Old Maritime Subsistence

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9,700 Years of Maritime Subsistence on the Pacific: An Analysis by Means of Bioindicators inthe North of ChileAuthor(s): Agustin Llagostera MartinezSource: American Antiquity, Vol. 44, No. 2, (Apr., 1979), pp. 309-324Published by: Society for American ArchaeologyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/279082Accessed: 08/04/2008 20:51

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REPORTS REPORTS

Lathrap, Donald W., and Jorge G. Marcos 1975 Informe preliminar sobre las excavacionesdel sitio Real Alto por la mision antropologica de la Uni-

versidad de Illinois. Revista de la Universidad Catolica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, Quito. Numero Monografico: Arqueologia Ano III (10):41-66.

Lathrap, Donald W., Jorge G. Marcos, and James A. Zeidler 1977 Real Alto: an ancient ceremonial center. Archaeology 30:3-13.

Lovejoy, C. Owen, Richard S. Meindl, Thomas R. Pryzleck, Thomas S. Barton, Kingsbury G. Heiple, and David Kotting

1977 Paleodemography of the Libben site, Ottawa County, Ohio. Science 198:291-293. Marcos, Jorge G., Donald W. Lathrap, and James A. Zeidler

1976 Ancient Ecuador revisited. Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin 47:3-8. McKern, Thomas W., and T. D. Stewart

1957 Skeletal age changes in young American males. Technical Report EP-45. Headquarters Quartermas- ter Research and Development Command, Natick, Massachusetts.

Moore, James A., Alan C. Swedlund, and George J. Armelagos 1975 The use of life tables in paleodemography. In Population studies in archaeology and biological an-

thropology: a symposium, edited by Alan C. Swedland. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No. 30: 57-70.

Pearsall, Deborah M. 1978 Phytolith analysis of archaeological soils: evidence of maize cultivation in Formative Ecuador. Sci-

ence 199:177-178. Ubelaker, Douglas H.

1974 Reconstruction of demographic profiles from ossuary skeletal samples: a case study from the tide- water Potomac. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, No. 18.

Weiss, Kenneth M. 1973 Demographic models for anthropology. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No.

27. Zevallos M., Carlos, Walton C. Galinat, Donald W. Lathrap, Earl R. Leng, Jorge G. Marcos, and Kathleen M. Klumpp

1977 The San Pablo corn kernel and its friends. Science 196:385-389.

9,700 YEARS OF MARITIME SUBSISTENCE ON THE PACIFIC: AN ANALYSIS BY MEANS OF BIOINDICATORS IN THE NORTH OF CHILE

Agustin Llagostera Martinez

In this report, conclusive archaeological data are disclosed that demonstrate that about 10,000 B.P. there were in America groups of people able to exploit the sea with remarkable effectiveness. In addition, through the analysis of the biological indicators of three coastal archaeological sites of different chronology, the continuity and the diachronic development of the maritime adaptation in the north of Chile is shown.

Maritime subsistence, with respect to the greater or lesser importance of the ocean as a source of food for a large human population and its effect on the development of civilizations, is a topic that has been discussed by several investigators (e.g., Greengo 1952; Patterson 1971; Moseley 1975). In this paper it is not my intention to enter that debate. Instead I wish to present information on an area that is almost unique in the world, where extremely arid conditions have obliged people to get the main part of their sustenance from maritime resources. At the same time, through the study of bioindicators, I shall develop a diachronic analysis of these coastal peoples.

The area in which this work is concentrated is the most barren, forbidding segment of the long western coastal desert of South America, which extends the length of Peru and northern Chile. This segment, between 21?26'S and 25?24'S, is 440 km long and characterized by an absolute

Lathrap, Donald W., and Jorge G. Marcos 1975 Informe preliminar sobre las excavacionesdel sitio Real Alto por la mision antropologica de la Uni-

versidad de Illinois. Revista de la Universidad Catolica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, Quito. Numero Monografico: Arqueologia Ano III (10):41-66.

Lathrap, Donald W., Jorge G. Marcos, and James A. Zeidler 1977 Real Alto: an ancient ceremonial center. Archaeology 30:3-13.

Lovejoy, C. Owen, Richard S. Meindl, Thomas R. Pryzleck, Thomas S. Barton, Kingsbury G. Heiple, and David Kotting

1977 Paleodemography of the Libben site, Ottawa County, Ohio. Science 198:291-293. Marcos, Jorge G., Donald W. Lathrap, and James A. Zeidler

1976 Ancient Ecuador revisited. Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin 47:3-8. McKern, Thomas W., and T. D. Stewart

1957 Skeletal age changes in young American males. Technical Report EP-45. Headquarters Quartermas- ter Research and Development Command, Natick, Massachusetts.

Moore, James A., Alan C. Swedlund, and George J. Armelagos 1975 The use of life tables in paleodemography. In Population studies in archaeology and biological an-

thropology: a symposium, edited by Alan C. Swedland. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No. 30: 57-70.

