The diet at the onset of the Andean Civilization: New stable isotope data from Caral and Áspero, North-Central Coast of Peru.

OBJECTIVES: The subsistence system of the first urban centers with monumental architecture from the North-Central Coast of Peru, the core area for the social complexity process of Central Andes, has been debated since the late 1960s. To shed light on this aspect, we report paleodietary data from the two most important sites of the Supe Valley: Caral (3000-200 BC), the major settlement of the middle valley, and Áspero (3000-1800 BC), a notable coastal settlement. Our main objective was to test the Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization hypothesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stable isotope values (δ13 Ccol , δ13 Cap , and δ15 N) from 52 individuals (70 samples: 44 bones and 26 teeth) were analyzed using conventional methods and Bayesian Mixing Models to address the role of marine products and plants in people's diet at both sites over time. RESULTS: Our results suggest high C3 carbohydrate consumption (55%-68% total calories in Áspero and >70% in Caral). The consumption of marine resources was stable for Áspero between 3300 and 1800 BC, but it decreased for Caral between 2550 and 200 BC. DISCUSSION: Marine protein was more important in Áspero than in Caral over time. C3 plants, possibly tubers, formed the foundation of the diet in both sites during the Formative period (~3000-200 BC). Maize was a marginal food (<12% of calories) at least until 800 BC (29% of calories). The Maritime Foundations hypothesis does not completely account for these findings. Our results suggest the predominance of crop-focused agriculture during the evaluated period.

Electron spin resonance dating of megafauna from Lagoa dos Porcos, Piauí, Brazil.

Excavations performed at Lagoa dos Porcos site revealed a vast amount of extinct mammal fossil remains, becoming one of the richest palaeontological occurrences in the Serra da Capivara National Park region, a UNESCO World Heritage. Although anatomic and taxonomic aspects of extinct Quaternary mammals are relatively well known, chronologic information for deposits is rare. In this context, electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of megafauna samples provides important information for establishing a chronological background. This work presents the ESR dating of two teeth, one of Gomphotheriidae and other of Toxodontinae. Dose-response curves of each sample were constructed using spectra acquired with a JEOL FA-200 X-Band spectrometer resulting in equivalent dose (De) of 220 ± 40 Gy and 39 ± 2 Gy for Toxodontinae and Gomphotheriidae tooth, respectively. The conversion of De in age was made using ROSY ESR dating software resulting in 26 ± 4 and 22 ± 3 ka. These results place Lagoa dos Porcos fossil assemblage within the Late Pleistocene. These dates overlap with a period of abrupt increase in rainfall in northeast Brazil, and it is possible that this environmental change is related to the formation of this deposit.