Why an "Early Agropastoralists" time block?

In lieu of the traditional preceramic / ceramic divide in archaeology, the "Early Agropastoralist" time block was defined for this project because, in many ways, the conditions during the final millennium of the Archaic had more in common with events in the Formative than with the preceding Archaic Periods. Differentiating sites as "Early Agropastoralist" beginning in the Terminal Archaic requires that one delimits a firm boundary on a process that was millennia in the making. Considering the Terminal Archaic as the beginnings of agropastoralism, and thereby linking it to the attendant settlement distribution that includes series 5 projectile points, connects cultural and economic evidence from throughout the region with a generalized estimate of when food production took hold in terms of scheduling, mobility, and prioritizing the needs of agricultural planting and herding. As mentioned, the term "Early Pastoral" is not meant to imply that no food production occurred before this date and hunting and gathering did not persist after this date. Indeed the current evidence suggests that camelids were first domesticated sometime during the Middle or Late Archaic, probably after 5000 BCE (Browman 1989;Kadwell, et al. 2001;Wheeler 1983;Wing 1986). The "Early Agropastoralist" period refers to a period after 3300 BCE that features a predominantly food producing economy in the highlands including intensive pastoralism, as well as seed-plant and tuber cultivation. These changes in food production may have been linked to the accumulating evidence of increased rainfall and shortening of the dry season beginning circa 2500 cal BCE (Baker, et al. 2001;Marchant and Hooghiemstra 2004;Mourguiart 2000). These changes in economy are joined by evidence of increased sedentism, widening stylistic distributions pointing to long distance cultural integration, and the beginnings of social differentiation apparent in architecture and grave goods. The circulation of obsidian was linked to these phenomena because increased regional interaction was perhaps articulated through camelid caravans, although the presence of caravans in the Terminal Archaic is being explored, not assumed, in this study.

In the Titicaca Basin, the changes incurred between the Terminal Archaic and the Late Formative are monumental. However, from the perspective of the Chivay source the intensification revealed archaeologically, both at the source and in the consumption zone, is notable beginning in the Terminal Archaic, and the intensification does not change notably throughout the Formative Period. Defining the ending of the "Early Agropastoralist" period as the end of the Late Formative is similarly problematic. By the Late Formative, the economic influence of Pukara and other regional centers probably impacted the peoples of the Upper Colca, but direct evidence returning from Pukara, only 140 km away, is scarce in the Colca. In contrast, during the Tiwanaku times, regional states with socio-economic impacts over hundreds of kilometers dominated both the circulation of goods like obsidian, and regional settlement organization.

Terminal Archaic (3300 - 2000 BCE)

The Terminal Archaic ushers in a suite of social and economic changes in the south-central Andes and, consistent with these developments, obsidian begins to circulate in significantly greater quantities during this period. Obsidian is increasingly used for projectile points during the Terminal Archaic, a trend that continues into the Formative Period (Burger, et al. 2000: 294).

Regional patterns in Terminal Archaic sites are somewhat difficult to assess from surface finds because the Terminal Archaic is lacking in exclusive diagnostic artifacts in both the lithic or ceramic artifact classes. As is shown inXFigure 3-10X, the most common projectile point styles that belong to the Terminal Archaic, such as Types 5B and 5D, also persist through the ceramic periods, leaving only type 5A and part of type 4F as diagnostic to exclusively the Terminal Archaic (Klink and Aldenderfer 2005: 48). Furthermore, by definition, the Terminal Archaic is a preceramic period, which precludes a ceramic means of assigning chronology. From site organization characteristics, a site might be considered to be a Terminal Archaic site if it has pastoralist attributes but it is aceramic and has series 5 projectile point types represented that belong, at least partially, to the Terminal Archaic.

The beginnings of the Andean agropastoral strategy are apparent during this period at sites like Asana where seasonal residential movement occurred between the high sierra and the puna (Aldenderfer 1998: 261-275;Kuznar 1995). Another attribute of the Terminal Archaic at Asana is a disappearance of ceremonial features. Evidence for a shift from hunting to pastoralism comes primarily from evidence of corrals (Aldenderfer 1998), from changes in the ratio of deer to camelid remains, and from the ratio of camelid neonate to adult remains. At sites where the process has been observed, the transition to full pastoralism at various sites in the Andes is usually perceived as a gradual process dating to sometime between 3300 to 1500 BCE At Qillqatani, however, the transition was relatively abrupt and it occurred in level WXXIV that dates to approximately 2210-1880 BCE (XTable 3-1X).

Early Formative Period (2000 - 1300 BCE)

In this time period, new socio-economic patterns became well established in the south-central Andes while the distribution of Chivay obsidian was at its maximum both in geographic extent and in variability of site types. During this time period, societies were characterized by sedentism, demographic growth, increased specialization, and early evidence of social ranking(Aldenderfer 1989;Craig 2005;Stanish 2003: 99-109).