Pearsall, Deborah M. 1978 Phytolith analysis of archaeological soils: evidence of maize cultivation in Formative Ecuador. Sci-

ence 199:177-178. Ubelaker, Douglas H.

1974 Reconstruction of demographic profiles from ossuary skeletal samples: a case study from the tide- water Potomac. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, No. 18.

Weiss, Kenneth M. 1973 Demographic models for anthropology. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No.

27. Zevallos M., Carlos, Walton C. Galinat, Donald W. Lathrap, Earl R. Leng, Jorge G. Marcos, and Kathleen M. Klumpp

1977 The San Pablo corn kernel and its friends. Science 196:385-389.

9,700 YEARS OF MARITIME SUBSISTENCE ON THE PACIFIC: AN ANALYSIS BY MEANS OF BIOINDICATORS IN THE NORTH OF CHILE

Agustin Llagostera Martinez

In this report, conclusive archaeological data are disclosed that demonstrate that about 10,000 B.P. there were in America groups of people able to exploit the sea with remarkable effectiveness. In addition, through the analysis of the biological indicators of three coastal archaeological sites of different chronology, the continuity and the diachronic development of the maritime adaptation in the north of Chile is shown.

Maritime subsistence, with respect to the greater or lesser importance of the ocean as a source of food for a large human population and its effect on the development of civilizations, is a topic that has been discussed by several investigators (e.g., Greengo 1952; Patterson 1971; Moseley 1975). In this paper it is not my intention to enter that debate. Instead I wish to present information on an area that is almost unique in the world, where extremely arid conditions have obliged people to get the main part of their sustenance from maritime resources. At the same time, through the study of bioindicators, I shall develop a diachronic analysis of these coastal peoples.

The area in which this work is concentrated is the most barren, forbidding segment of the long western coastal desert of South America, which extends the length of Peru and northern Chile. This segment, between 21?26'S and 25?24'S, is 440 km long and characterized by an absolute

Agustin Llagostera Martinez, Museo Regional, Universidad del Norte, Casilla 1280, Antofagasta, Chile Agustin Llagostera Martinez, Museo Regional, Universidad del Norte, Casilla 1280, Antofagasta, Chile

309 309

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absence of surface water. The maritime zone in which the economy may be almost exclusively dependent on the sea is even more extensive than the study area, running from 19035'S to 27?04'S (Schaedel 1957; see Figure 1).

The extreme aridity is attenuated only by the camanchacas, moisture-laden mists that drift in off the ocean over the mountains of the Coast Range, forming a mantle of clouds that protects living organisms from the intense rays of the sun and at the same time provides the minimum humidity necessary to sustain life. Small littoral springs constitute the scanty water sources near which the majority of archaeological remains are to be found.

In contrast to the deficiency of land resources, the sea is rich in nutrients and oxygen from the Humboldt Current or Peru Coastal Current and is an abundant source of food. A rich fauna of fish, mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, tunicates, and cephalopods, as well as sea birds and mammals, has furnished subsistence to a large human population.

Figure 1. Maritime zone of northern Chile.

310 [Vol. 44, No. 2,1979]

REPORTS

Before the results of the radiocarbon analysis for Quebrada Las Conchas were known, the earliest evidence of human habitation on this coast went back to ca. 6000 B.P. and had been defined by Bird (1943, 1946) on the basis of the shell heaps at Quiani (Arica), Punta Pichalo (Pisagua), and Cerro Colorado and Punta Morada (Taltal). These sites were occupied by groups of people whose fishing gear included highly specialized artifacts denoting an efficient maritime adaptation.

Using Quiani as his pattern site, Bird calls this occupation Quiani I (6170 ? 220 B.P.) and makes it as extensive as a First Preagricultural period on the northern coast of Chile. Among the Quiani I artifacts, the most outstanding are fishhooks cut from mussel shells (Choromytilus); Bird named this phase "the shell fishhook culture." Composite fishhooks consisting of a bone hook tied to the end of an elongated weight, harpoons with detachable heads tipped with some points and bone barbs for catching marine mammals, and lanceolate and double-ended stone points are also found.

In the context of Quiani II (5616 ? 145 B.P.), which may be said to correspond to the Second Preagricultural period, fishhooks made of cactus thorns come to replace the shell fishhooks; there are also bone harpoons with thorn barbs for catching fish, hoods for cephalopods, cigar-shaped fishline weights, and triangular stemmed and barbed points, as well as stemless points with con- cave bases. This second occupation of Quiani shares elements with the previous period as well, such as lava bowls, pebble choppers, flat and conical mortars, small oval mullers, hammerstones, and other stone pressure and percussion tools.

At the Abtao-1 site (Antofagasta) a time period contemporaneous with Bird's Second Preag- ricultural period occurs, with a series of eight radiocarbon dates that range from 5350 to 3550 B.P. (Boisset and Llagostera 1971). I have identified three occupations at this site. The unusual feature of the site (as compared with Quiani) is that at Abtao-I shell fishhooks coexist with those made from cactus thorns; this was also the case at Punta Pichalo. The thorn fishhooks are present in all layers; in addition, above the second occupation levels, bone replaces shell as the raw material for the fishhooks. A similar situation occurs at Punta Grande (Taltal), where a layer with bone fishhooks is superimposed on a deposit with a large number of shell fishhooks.

