanco. Las escalas de producción en esas comunidades se utilizancomo representantes de las economías domésticas, su prosperidad y su capacidad para patrocinar fiestas. Comparamos y analizamos escalas de producción a la luz de las complejas relaciones entre los asentamientos, incluyendo las variaciones en sus funciones generales y su lugar dentro de la geopolítica regional. Los resultados arrojan luz sobre las variaciones en la hospitalidad comensal, el tamaño de las fiestas y la amplitud de las comunidades comensales. El estudio informa sobre vías alimentarias en contextos urbanos incipientes, y sugiere asimetrías económicas entre los difer- entes asentamientos que jugaron un papel importante en la trayectoria del sistema de Nepeña durante el Horizonte Temprano.

Conference papers by Kenny Sutherland

Graduate History Conference of the History Graduate Student Association at Louisiana State University, 2019

This paper examines two trends related to containers used by Andean cultures – (1) the transition... more This paper examines two trends related to containers used by Andean cultures – (1) the transition from stirrup-spout bottles to paired kero drinking cups and (2) the diachronic appearance of the staff god and the decapitation theme in iconography on Andean containers – to discuss changes and consistencies in Andean vessels from preceramic times through the Spanish colonial period. These trends reveal potential shifts in practice and belief between different cultural groups, including the consumption of beverages in quotidian and feasting contexts, which may reflect changes in political economies and commensal practices over time. The repeated, but not necessarily continuous, appearance of particular iconographic themes provides an understanding of the concepts which were important to the individuals who created and utilized the containers on which they were depicted. Both the container forms and the iconography displayed on them were used by various Andean cultures in different locations over an extended period of time. I argue that the shared experiences involving these containers reveal connections between what it means to be Andean and the practice and performance of Andean foodways over time.

Meeting of the Society for Amazonian and Andean Studies, 2017

This paper explores feasting practices visible through the pottery assemblage at three Early Hori... more This paper explores feasting practices visible through the pottery assemblage at three Early Horizon archaeological complexes in the lower Nepeña Valley, north-central coast of Peru: Caylán (800 - 1 BCE), a large town or city interpreted as the primary center of a multi-tiered polity; Samanco (500 - 1 BCE), a small coastal town associated with production and exchange of maritime resources; and Huambacho (600 - 200 BCE), an elite ceremonial center associated with agricultural production. In studies related to feasting, archaeologists have tended to focus on qualitative aspects while quantitative aspects remain understudied. Questions regarding how much beer was brewed, how much stew was prepared, and the relative scales of food preparation for households compared to feasting contexts need to be addressed. This paper compares ceramic assemblages from different compounds at Caylán, Huambacho, and Samanco, examining vessels used for production and consumption of foods and beverages in both public and residential areas. Particular focus is given to bottles as vessels used for consumption and to ollas sin quello, or neckless jars, as vessels used for production. Variations in the volumetric capacities of vessels in both intra-site and inter-site contexts serve to enlighten on feasting events which held sociopolitical importance.

Annual Meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society, 2015

The recent prevalence of digital gear such as computers and cellular phones in interpersonal comm... more The recent prevalence of digital gear such as computers and cellular phones in interpersonal communications has impacted how those interactions occur and the media where they take place. This paper details my observation of such interactions within a long-running fantasy football league in both actual and virtual spaces over the course of one season. The structure of the league, methodology and terminology of the study, and analysis of resulting data are discussed. The work is autoethnographic and focuses on discourse analysis, examining communications in both virtual and actual spaces, and forms of verbal dueling such as insults.

Conference Presentations by Kenny Sutherland

Meeting of the Society for Amazonian and Andean Studies, 2019

This poster discusses results of analysis of soil samples excavated during fieldwork at the Early... more This poster discusses results of analysis of soil samples excavated during fieldwork at the Early Horizon settlement of Caylán (600–200 BCE) in the Nepeña Valley, Peru during the 2010 field season. The analysis details the ecofacts and artifacts which were recovered from four different excavation areas at the settlement. These areas include both public and private contexts, both within enclosure-walled compounds and in the avenues and passages between compounds. The distribution of these macrofloral and macrofaunal remains, including variations in the presence or frequency of ecofacts at different contexts, provide insight into the foodways, material culture, and lived experiences of those who originally deposited them as well as the social functions of the different areas.

Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018

This poster is co-authored by Kenneth Sutherland and David Chicoine. Archaeologists study qualita... more This poster is co-authored by Kenneth Sutherland and David Chicoine. Archaeologists study qualitative aspects of feasting such as the presence or absence of certain foods, objects, and features while quantitative aspects are understudied. Relationships between scales of food and beverage storage and production for households compared to feasting events can be addressed through volumetric analyses of pottery shapes and dimensions. Scale and intensity of the involvement of households and larger corporate groups in feasts have significant connections to the political economies of ancient complex societies. We examine feasting practices as seen through volumes of food and drink production reconstructed from pottery fragments recovered in three sites in Early Horizon Nepeña, Peru.

Dissertation by Kenny Sutherland

Louisiana State University Department of Geography and Anthropology, 2024

This dissertation examines the development of social complexity in the ancient Andes of South Ame... more This dissertation examines the development of social complexity in the ancient Andes of South America through the multiproxy analysis of macrofloral and macrofaunal ecofacts. I approach plants and animals through their entanglements with human domestic and political economies, particularly via the exploration of foodways. This multiproxy analysis begins by viewing the floral and faunal remains at a single site and then expands to a multisite study to consider broader regional questions.

I examine macrofloral and macrofaunal ecofacts recovered using multiple methods at Caylán (600–200 BCE), an Early Horizon settlement in the lower Nepeña Valley on the north-central coast of Peru. I compare the plant and animal ecofacts recovered from excavations via dry sieving with a single mesh screen size, recovered from soil samples via dry sieving with multiple mesh screen sizes, and recovered from rehydrated fecal samples via wet sieving. These various methods reveal different flora and fauna which were present at Caylán, providing a broader understanding of the connections between humans and animals at this settlement. These results are then compared with the plant and animal ecofacts recovered at Huambacho (600–200 BCE) and Samanco (500–1 BCE), coeval lower Nepeña Valley settlements.

Results indicate that exchange occurred between coastal and inland sites and that both terrestrial and marine resources were utilized, including resources from wetland environments which are often overlooked. The plant and animal assemblages found at different locations within Caylán and at each settlement suggest heterarchical social structures. This research challenges traditional views that only certain special species were important for Andean cultures. I suggest that a broader assemblage of plants and animals were associated with ancient Andean sites. I also suggest that multiple related methods provide a better understanding of the species which were present, and that a multisite approach allows the exploration of questions concerning regional exchange, social interactions, and subsistence strategies which would not be possible by only studying a single settlement. Broadly, this dissertation’s insights into heterogeneous and heterarchical human-plant-animal entanglements question traditional narratives that situate the development of social complexity in terms of linear, hierarchical progress.

Thesis by Kenny Sutherland

Louisiana State University Department of Geography and Anthropology, 2017

This thesis explores Early Horizon (900 – 200 BCE) feasting practices visible through the pottery... more This thesis explores Early Horizon (900 – 200 BCE) feasting practices visible through the pottery assemblage at three archaeological complexes in the lower Nepeña Valley, north-central coast of Peru. Ceramic vessels were used for production, transportation, and storage of foods consumed for daily subsistence and during feasting events at the settlement of Caylán, a large town or city interpreted as the primary center of a multi-tiered polity. Secondary settlements at Samanco, a small coastal town, and Huambacho, an elite ceremonial center, indicate the complexity of this polity. Analysis of ceramic rim sherds reveals the types of vessels used at these sites, their function in storing, preparing, cooking, and serving foods, the frequency of their decoration, their distribution at particular locations within each site, and the volumetric capacities of cooking, storage, and serving vessels.

Between 2003 and 2013, excavations occurred at Huambacho (2003-2004), Caylán (2009-2010), and Samanco (2012-2013). At Caylán, six areas and sixteen test pits documented the architecture and material remains of stone and mortar multi-functional housing complexes. Indications are that Caylán served as an urban population center during the Early Horizon period, with walled neighborhoods connected to communal plazas, adjacent patios, and rooms used for storage, production, and residence. Spatial analysis and site mapping helped reconstruct the layout of the site and the distribution of material remains within Caylán.

Archaeologists have focused on qualitative aspects of feasting such as the presence or absence of certain features while quantitative aspects of feasting remain understudied. Questions involving how much beer was brewed, how much stew was cooked, and relationships between scales of food preparation for households compared to feasts need to be addressed.

This thesis compares ceramic assemblages from different compounds at each site, interpreted as multi-functional residences of coeval Early Horizon groups. Results indicate that vessels were produced at households but discarded in public areas, suggesting that vessels and their contents were transported and used outside of individual households. I argue that variations in volumetric capacities of storage, cooking, and serving vessels at residences of different groups and in public areas serve as indicators of feasting events containing sociopolitical importance.