At sites like Jiskairumoko in the Titicaca Basin, architecture from the Terminal Archaic consisted of pithouses with internal storage, ground-stone, and interments with grave goods that included non-local items (like obsidian) that were presumably of value(Craig 2005). During the Early Formative around 1500 BCE this architectural pattern gives way to larger, rectangular, above-ground structures that lacked internal storage.

As reviewed by Burger et al. (2000: 288-296) using the Ica "Master sequence" chronology under the roughly contemporaneous "Initial Period" (though the Early Formative ends 300 calendar years earlier), the distributions of obsidian are notable in their extension both north and south from the Chivay source, and in their concentrations at early centers like Qaluyu. Obsidian from Chivay also persists on the Island of the Sun in the Early Formative(Stanish, et al. 2002).

Middle Formative Period (1300 - 500 BCE)

During the Middle Formative Period, social ranking became established in the Titicaca Basin. The changes are most evident in the settlement structure as some regional centers grew to become far larger than their neighbors and feature sunken courts, mounds, and specialized stone and ceramic traditions. Stanish(2003: 109-110)interprets these changes in terms of an ability of elites to mobilize labor beyond the household level.

The stylistic evidence suggests that during the Middle Formative the north and south Titicaca Basin were relatively separate spheres, with Qaluyu pottery in the north and fiber-tempered Chiripa ceramics in the south extending only as far north as the Ilave river. However, Chivay obsidian is encountered in both the North and South Basin. Christine Hastorf (2005: 75)suggests that by the end of this period (the Early Upper Formative) evidence of ethnic identity and ritual activity is supported by ritual architectural construction and non-local exchange goods. It is further inferred that "Plants such as coca ( Erythroxylumsp.), Anadenanthera ( A. colubrine, A. peregrine), and tobacco (Nicotiana rustica)surely would have been present in the Basin by this time, perhaps associated with snuff trays…"(Hastorf 2005: 75). An increase in long distance exchange is commonly found as part of a complex of features associated with ideological and social power during the Middle Formative in the region, and it appears that existing exchange routes, such as the one along the Western Cordillera connecting Chivay with Qillqatani, were increasingly routed towards the Titicaca Basin regional centers during this time.

Late Formative Period (500 BCE - AD 400)

During the Late Formative, significant social ranking developed and dominated the socio-political landscape in the Lake Titicaca Basin. The complex polities that emerged on either end of Lake Titicaca were distinguished by architecture, stoneworking, and ceramic traditions. A three-tiered site size hierarchy is evident in the Late Formative, and the construction of prominent terraced mounds with sunken courts occurred in a few major sites at this time. The elite ceramics and stoneworking, and the construction of elaborate mounds as a venue for large-scale feasts and human sacrifice at sites like Pukara and early Tiwanaku, can be interpreted as a means of demonstrating the large-scale organization of labor by elites (Stanish 2003: 143).

The patterns of obsidian circulation that emerged at the end of the Middle Formative became very well established in the Late Formative. Excavations at centers in the North Basin have found a reduction in the presence of Alca obsidian in the Titicaca Basin, but the Alca material is still present although it is found in minor quantities at the larger sites as compared with Chivay obsidian. The diversity of obsidian types in the Titicaca Basin samples reported by Burger et al. (2000: 306-308) for this time span is low, as compared with the diversity of types used in the Cusco area, because in the Titicaca Basin it is virtually all Chivay obsidian.

In recent excavation work at Pukara on the central pampa at the base of the Qalasaya, Elizabeth Klarich (2005: 255-256) found that obsidian was generally available and obsidian use was not associated with any intrasite status differences. Probable representations of obsidian points and knives appear in Pukara iconography, and small discs have been found at Pukara and Taraco that were possible ceramic inlays (Burger, et al. 2000: 320-321). The Late Formative Period on the southern end of the Titicaca Basin has small amounts of Chivay obsidian at Chiripa and Kallamarka. InGiesso's (2000: 167-168)review of lithic evidence from several Formative Period sites he found no obsidian use in these collections except for samples from Khonkho Wankane which recent research directed by John Janusek has revealed to be principally a Late Formative center. The furthest confirmed examples of transport of Chivay obsidian are these examples encountered in southern Titicaca Basin sites. The two furthest confirmed contexts for Chivay obsidian transport are represented bytwo samples from a Late Formative context at Kallamarka (Burger, et al. 2000: 308, 319, 323) and six samples found at Khonkho Wankane (Giesso 2000: 346), both about 325 km from the Chivay source, or 72 hours by the walking model.

At Qillqatani, the obsidian returns to being primarily Chivay type during the Late Formative although 1 out of the 9 obsidian artifacts analyzed from Late Formative levels was of the Tumuku type (SectionX3.4.2X). During the Late Formative there is a steady decline in the percentage of debitage made from obsidian at Qillqatani, a trend that continues in the Tiwanaku period.