Along the segment of the coast discussed here, the Quiani model suffers more modifications, corresponding to conditions offered or limited by the environment. In Quiani there are evidences of the cultivation of crops such as cotton, squash, and corn, which doubtless were obtained from the adjacent valleys. South of Quiani this phase is not represented; there is little or no possibility of practicing agriculture in this region. This southern region shows marked evidence of cultural survivals; original traditions are prolonged, and consequently local development is out of phase with adjacent areas.

As we follow the coastal chronological sequence, about 5000 B.P. we encounter new cultural expressions, of which the burial customs are well known, but their relation to the Second Quiani occupation is a matter that is under discussion. These people had such an advanced knowledge of human anatomy that they were able to preserve corpses by a complicated method of mummification that is the most ancient method currently known (Bittman and Munizaga 1976). It is also probable that they performed therapeutical cranial trepannings in an experimental way (Munizaga 1976). Their remains were described for the first time by Uhle (1917, 1922) in reports on his find- ings at Faldas del Morro and Chinchorro (Arica) and at Punta Pichalo (Pisagua). The sites where mummified remains have been recovered include Chinchorro (Arica), Playa Miller (Arica), Quiani (Arica), Morro de Arica (Arica), Pisagua Viejo (north of Pisagua), Patillo (south of Iquique), Bajo Molle (south of Iquique), and as far south as Trocadero in Antofagasta (Bittman and Munizaga 1976:64; Munizaga and Llagostera 1969).

These Chinchorro societies manifest a coastal adaptation that introduced many new elements, including an annular or circular type of cranial deformation. Early in the sequence, settlements are found at river mouths or on interstream sites with access to valleys, perhaps because the ancestors of the inhabitants came from the fertile tropical valleys and some contact with the valleys was maintained. Later some offshoot groups achieved an almost exclusive dependence on maritime resources, having been able to break their connections with the valleys and move into

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zones of extreme aridity (e.g., El Trocadero), while others continued their dual manner of subsistence, obtaining sustenance from both the sea and the valleys.

About 4000 B.P. we encounter innovations in the settlement patterns. Clusters of dwellings appear, characterized by semicircular structures with walls constructed of stones placed vertically and floors made from burned algae and salt water. Human burials are recovered from beneath these floors. Curiously enough this type of settlement has been recorded only in the area that we are analyzing: at Caleta Huelen (Nunez et al. 1974) and lately at Los Canastos at the southern end of the Peninsula de Mejillones. The small hamlets may remotely resemble those groups of habita- tions at Chilca, on the central coast of Peru, where burials inside the dwellings under a layer of ashes have also been found, although the latter are 2,000 years older (Engel 1966, 1972). While these settlements sprang up in Chilca in connection with farming activities, on the northern coast of Chile they seem to represent groupings with a certain degree of stability that were settled near maritime resources.

Between the years 3500 and 3000 B.P., the Chinchorro cultural forms gave way to others, in which the original contributions were slowly modified. The corpse, which was previously buried in an extended position, is now flexed, though always lying down; the former complicated method of preparation is reduced to a partial covering of the body with a layer of mud. These changes have been found in the Quiani cemeteries (Bird 1943; Dauelsberg 1974) and by myself and others in another sector of Los Canastos. A double burial was found at the latter site with a layer of mud covering the heads and torsos of a man and a woman. The distribution of offerings there makes it possible to perceive a sexual division of subsistence activities, the man's grave offerings being related to hunting and the woman's to fishing and mollusk gathering.

At this time the first signs of cultivation in the northern valleys occur, but, as already emphasized, horticulture never reached the coastal sector discussed here because of the ecological limitations.

Although initial reports of pottery on the northern coast of Chile seem to date to about 2300 B.P., these figures are not definitive. There are two dates that coincide very well; one, from Cona- noxa at the mouth of the Camarones Valley, indicates 2270 ?+ 70 B.P. (Niemeyer and Schiap- pacasse 1969) and the other, obtained from Abtao-5, is 2300 + 50 B.P. (P-2588).

Late settlements in this segment of the coast are represented by Punta Blanca (Tocopilla) and Auto Club Beach (Antofagasta). The occupants of these sites understood the techniques of navigation, using rafts. Strangely, the Auto Club Beach group, strongly oriented toward hunting, also possesses rafts but has not developed pottery. According to their physical anthropological characteristics, these individuals are distant from the Chinchorro peoples; on the other hand, the annular cranial deformation, which has already disappeared in other areas, persists here (Costa and Sanhueza 1976). All of this argues in support of the late persistence of cultural characteristics in this area.

