Animals, Ancestors, and the Others: Weaving Geographic Distance into Pre-Hispanic Andean Mortuary Landscapes in Early Intermediate Period to Middle Horizon ( c. 100 bce –750 ce ) Southern Peru
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines geographic origins of basketry, animal and human grave offerings (including a feline trophy head, camelid bone instruments and human trophy heads) interred as grave goods at the cemetery of Uraca in the Majes Valley, Arequipa, Peru during the Early Intermediate Period to Middle Horizon ( c. 100 bce –750 ce ). We aim to identify whether any of these human or non-human beings or artifacts were non-local to the Majes Valley and explore the ontologically informed meanings underlying the incorporation of geographically distant beings and things into mortuary landscapes. We report new grave good 87 Sr/ 86 Sr (n = 36) relative to published data from Uraca human trophy heads and non-trophy individuals (n = 55). Defining the local 87 Sr/ 86 Sr range as the mean ±2σ of the non-trophy and non-camelid or small home-range fauna, we compare the proportions of non-local outliers between plant, animal and human grave-offering types. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr range of all new samples is 0.70609–0.70954, encompassing the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr variability of much of southern Peru from the coast to the highlands. Nearly half of camelids, the feline trophy, most camelid whistles and one basketry sample were non-local, suggesting that assembling beings and things from both local and distant geographies was an important aspect of making the mortuary landscape.
Source: Cambridge Archaeological Journal
Institutions: University of California, Merced, Arizona State University
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
OpenAlex ID: W4412921310