Coming Together to Toast and Feed the Dead in the Cotahuasi Valley of Peru

  • Aaron Jay Mayer Department of Anthropology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.
  • Matthew Sayre Department of Anthropology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.
  • Justin Jennings Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.8.1.2017.658
Keywords: Paleoethnobotany, Peru, Middle Horizon, Food, Ancestors

Abstract

There has been little discussion on the macrobotanical remains from Andean Middle Horizon sites. In this article, we present macrobotanical data from archaeological excavations at Tenahaha, a small mortuary center in the Cotahuasi Valley of Peru. While the people who attended Tenahaha may not have definitively been Wari, evidence suggests that they were likely influenced by the Wari. Our analysis revealed new insights into site use and the distribution of botanical staples during the Andean past. People used plants differently across time and how people chose to utilize plant resources from their environment provides insights into cultural practices. The local plant staples of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and maize (Zea mays) were found in high densities in concentrated areas of the site. In addition, local plants such as Echinocactus (Echinocactus sp.), tubers (e.g., Solanum sp.), and the Peruvian peppertree (Schinus molle) were recovered in abundance. These remains provide insights into past public ceremonies and how the inhabitants used different areas of the site. The occurrence of sprouted maize and the fruit of peppertree in certain areas of the site seems to indicate ritual and/or ceremonial use of chicha during the Middle Horizon (AD 600–1050). The analysis of these macrobotanical remains provides a glimpse into the importance placed on bringing people together to commemorate the dead by Ancient Andean Peoples.

Author Biographies

Aaron Jay Mayer, Department of Anthropology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.

Aaron Mayer is a recent graduate of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. His master’s thesis “Exploring Macrobotanicals from Tenahaha from the Cotahuasi Valley” focused on the macrobotanical remains of the Wari. Aaron is an adjunct professor at the University of South Dakota. He also works part time at the Augustana Archaeology Laboratory. Another aspect of Aaron’s work includes volunteering for the W. H. Over Museum where he acts as treasurer. His areas of interest are: Paleolithic Archaeology, Great Plains Archaeology, Paleoethnobotany, and Peruvian Formative and Middle Horizon Archaeology.

Matthew Sayre, Department of Anthropology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.

Matt Sayre is Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Dakota (USD). He is also an active member of the Sustainability Program at USD. His fieldwork has two primary foci: the pre-Columbian Archaeology of Formative Period and Middle Horizon Peru and modern-day research on the impacts of climate change on traditional agriculture in the Andes. His research has been published inLatin American Antiquity, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, and Ñawpa Pacha.

Justin Jennings, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario.

Justin Jennings is Curator of New World Archaeology at the Royal Ontario Museum and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto.  His fieldwork concentrates on the creation and collapse of cultural horizons in the ancient Andes.  He has written or edited nine books, the most recent of which is entitled Killing Civilization: A Reassessment of Early Urbanism and Its Consequences.

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Ethnobiology Letters Cover, Volume 8, Issue 1, 2017
Published
2017-05-31
How to Cite
Mayer, A. J., Sayre, M., & Jennings, J. (2017). Coming Together to Toast and Feed the Dead in the Cotahuasi Valley of Peru. Ethnobiology Letters, 8(1), 46–53. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.8.1.2017.658
Issue
Vol 8 No 1 (2017)
Section
Research Communications

Copyright (c) 2017 Aaron Jay Mayer

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