With the discovery of the settlements at Quebrada Las Conchas and Quebrada Hipodromo (both in Antofagasta), the time series and the cultural development for the sites and for the area can be projected back to an extraordinary depth in time. There are two baseline dates for the occupation of Quebrada Las Conchas: 9400 i 160 B.P. and 9680 -+ 160 B.P. (P-2702). The identification of the remains of locally extinct fish at various sites on the Chilean coast has stimulated research that may open up new perspectives in the field of bioindicators and complement already existing methods of dating.

BIOINDICATORS IN COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY

The archaeologist's interest in plant and faunal remains associated with prehistoric deposits is as old as archaeology itself, but only recently has the way in which these remains may be used to provide new kinds of scientific information become clear. For example, the refinements of physical collecting techniques (Struever 1968; Lange and Carty 1975) and the publication of manuals on bones, fish, etc. (Chaplin 1971; Casteel 1976) have been valuable aids in leading to a better understanding of the connection between man and environment through archaeology.

Studies carried out by Cook and Treganza (1950), White (1953), Clark (1954), and Gauthier

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(1956) marked the practical beginning of a productive era in this field, which was intensified in the 1960s with the contributions of Reed (1961), Perkins (1964), Cleland (1966), Kehoe (1967), Shawcross (1967), Daly (1969), and various others. Reed emphasized the need to consider organic materials not only as simple zoological specimens but as cultural elements, since they had passed "through the cultural filter" (Reed and Braidwood 1960:165). Daly, following this line of thought, says "it is essential for archaeologists to realize that bones are artifacts, and they must be treated as such" (Daly 1969:152). I support the idea that, from the botanical and zoological remains recovered from a site, it is possible to infer a series of alternative solutions discerned by the inhabitants of that site, which, when adopted by a group of people, are transformed into cultural patterns for meeting the problem of survival (Llagostera 1976).

Not all the environment that surrounds a given society is consciously realized by its members; there is a neutral or indifferent part of their surroundings that does not affect the development of their social life because the cultural baggage of the moment does not contain the knowledge and tools necessary for its exploitation. On the other hand, there is another part of the environment composed of a series of elements considered to be subsistence resources, which taken together constitutes a "culturally integrated space"; the latter is an abstract idea of the environment in the collective mind of the group, which could be called the "cultural environment."

This useful portion of the environment around which the social conduct of the group turns is peculiar to each ethnic group. It differs in populations that exist at the same period of time and, more logically, differs among those that are distant from each other in time, even though they may have occupied the same sites; this is true not only because of the changes that habitat could have undergone but also because of the different conceptions that made up the aboriginal thinking of the moment.

The "cultural environment" is recorded in the organic remains left at the settlement. There we have a representation of a selected portion of a biotic community, precisely the portion of the environment that was directly utilized by a human group and that corresponded to their most im- mediate world. It was the part of the environment to which a people directly related, using a specific set of artifacts and adaptive mechanisms.

The taphonomic setting contributed by any archaeological settlement is structured by a group of plants and animals. These biological forms can be changed into indicators of human behavior insofar as we can devise a method to extract from them the information they contain.

We may consider a bioindicator to be any species that has registered in its anatomical, physiological, and biological structure or in its ecological population pattern any alterations caused by external changes. These alterations, when appropriately interpreted, can indicate climates, ocean currents, temperatures, diets, demographic density, relative chronology, subsistence activities, transhumant migrations, etc.

In coastal archaeology we distinguish between two types of bioindicators on the basis of the degree of sensitivity with which they indicate change. Steno-indicators are those with a reduced spectrum of tolerance, and Euri-indicators are those that show a wide range of tolerance. Among the first it is worth stating that the most sensitive are the fish, which, because of their ability to travel, disappear or appear rapidly in a biotope, affected as they are by temperature, salinity, and other conditions. In contrast, the mollusks, echinoderms, and other benthonic forms of life are more resistant to changing conditions and at the same time are slower to show alterations in population characteristics.

For the identification of fish remains at archaeological sites, otoliths have been most useful. Otoliths are pieces of the hearing organ of the teleost fish, which are composed of aragonite and seem to function as piezoelectric bodies to register depths and sound (Degens et al. 1969). Of the three pieces in each organ, the sagitta, or saccular otolith, is generally easiest to use to differentiate fish species because of its larger size, although in families such as Ariidae the utricular otolith, or lapillus, is more useful. In any case, the morphological characteristics of these pieces dif- fer from one species of fish to another. In 1891 H. von Ihering, a German scientist, compared otoliths found in excavations in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, with those of fish caught in a nearby river. In the 1950s otoliths reappeared in the archaeological literature, as a method for inventorying the fish present in archaeological deposits.

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From the forms and sizes of the otoliths recovered from middens, we can learn the varieties, sizes, and quantitites of fish caught and eaten by man. In addition, by knowing the habits of the ichthyofauna, we can infer the marine environmental conditions that prevailed at the moment they were caught; furthermore, by honing our research techniques, we may be able to discover the season of the year in which a given midden layer was deposited, according to the migratory character of the fish found in it.

