2024. Saghessi et al. Foods, beverages, and use of pottery in north-eastern Patagonia through plant microremains analysis. (original) (raw)
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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020
Archaeobotanical investigations in central Nicaragua are absent and preservation of organic remains is poor; therefore, we have applied starch analyses to samples from fragments of clay vessels excavated from layers dated to cal 1224 and 1391 CE at the Barillas site, Nicaragua. The approach to this dataset reveals the ways people interacted with edible plants in southern Central America. The scarcity of griddles recovered from ancient Nicaraguan archeological contexts has previously co-determined narratives on human mobility or cultural influence from the Mesoamerican culture area, due to the debatable presumption that this type of artifact necessarily entangles production and consumption of maize tortillas. In this article, we present results demonstrating evidence for the use of several starchy plants. The reconstructed culinary practices are vital for disentangling human–plant interrelationships and challenge earlier conceptions of ancient foodways in Central America. This research constitutes the first starch analysis in Nicaragua and the recovered plant remains belonging to manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz), chili pepper (Capsicum sp.), and maize (Zea mays L.) have provided empirical evidence of ancient foodways. Concomitantly, these results have invalidated the preconception that griddles were tools used exclusively for the production of maize tortillas.
26th EAA Virtual Annual Meeting Abstract Book, 2020
Cooking practices were an integral part of the political, social and roductive life of pre-Hispanic communities. During the Inca domination, new cooking and commensality practices were put into practice for the first time, which brought together new forms of status and social recognition. This paper focuses on Andean crop processing techniques and consumption during the Inca period. Through inter-disciplinary analyses of plant-foods and ceramic vessels we investigate culinary practices associated to domestic and non-domestic elite contexts and evaluate the role of different foods for the Inca communities of the area of Quebrada de Humahuaca (North of Argentina). The analysed materials were recovered at two major archaeological sites in the southern part of Quebrada de Humahuaca, called Pucara de Volcán and Esquina de Huajra. They are conglomerated settlements with an Inca occupation dated to circa 430 BP. In order to study culinary techniques we followed and developed two main approaches: archaeobotanical studies of plant micro-remains and use-wear analysis of pottery. The first study was carried out on grinding stone tools recovered in Pucara de Volcán and dental calculus of two individuals buried in Esquina de Huajra. Use-wear analysis were carried out in ceramic vessels from both sites, and abrasive and non-abrasive processes were considered to infer functional aspects linked to plant processing activities. These analyses are complemented with the contextual study of the materials, to highlight differences between domestic and non-domestic contexts. The results of this study highlight that Zea mays (maize), Phaseolus sp. (beans) and tubers were important ingredients of ancient recipes. The presence of diverse grinding stone tools indicates the preparation of flour. Finally, vessels with traces of soot and abrasive processes point out to the processing of stew-like foodstuffs.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent methodological advances in Argentinean archaeobotany that incorporate the use of ethnobotany as an ethnoar- chaeological tool for interpreting ancient food systems in South America. This is an integrative paper that takes into account both published and unpublished results. The role of ethnobotany is examined with reference to ethnobotanical and experimental food processing studies on Prosopis, a wild food plant, and two cultivated ones Chenopodium quinoa and Cucurbita spp., followed by laboratory exam- inations with microscopy to identify diagnostic changes in plant morphology and anatomy. Experimental materials are then compared with archaeological specimens to identify different types of ancient food processing, and to make inferences about prehistoric post-harvest systems. Wedemonstrated that: (a) it was critical for our food pro- cessing studies to achieve the best taxonomical identifica- tion resolution that the plant remains allow; (b) a multi- proxy approach was highly advantageous; (c) ethnobotani- cal data were crucial to identify food processing pathways of individual plants and combinations of them; (d) the understanding of commensality in the wider sense of the term allows us to determine food patterns both in domestic and funerary contexts. These investigations, the first ones of this type in Argentina, constitute a qualitative step in the methodology for this country because they expand our abilities to interpret the nature of routine plant processing from archaeobotanical assemblages, and they are also a substantial contribution to the development of our disci- pline in general because the taxa discussed in this paper are distributed throughout South America, as well as in other parts of the world.
In Andean South America, archaeological research demonstrates that rituals surrounding the consumption of food and drink have long played an important part in building relationships between individuals, families, and communities. This thesis focuses on foodways in the Late Formative (200BC-AD475) and Tiwanaku (475-1000AD) phases of the Lake Titicaca basin in highland Bolivia. I pair ceramic and botanical datasets from three assemblages: Late Formative contexts from Kala Uyuni (southern Titicaca Basin) and Challapata (eastern Titicaca Basin), and a Tiwanaku phase burial at Chiripa (southern Titicaca Basin). The goals of this thesis are to: identify microbotanical plant remains of foods associated with ceramic vessels, consider how these inform archaeological understandings of Titicaca Basin foodways, and evaluate whether studying plant residues from ceramic vessels is an effective method to study foodways. Phytoliths and starch grains recovered from Challapata and Chiripa included remains of both local and non-local plants, while the Chiripa ceramic assemblage included non-local ceramic styles. These results offer new evidence for exchange between highland and lowland sites. Both local and non-local plant remains were recovered in public spaces where ceremonies may have taken place. While non-local goods may have been desirable and special because they were difficult to obtain, results of this thesis suggest that local plants may have been just as symbolically important. Overall, results indicate that pairing ceramic and botanical datasets can enable a richer understanding of foodways.
This report discusses the results derived from the analysis of seven starch residue samples obtained from five stone tools and one clay griddle (two samples from three fragments of a simple burén) recovered from Río Tanamá Site #2 (AR-039), located in the Arecibo municipality of northwestern Puerto Rico. This study provides new data that contributes to a better understanding of the nature of plant use and consumption during one of the most intriguing periods of socio-economical and cultural change in the ancient history of Puerto Rico. The time frame pertinent to this study can be bracketed between ca. AD 640 and AD 770, covering Periods II-b (late Cuevas) and III-a (Ostiones) of the regional chronology devised by Rouse (1992). Period II-b (ca. AD 400-800) is a time when the Saladoid people, interacting with other peoples in a multi-cultural island scenario, probably began to emphasize their social and economical activities to a new regional political context based on settlement hie...