The character of conflict: A bioarchaeological study of violence in the Nasca highlands of Peru during the Late Intermediate Period (950-1450 C.E.).

OBJECTIVES: This study uses osteological and radiocarbon datasets combined with formal quantitative analyses to test hypotheses concerning the character of conflict in the Nasca highlands during the Late Intermediate Period (LIP, 950-1450 C.E.). We develop and test osteological expectations regarding what patterns should be observed if violence was characterized by intragroup violence, ritual conflict, intermittent raiding, or internecine warfare. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Crania (n = 267) were examined for antemortem and perimortem, overkill, and critical trauma. All age groups and both sexes are represented in the sample. One hundred twenty-four crania were AMS dated, allowing a detailed analysis of diachronic patterns in violence among various demographic groups. RESULTS: Thirty-eight percent (102/267) of crania exhibit some form of cranial trauma, a significant increase from the preceding Middle Horizon era. There are distinct trauma frequencies within the three subphases of the LIP, but Phase III (1300-1450 C.E.) exhibits the highest frequencies of all trauma types. Males exhibit significantly more antemortem trauma than females, but both exhibit similar perimortem trauma rates. DISCUSSION: There was chronic, internecine warfare throughout the Late Intermediate Period with important variations in violence throughout the three temporal phases. Evidence for heterogeneity in violent mortality shows a pattern consistent with social substitutability, whereby any and all members of the Nasca highland population were appropriate targets for lethal and sublethal violence. We argue that by testing hypotheses regarding the targets and types of conflict we are better able to explain the causes and consequences of human conflict.

Interdisciplinary evidence for early domestic horse exploitation in southern Patagonia.

The introduction of domestic horses transformed Indigenous societies across the grasslands of Argentina, leading to the emergence of specialized horse cultures across the Southern Cone. However, the dynamics of this introduction are poorly chronicled by historic records. Here, we apply archaeozoological and biomolecular techniques to horse remains from the site of Chorrillo Grande 1 in southern Argentina. Osteological and taphonomic analyses suggest that horses were pastorally managed and used for food by Aónikenk/Tehuelche hunter-gatherers before the onset of permanent European settlement, as early as the mid-17th century. DNA-based sex identifications suggest consumption of both male and female horses, while ceramic residue also shows use of guanaco products. Sequential isotope analyses on horse dentition reveal an origin in southern Patagonia and movement of these animals between the Río Coig and Río Gallegos basins. These results reinforce emerging evidence for rapid Indigenous-mediated dispersal of horses in the Americas and demonstrate that horses catalyzed rapid economic and social transformations.

Alaska peninsula stable isotope and radioisotope chemistry: a study in temporal and adaptive diversity.

Purified bone collagen from a small suite of human remains recovered at three sites on the Alaska Peninsula (Port Moller, Brooks River, and Mink Island) were analyzed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope chemistry and were accelerator radiocarbon dated. Because samples sizes were small and faunal isotope chemistry lacking, results should be considered preliminary. However, these data indicate that each locality was represented by a somewhat different suite of subsistence strategies and covered a distinct temporal span. Port Moller burials (n = 7) from the Hot Springs site date to a calibrated 2σ range of 3547-1388 BP. Although marine foods clearly made the greatest contribution to these diets, individuals were not as heavily reliant on high-trophic-level marine taxa as eastern Aleutian groups to the west, given their intake of salmon and evidence of caribou hunting. Brooks River burials (n = 9) expressed an inland foraging focus with significant reliance on caribou and spawning salmon and covered a calibrated 2σ range of 1484-381 BP. In contrast, individuals from Mink Island (n = 7), dating to cal. 666-292 BP, were heavily reliant on high-trophic-level marine prey similar to but not as enriched isotopically as the Aleut, perhaps a consequence of limited access to caribou and greater reliance on invertebrates. This pattern suggests that prehistoric economic strategies on the Alaska Peninsula were diverse, characterized by fine-tuned adaptations to local ecological settings, perhaps mediated by ethnic factors and territorial and social pressures.

Inferring population continuity versus replacement with aDNA: a cautionary tale from the Aleutian Islands.

In The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants (Philadelphia: Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1945), Hrdlicka proposed a population replacement event in the Aleutian Islands approximately 1,000 years ago based on a perceived temporal shift in cranial morphology. However, the archaeological record indicates cultural, and presumed population, continuity for more than 4,000 years. We use mtDNA haplogroup data in the series of prehistoric eastern Aleutian samples (n = 86) studied craniometrically by Hrdlicka to test alternative hypotheses regarding population continuity or replacement in the region. This molecular characterization, in conjunction with direct dating of individual specimens, provided increased resolution for hypothesis testing. Results indicate an apparent shift in mtDNA haplogroup frequencies in the eastern Aleutians approximately 1,000 years ago, in concert with changes in mortuary practices and isotopic signatures reflecting resource acquisition strategies. The earliest Aleut populations were characterized by a high frequency of haplogroup A, as are most modern populations of the North American arctic. Later prehistoric peoples in the Aleutians were characterized by a high frequency of haplogroup D and a correspondingly lower frequency of haplogroup A, a pattern typified by modern Aleut populations.