It is impossible to set norms for the analysis of bioindicators since the treatment of each of them differs, depending on the particular characteristic used as the indicator. In any case, we can consider some of the steps that are fundamental to the technical strategy of the research. The first step consists of the search for the attribute of the biological species that has recorded the change (such as quantity of chemical compounds, dimensions, growth rings, populational density, seasonal migration, thermic habits). Next such data must be indexed, transforming the facts into statistically manageable units. Finally, a quantitative series must be established for the attribute, so that changes in the situation become evident and may be compared with the behavior of other bioindicators. Once the bioindicator table is ready, it is confronted with the ergological panorama of the site to define the adaptative homeostasis of the cultural system with the environment.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

We shall focus the following discussion on three of the archaeological sites mentioned above, all of them located in the extremely arid coastal area. They are representative of a chronological sequence that is adequate for a diachronic examination of both the interaction of coastal societies with their environment and their internal transformations. Quebrada Las Conchas is an early site, Abtao-1 is intermediate in age, and Punta Blanca represents later times.

Quebrada Las Conchas There are two C-14 dates available for this site from samples of vegetable carbon from hearths

at the base of the deposit; both were processed at the laboratory of the University of Penn- sylvania, and they indicated 9400 + 160 B.P. and 9680 ? 160 B.P. (P-2702).

The shell heap lies approximately 3,000 m from watermark on the slopes of the Coast Range near the city of Antofagasta. Especially noteworthy are discoidal and polygonal stones that closely resemble those of Huentelauquen, Chile (Iribarren 1961; Gajardo 1962-1963) and the cogged stones of California (Eberhart 1961). Other artifacts include chipped granite and basalt choppers, large chips from these same cobbles with margins that were used directly or retouched, circular or oblong cobbles with evidence of use on their margins or ends (edge-ground cobbles), minor pressure-flaked core tools on silicate stone chips (scrapers, knives, awls, projectile points of diverse shapes), mortars made of blocks of granite, small mortars of micaceous schists, metates and mullers, ellipsoidal plummets, sandstone abraders, and a series of bone tools for digging mollusks (Carevic 1978).

Among the faunal remains, the shells of Concholepas concholepas (a type of abalone known throughout Chile as locos) predominate, along with several species of keyhole limpet of Fissurella (locally called lapas). Twenty-four species of fish have been identified, seven of which are extinct in this locality at the present time. In addition, there were semifossilized bones of sea lions (Otarids), dolphins (Delphinids), and a representative of the South American Camelids, the guanaco (Lama guanicoe). The midden also contained bones of birds that were difficult to identify, although it was evident that there was little variety among them. The presence of some burned human bones among the refuse at the Quebrada Las Conchas site was unusual. Finally, seeds con- taining a hallucinogenic substance (harmine) were encountered.

Abtao-1

This site is located 18 km from Quebrada Las Conchas on the southern side of the Mejillones

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REPORTS

Peninsula, a few meters above waterline. The radiocarbon dates set its limits between 5350 and ca. 3000 B.P. (Boisset and Llagostera 1971). There were three occupations on this site, each of which is clearly defined as to ergological context.

First occupation (5350-4000 B.P.) The most important diagnostic feature of this occupation is the shell fishhook in association with double-ended projectile points and stemmed points with no barbs. These points are similar to those Bird describes for Quiani, Punta Pichalo, and Taltal (1943).

Second occupation (4000-3550 B.P.) Here bone is replacing shell as the raw material for the fishhook, but the form of the artifact is conserved; the end of the shaft continues to be sharpened as it was in the shell fishhook. Shell fishhooks are still recovered during this occupation. Stone points with a rounded base, comparable to those Bird describes from Punta Pichalo (1943), predominate.

Third occupation (3550-3000 B.P.) The morphology of the fishhook changes, with the innova- tion of a knob on the shaft to which the fishline was tied. Only bone hooks occur. The stone blades are triangular and stemless, wide for hafted knives and narrow for projectile points. The composite fishhooks, which until this time were simple, now begin to have a small barb. The harpoon barbs, which previously were curved, are now straight.

Other artifacts, not described here, show little typological change throughout the sequence (see Boisset et al. 1969).

Abtao-1 is a stratified shell heap. The quantitative column showed an accumulation of 43 layers, which cover the three occupations of the site. The organic preservation is fairly good, with an average conservation index (based on the disintegration of Fissurella shells) of 61%. Among the mollusks Concholepas predominates, followed by Fissurella. In addition, there were sea ur- chins (Loxechinus albus), chitons (Amphineura), crabs (Brachyura), black tops (Tegula atra), and choro mussels (Choromytilus chorus). Several species of fish were represented, the most significant being the cabinza (Isacia conceptionis) and the jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus). Sea lion bones, especially those of immature individuals, marine otter or chungungos (Lutra felina), and algae and bush from the local flora complete the ecocontext represented at Abtao-1.

Punta Blanca

This area of shell heaps associated with cemeteries lies 10 km south of the city of Tocopilla. I have chosen the Frente-5 shell heap as the basis for the following discussion both because it shows evidence of being occupied since the shell fishhook period and because the greatest propor- tion of material found is representative of late times (with ceramics), completing the diachronic site series.