In the Colca Valley, there are few traces of the Late Formative consumers of Chivay obsidian. As will be further explored in this research project, there is very little Qaluyu or Pukara material diagnostic to the Middle or Late Formative in the Chivay obsidian source region. Steven Wernke found a diagnostic classic Pukara sherd with a post-fire incised zoomorphic motif that resembles a camelid-foot from a Formative site above the town of Yanque in the Colca (Wernke 2003: 137-138).

Pukara materials are known to have circulated, probably through trade links, throughout the south-central Andes. Pukara sherds have been found in the valley of Arequipa in association with the local Formative Socabaya ceramics (Cardona Rosas 2002: 55). In the Moquegua valley, both Chiripa-related and Pukara pottery have been found (Feldman 1989), and a Pukara textile was found in a possible elite grave context in the Ica Valley (Conklin 1983).

Discussion and review of "Early Agropastoralists" obsidian

From the Terminal Archaic through the Formative Periods the circulation and consumption of obsidian expanded dramatically. Chivay and Alca obsidian is found in a wide variety of sites from isolated rock shelters to early regional centers, and it appears in consistent quantities that differ considerably from the intermittent nature of regional obsidian supplies in preceding periods. The increased circulation of obsidian is part of a spectrum of changes that began in the Terminal Archaic, but obsidian distribution patterns are particularly useful because they are quantifiable.

In some ways obsidian appears most closely linked to tasks associated with camelid pastoralism, such as shearing and butchering. However, in the central Andean littoral, Quispisisa obsidian is found in density in "cotton preceramic" and Initial Period (i.e., Terminal Archaic and Early Formative) coastal sites where presumably pastoralism, if present, was a very minor part of the economy. Furthermore, in the south-central Andean highlands obsidian is found in pastoralist rock shelters but also in regional centers, and the small discarded obsidian flakes and small projectile points do not appear to have served as adequate shearing implements due to their size.

Social complexity during first part of the "Early Agropastoralists" period is manifested most prominently along the Pacific littoral. In the coastal context of what is now the Department of Lima, in central Peru, monumental architecture dating back to 3000 BCE is well-established at the site of Aspero, and the transition to yet more monumental preceramic construction at sites slightly inland has been documented in recent research(Haas, et al. 2005;Shady Solis, et al. 2001). The shift inland is argued to be related, among other things, to the increased importance of harnessing labor surpluses through the production of cotton for anchovy nets and textiles, and to competitive monument building between elites. Evidence of exchange with highland and Amazonian groups is apparent in the form of tropical feathers and other non-local prestige goods. While these developments occurred over one thousand km to the north of the Chivay area along the Pacific coast, early complex organization is also reported in northern coastal Chile in the Chinchorro II and III traditions spanning the Late Archaic through the Middle Formative(Rivera 1991). A long history of cotton production for nets and textiles, imported wool textiles, elaborate burial traditions, and long distance exchange with the highlands and the Amazon characterize the later Chinchorro tradition. These regional patterns underscore the wide scope of the changes that occurred during the Early Agropastoralists time. It has been argued that the beginning of social inequality in the highland Andes may have been stimulated indirectly by demand for wool from aggrandizers in coastal societies(Aldenderfer 1999).

Returning to evidence from highland obsidian distributions, the widespread circulation of obsidian during the Terminal Archaic and Formative is perhaps best discussed in the terminology used in the historical model of Nuñez and Dillehay(Dillehay and Nuñez 1988;1995 [1979]). While this adaptationalist model has theoretical limitations, it serves as a useful alternative to evolutionary chiefdom models that assign a paramount role to central-places in exchange, despite the decline of central-place models in geography(Smith 1976: 24). Following the Nuñez and Dillehay model, it is possible that what is occurring in the Terminal Archaic and Early Formative is the emergence of regular exchange pattern between Qillqatani and Chivay that took the form of a caravan trade "axis" along the western Cordillera. This exchange pattern is among the earliest systematic and demonstrable cases of the circulation of diffusive items through largely homogenous altiplano terrain (XFigure 3-4X) in the pattern that has also been described as horizontal complementarity or the "Altiplano mode"(Browman 1981). Subsequently, during the Middle and Late Formative in the Titicaca Basin, former "axis settlements" like Qillqatani, and the Western Cordillera axis more generally, became relatively less important in long distance exchange relationships. Regional centers in the Titicaca Basin like Taraco, Pukara, Chiripa, Khonkho Wankane, early Tiwanaku, and other centers, expanded in influence during this period of peer-polity competition. In these circumstances, the acquisition and ceremonial use of exotic goods appears to have been an important part of the competitive strategies of aggrandizers. Other evidence for Titicaca Basin-based exchange dynamics include the possible production of hoes of Incatunahuiri olivine basalt at Camata around 850-650 BCE that were then transported and used in southern Titicaca Basin sites(Bandy 2005: 96;Frye and Steadman 2001). While the nature of the relationship between emerging elites in Titicaca Basin polities and caravan drivers that provided links between settlements throughout the region is difficult to describe with precision, it appears that interregional articulation became considerably more elaborate by the end of the Early Agropastoralist period.