Title
Cobbles, tools, and plants: Techno-functional variability within lithic industries of complex societies in Central Coast, Peru (~1800–400 BP)
Date Issued
01 December 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Pérez A.
Boëda E.
Silva E.
Carrión L.
Romero R.
Ramos M.P.
Babot P.
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
This article concerns the technological and archaeobotanical analysis of nine lithic assemblages from monumental sites in the Maranga Archaeological Complex (Central Coast, Peru), dated between about 1800 and 400 yr BP. This period of occupation corresponds mainly to the development of Lima and Ychsma complex societies that were prior to and contemporary with the Inca Empire respectively. In order to study the degree of technical and functional variability between Maranga lithic industries, the different schèmes opératoires executed were identified, as well as the characteristics of the raw materials procurement. The eight techno-types present amongst 497 tools, along with the analysis of plant micro-remains preserved in the transformative Techno-Functional Units, allowed us to obtain direct evidence of tool uses. Analytical procedures included the construction of a reference collection of useful local flora, the sampling of the transformative surfaces of the tools, and the taxonomic and anatomical identification of the recovered plant components. After the integration of the results of these analyses with the information coming from the archaeological contexts, diachronic changes in the production systems are proposed, especially the preference for an alternating debitage system in the Late Intermediate Period (~1050–470 BP). Towards the Late Horizon (~470–400 BP), there was probably an instrumental standardization associated with the processing of the fruits of Caesalpinia spinosa, a plant used in the production of gums and tanins.
Volume
34
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Arqueología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85092349938
Source
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
ISSN of the container
2352409X
Sponsor(s)
We would like to gratefully acknowledge Daniel Campi, Carlos Aschero, Salomón Hocsman, Julieta Zapatiel, and Mónica Burgos for their support in the Archaeobotany Laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology and Museum of the National University of Tucumán and in the Superior Institute of Social Studies of CONICET during archaeobotanical analysis. Special thanks also to Rafael Vega-Centeno for allowing access to the lithic collections of his project. Finally, our thanks to the engineers Oscar Bernuy, Edwin Loayza and Miguel Chumbe for their collaboration in the petromineralogical analysis at the Geological Mining and Metallurgical Institute of Peru (INGEMMET). This work was supported by the National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC), 2016-2018 Grant of A. Pérez.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus