Excavation Of Valle Perdido In The Andes Mountains

Four Main Stages of Occupation in Valle Perdido

Guanaco is a camelid that is native to South America. Guanacos are known to occupy the arid mountainous regions. Due to the calm attitude of guanacos, they were domesticated for use as pack animals. On the other hand, Llamas are camelids that are traced back to North America 40 million years ago (Avilés, Montero, & Barros-Rodríguez, 2018). However, they later migrated to South America where they have been domesticated since the Pre-Columbian era. They have been used as pack animals by the natives for centuries especially the people of Andes Mountain.

The absence or presence of guanacos and llamas in different time periods shows the time they were domesticated. For instance, guanacos were present in the early period while llamas were not. However, llamas were found to be present in the Middle Age Period together with guanacos. Surprisingly, only llamas were present in the Late Period. Nevertheless, bone remains of these two animals were present in the Colonial Period. This shows that guanacos were the first to be domesticated and llamas came later since they are thought to be descendants of wild guanacos.

 Since, they were used mostly as pack animals, their presence demonstrates the movement of people from one region to another. Either movement for purposes of trade or carrying potatoes and maize they were cultivating. Also, it indicates their domestication for purposes of obtaining meat for food, wool and skin for making of clothes (Diaz-Lameiro, 2016). Absence of guanacos in the Late Period could signify that the people of Valle Perdido did not travel much. This could be connected to the fact that Spanish traders usually came to their region during this period.    

I believe Dr. Trowel and her team used surface survey to assess the area. This is because surface survey involves walking across the area of interest identifying surface features and artifacts. Also, it does not require special kind of equipment (Stein & Holliday, 2017). The survey results from Dr. Trowel indicated survey of various sites where she reported the surface remains that were visible. The surface survey also involves recording or collection of remains which are analyzed either for site location as well as location type. I also believe that they used sub-surface testing methods in order to determine the materials located slightly underneath the surface. This could have involved use of shovels, soil corers, and hand augurs. This enabled them to collect huge amounts of artefacts even those underneath the soil.

Adobe Architecture and Unique Ceramic Styles

Change in the number and locations of sites over time sheds light on the activities during the time. Also, it gives us more information regarding the development date of the artefacts. This is because, the features of an artefact such as style and shape changes through time (Trabert, 2019). Therefore, when an artefact reappears in another site in a different period, it can be easily dated back to its origin. Dr. Trowel findings show that in the Early Period, the site size was relatively small and were concentrated on the periphery. In the Middle Period the sites were bigger with their location ranging from periphery towards the patio area. In the Late Period the sites were bigger and many ending towards the patio area. The Colonial Era location were relatively smaller than the Late Period with some sites at higher elevations. This change could be attributed to Jesuits mission. This shows the change in livelihood of people. From living singly (single homesteads) to accepting to live as communal society.

Q3.

These two dwelling shows how the Valle Perdido people organized their houses. Dwelling 1 which was bigger showed that the people kept all their things in one house. For instance, there was a room where farm products and those from hunting were stored. Decorations on the inner walls illustrates the lively nature of the occupants. Also, copper beads, gold bracelets, and Spanish coins showed the wealthy nature of the occupants and also their ability to participate in trade. On the other hand, dwelling 2 showed the inhabitants lived a low life given the few number of food remains, storage of jar fragments, and lack of beads, bracelets, and coins. Also, the fact there were decorations showed the occupants did not have much interest on life. The burials also tell us the occupation of the people. Men were involved with llamas either using them for trade purposes, carrying things, or killing them for food. On the contrary women were involved in farm and house chores hence association with maize cobs.

These differences, therefore, show how the Late Period society was socially structured. Normally, during this period, houses were organized in agglutinated or organic manner (Guengerich, 2015). The dwelling 1 represents a spatial organization since it was an excavated house containing its own hearth and other rooms representing domestic activities. This showed that the basic social unit of the society was a single, physically independent house. Dwelling 1 represented a high-status sector specially on the ‘Upper Sector West’ which were mainly decorated. Dwelling 2, on the other hand, could represent a hilltop location where people of low community status lived. Also, the burials inside the house showed that their mortuary facilities were within the house. In contrary, in high-status sector, the cave burials are found outside the settlements (Guengerich, 2015).

Q4.

Dwelling Structures and Their Artifacts and Food Remains

Capybara is the largest rodent in the world weighing as much as a human being. Also known as Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris. They are native to South America mostly found on the tropical forested stretches. They normally eat their dung, they chew grass, and love to hang around water. They are social creatures usually found in family packs.

The presence of capybara and Red Howler Monkey in Dwelling 1 shows has the social aspect of the Late Period society in the Valle perdido. Capybaras are described as the most social rodents that love the company of many people. These means that the occupants of Dwelling 1 participated in social gatherings why several people met. Additionally, they are not only kept for social factors but also for meat as well as their hide. It has been shown that capybaras hide is a good leather for shoes and clothing. Similarly, Red Howler Monkeys are social animals. Their use in Valle perdido can be attributed to the fact they occur in neotropical South America only (Stafford, Preziosi, & Sellers, 2017). The presence of these animals could also indicate that the Late Period society was a ritualistic society. Usually, during ritual practices and communal gatherings, these animals could be involved since they love gatherings of people. The fact that fragments of Capybara were numerous compared to very few of Red Howler Monkey shows its importance in the Late Period society in Valle perdido. It had several benefits hence need to domesticate it.

Normally, there is no static culture. But it keeps evolving with time. The Early Period was characterized by a culture of hunting and gathering. This is depicted by many stone tools such as arrow heads and spear heads and remains of guanaco and Andean Deer. Lack of permanent dwellings indicated people kept on moving from place to place. In Middle Period, people had settled had built houses. However, they lived as a communal society (several houses in one region and an area for group activities). In addition to hunting, during this time, people started farming as designated by presence of maize cobs, manos and metates, and also engaged in pottery. During the Late Period, the culture is almost similar with the Middle Period. However, in addition, they participated in trade with the Spanish traders hence the presence of Spanish coins. Lastly, the culture of the people in the Colonial Period was significantly influenced by the Spanish Jesuit mission. Presence of crosses on the graves depicts their religious acts. They society had started to accept the culture of Christianity.

The Jesuits could have left in 1750 due to pressure they received from other nations globally. There were a lot of politics going on worldwide concerning Jesuits mission in South America. It was realized that they were not after spreading their religion and promoting virtue, not rather they were following after their own interests. Therefore, it could be that the Jesuits received hostility and resistance from the people during the Colonial Period hence decided to leave the mission.

References

Avilés, E., Montero, M., & Barros-Rodríguez, M. (2018). South American camelids: products and sub-products used in the Andean region. Actas Iberoamericanas de Conservación Animal, 11, 30-38.

Diaz-Lameiro, A. M. (2016). Evolutionary origins and domestication of South American camelids, the alpaca (Vicugna pacos) and the llama (Lama glama) explained through molecular DNA methods. State University of New York at Binghamton.

Guengerich, A. (2015). Settlement organization and architecture in late intermediate period Chachapoyas, Northeastern Peru. Latin American Antiquity, 26(3), 362-381.

Stafford, C. A., Preziosi, R. F., & Sellers, W. I. (2017). A pan-neotropical analysis of hunting preferences. Biodiversity and Conservation, 26(8), 1877-1897.

Stein, J. K., & Holliday, V. T. (2017). Archaeological stratigraphy. Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology, 33-39.

Trabert, S. (2019). Reframing the Protohistoric Period and the (Peri) Colonial Process for the North American Central Plains. World Archaeology, 1-15.