In this deposit there are four distinct occupations. The first occupation is a preceramic period, with a strong persistence of stonework and the presence of shell fishhooks; it probably represents the last phase of the utilization of shell fishhooks. The second occupation could be characterized in general terms by the presence of pottery in the traditional coastal style. Cactus-thorn fishhooks appear in the fishing gear, and the seafood diet is strongly supplemented by the pods of the mes- quite or carob tree (Prosopis chilensis), locally known as algarroba. A noteworthy augmentation of the ergological context of the site occurs with the third occupation. Pottery types characteristic of the valleys, especially of the Loa River tradition, are present as varicolored weavings. The dietetic reserve now includes new items. Algarroba seeds are found less frequently than previously, and corn, probably from the Loa Valley, appears for the first time. The fourth occupation corresponds to various times during the post-Hispanic period.

While the Punta Blanca organic content is, on the whole, of maritime origin, subtle statistical deviations are detectable that differentiate the site from those previously discussed. Among the mollusks, the Fissurella take first place, followed by Tegula, with Concholepas in third place. Choromytilus appears strongly in the third and fourth occupations, its valves being used as knives. Of the ichthyological series present, the conger eels (Genypterus), known locally as congrios, make a later appearance.

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DISCUSSION

When I presented the progress report on my research at the National Archaeological Meeting in La Serena, Chile (Llagostera 1976), I did not yet have the carbon-14 dates for the Quebrada Las Conchas site, and I stated that the biological indicators present there were significantly different from those of other deposits on the northern coast of Chile.

On the one hand, the set of bioindicators for the site was not repeated after 5350 B.P. (a baseline date for the first occupation of Abtao-1) or after 6170 B.P. (the baseline date for Quiani occupation), if the Abtao and Quiani homotaxis is taken into consideration. On the other hand, I was presented with biological features of a markedly warm water with a high degree of salinity.

Using this background information, I sought a chronological adjustment that would fit the paleoclimatic conditions of the situation described, while corresponding to the maximum increase in land and sea temperatures known as Thermic Maximum or Climatic Optimum. This time could be identified with Heusser's Fifth Pollen Zone in the south of Chile, which has been dated at between 8500 and 6500 B.P. (Heusser 1966). The radiocarbon dates that we subsequently secured corroborated our reasoning, confirming the early date we had assigned to the Quebrada Las Con- chas site on the basis of the bioindicators. At the same time they have underlined the potential utility of bioindicators.

A novel aspect of the bioindicators at this site is the presence of fish that are now extinct in the locality. Seven of the 24 species of fish that were recovered, approximately 12% of the ichthyological population consumed on the site, are not found on this coast at the present time or are found only occasionally. These species are Cynoscion analis, Roncador sp., Micropogon altipinnis, Ophioscion oscurus, Elattarchus archidium, Paralabrax callaensis, and a member of the Ariidae family (Figure 2).

Cynoscion analis (J) is a corvina or seabass belonging to the Sciaenidae family, and Chirichigno (1974) has described the limits of its distribution as being between Santa Elena, Ecuador, and Co- quimbo, Chile. Mann (1954) has also included this species among the "northern invaders that come as far as Coquimbo." In general this fish is found rarely in Chilean waters, usually in the summer months; it is most abundant in the waters around 6? and 7? south latitude off Peru. Yet it appears in an appreciable quantity in the archaeological site at Quebrada Las Conchas.

Roncador sp., a type of sagitta that undoubtedly belongs to the Sciaenidae but is of a genus and species not clearly defined, is present in the set of otoliths found at the Quebrada Las Conchas site. The form of these sagittas is similar to that of the genus Sciaena but is differentiated from Sciaena by an elongation of the rostrum, a typical characteristic of the genus Roncador. In spite of the fact that the genus Roncador has not been reported for the eastern Pacific in the Southern Hemisphere, we have chosen to include this genus provisionally here since the comparative study of various Peruvian and Chilean Sciaenidae has not yielded positive results. Roncador is described for the North American Pacific in the form of Roncador stearnsi (spotfin croaker), between Punta Concepcion and Bahia de San Juanico in lower California.

Micropogon altipinnis (G) is a berrugato that also belongs to the Sciaenidae family; its present habitat extends from Chiapan, Guatemala, to Mancora, Peru. This fish prefers warm water with high salinity. There is no record of sightings of Micropogon altipinnis in the Chilean Pacific. The large size of some of the sagittas found at the archaeological site is noteworthy; some of them were as large as 28 mm in maximum diameter.

Ophioscion oscurus (H) is another Sciaenid that has been reported from the northern limits of Peru, from Puerto Pizarro to Lobos de Tierra Island. We have no references to its existence in waters south of the sector indicated.

Elattarchus archidium (J and G), a croaker of the Sciaenidae family, has its actual habitat far away from the area being studied. It has been found from the Gulf of California (Mexico) to Lobos de Tierra Island (Peru).

Paralabrax callaensis (S) is a bassfish belonging to the Serranidae family with a distribution from Manta, Ecuador, to El Callao, Peru.

Some utricular otoliths (lapillus) from this site have been assigned to a member of the Ariidae

316 [Vol. 44, No. 2,1979]

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Figure 2. Otoliths of locally extinct fish from Quebrada Las Conchas site: (a) Ophioscion oscurus, (b) Micropogon altipinnis, (c) Elattarchus archidium, (d) Cynoscion analis, (e) Arridae, (f) Roncador sp., (g) Paralabrax callaensis.

family, but the genus and species are still undetermined. In Peru six species of marine catfish have been reported that belong to this family (Chirichigno 1974). There is no information from Chile on this family.

The presence and frequency of these fish and their absence from later archaeological sites give us evidence of maritime environmental conditions of higher temperatures, which we could com- pare with conditions in the Late Pleistocene. This is similar to observations made by Fitch (1964, 1966) in California. He notes a lateral displacement of Micropogon quite similar to that which we have detected; he found Micropogon ectenes in Pleistocene fossil deposits in California and states that in modern times they are caught only in locations several hundred miles south of California. Their presence in the deposits, together with other southern species (among them a Cynoscion), leads him to hypothesize that the deposit was laid down at times when the local ocean temperature was considerably higher than the temperature prevailing today.

With the radiocarbon dates we can estimate that the Quebrada Las Conchas site was occupied around the Holocene, at moments when the climatic conditions were affected by a slow increase in temperature advancing toward its maximum oscillation. The effect of this process is clear in the paleoecological picture delineated by bioindicators. The species that live in warmer waters increase in frequency toward the upper layers of the deposits, documenting the sequence of a pro- gressive warming-up of the ocean; first Cynoscion occurs, which indicates that the water was already warm, and then Micropogon, marking the precise time of the maximum water temperature.

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Micropogon thus becomes an extraordinary indicator for detecting and dating the "climax" of the Climatic Optimum. This phenomenon is related to the ebb and flow of groups of fauna that swim to follow their habitual water temperature conditions. As the temperature rose, a latitudinal displacement of the subtropical ichthyofauna occurred, and species such as Cynoscion came to form a part of the diet of the coastal inhabitants of this latitude (23 ? 33'S). As the increase in temperature continued, the arrival of equatorial species (Micropogon) became possible, and they were added to the local diet. Then, with the later decrease in temperature, the reverse movement northward began, first of Micropogon and later of Cynoscion. Consequently, the sequence of the series within this period is as follows: (1) thermic "preclimax," with Cynoscion; (2) thermic "climax," with Cynoscion and Micropogon; and (3) thermic "postclimax," once again with Cynoscion alone.

The possible implications of the El Nino Current phenomenon might be discussed in this connection. We know that in the months from January to March the Equatorial Current that normally flows along the coasts of Ecuador, Colombia, and Central America changes its routes to swing southward, bringing its warm water as far as Salaverry (8? 13'S). This countercurrent produces marked changes in the marine fauna; the cold-water species disappear, yielding to an invasion by equatorial species. The amplitude of the phenomenon presents a certain cyclical periodicity with intensities that, even in historical times, have been felt rather far to the south. What we are find- ing at the archaeological site cannot be attributed to the normal fluctuations of El Nino; the picture presented by the bioindicators shows clearly an event that had no parallel in either intensity or duration during the remainder of the prehistoric period or in historical times. It is possible that the changes that caused the reheating of the earth also had an intense and prolonged effect on the El Nifno phenomenon or that the gradual reheating of the ocean simply permitted groups of equatorial fauna to move toward extreme southern latitudes.

The Quebrada Las Conchas site is culturally peculiar because of the presence of geometric stone objects (Figure 3), which have not been dated in South America. In North America, Eberhart suggested that the maximum span of the use of cogged stones might extend from 8000 B.C. to as late as 1000 B.C. (Eberhart 1961:367), but it seems much more likely that their period of use will prove to be from 6000 to 3500 B.C. Later the same author claimed a beginning date of ca. 6000 B.C. (Eberhart and Wasson 1975:39-40). We would not venture to suggest a correspondence be-

Figure 3. Geometric sandstone objects from Quebrada Los Conchas site.

318 [Vol. 44, No. 2,1979]

REPORTS

tween these stones and the early dates assigned at Quebrada Las Conchas, since they increase in number toward the surface of the site, coinciding with Micropogon and indicating a correspondence with the thermal "climax," which we shall soon be able to date when our next set of samples is returned. For now, the dates show us the moment at which man came to occupy the northern coast of what is today Chile and that indicates the earliest human settlement on the North, Central, and South American coasts. This site was first occupied ca. 10,000 B.P. during the thermal "preclimax" and culminated during the "climax."

The majority of the geometric stone objects are disk shaped. A probable early date for the discoidal stones is supported by the fact that Bird found similar objects in southern Chile and Argentina and attributed them to the paleo-Indian occupation (Bird 1970). Two of these objects came from Fell's Cave and were directly associated with remains of the extinct horse and the giant sloth; the dates fluctuate around 11,000 B.P.

Within the group of implements found at the site, the mortars seem to be contradictory elements: they are present in a valleyless desert environment where there had never been a tradition of food grinding. This fact, as well as the small size of some examples, made us think they might have been psychotropic equipment. By careful excavation, it was possible to isolate small seeds that, when analyzed by Karolinska Institutet of Stockholm, revealed the presence of a hallucinogenic substance, an alkaloid of the 0-carboline group known as harmine. This substance is one of the psychotropic components of Banisteriopsis ssp. of the New World and Pegonum har- mala of the Old World, but the seeds found in Quebrada Las Conchas are not from either of those plants. Instead they belong to an undetermined species that undoubtedly had xerophitic characteristics like those of Peganum.

The early presence of hallucinogens has been recorded in Mexico and in Texas (Adovasio and Fry 1976). In Mexico, in the Cuatro Cienagas Basin of Coahuila, there is a group of caves and rock- shelters, among which is Frightful Cave. In the abundant deposits of that site, which cover a period of from 9450 to 1220 B.P., the beans of the mescal plant (Sophora secundiflora), which have a recognized psychotropic effect, were found. Also found was another specimen that must have had the same function, the Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa). Deposits at Trans-Pecos, Texas, contain the same hallucinogenic plants, and at one of them, Bonfire Shelter (10,390-9070 B.P.), they were found in direct association with Folsom and Plainview points. Consequently it is justifiable to conceive of the very early existence of a psychotropic tradition in America, which is represented at Quebrada Las Conchas.

As for the subsistence activities of the groups of people who inhabited Quebrada Las Conchas, once again the bioindicators have something to tell us. We know that Cynoscion is a fish that cannot be caught with a hook; it is not in the habit of feeding on anything that could be used for bait. Nevertheless, this fish appears in a high percentage in the deposits. This leads one to believe that this fish was caught not with a hook but by netting. This idea seems to be supported by the small sandstone plummets that have been found and by the fact that the majority of the ichthyological remains at the site belong to fish that live on the bottom along the shore.

In the Abtao-1 site we found a schema of bioindicators markedly different from those described thus far. The species of fish referred to above and the panorama of their frequencies and distribu- tions present certain special features that suggest that they belonged to a definite time period. In the first occupation of this site (5350-4000 B.P.), one observes an interesting frequency inversion of the mollusks, Choromytilus, and the fish, Trachurus. While Choromytilus appears most abun- dantly in the lower layers, gradually decreasing as we examine higher levels, Trachurus begins to be present in strength only above stratum 15 in our quantitative column. Choromytilus is an indicator of cold waters and Trachurus of warm temperate waters. Consequently, the behavior of these bioindicators presents us with temperature conditions that gradually increase about 5350 B.P. until they have significant ecological repercussions about 4000 B.P. (Figure 4).

Since the shell fishhook is the element most representative of the first occupation of Abtao-1, we could be faced with a sample that could be diagnostic of the so-called shell fishhook culture; this moment in the sociocultural development of the northern coast of Chile would have been closely related to the fate of the Choromytilus mussel from whose valves the fishhooks were made.

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TRACHURUS CHOROMYTILUS

*

I

I

UNIDADES DE DENSIDAD: -_ Trachurus * Choromytilus

Figure 4. Frequency inversion of Trachurus and Choromytilus at Abtao-1 (first and second occupations).

The earliest radiocarbon date recorded for the shell fishhook in northern Chile is in Quiani, Arica, and corresponds to 6170 ? 220 B.P. (Mostny 1964).

If we look for paleoclimatic references on the chronological period concerned, we learn that of the eight pollinical zones that Heusser sets forth for Chile, the Sixth Zone would have a range that would fit in the time period from 6500 to 4500 B.P. It would be characterized by a drop in temperatures and high humidity, as indicated by the growing percentage of such plants as Fitz-

35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

(0.1) (0.1)

320 [Vol. 44, No. 2,1979]

REPORTS

roya, Pilgerodendron, and Podocarpus (Heusser 1966). Consequently, we shall propose a correspondence between the groups that used the shell fishhooks and the cooler, wetter period indicated by Heusser.

The opposition we have observed in Abtao-1 between Choromytilus and Trachurus gives us evidence that, in addition to the continental decrease in tempraerature, a considerable cooling of the ocean took place, creating on the present-day nothern coast of Chile ideal conditions for the development of cold-water species that Mann considers to be within "the group of sub-antarctic cold-water fish" (Mann 1954:84). These conditions inhibited the development of warm-water species, as the ichthyological series from the site indicates. The predominant species is the cabinza (Isacia conceptionis), which doubtless at that time was the most abundant of all the fish resources, followed by two croakers, Cilus montii and Sciaena deliciosa, which maintain a certain continuity in the frequency of remains encountered. Sargo (Anisotremus scapularis) appears in any plentifulness only at the end of the period. Other fish appear sporadically and in small numbers. Trachurus, as we have already stated, is present only in the second occupation of Abtao-1, coming to take second place in the order of importance among the fish species. A rocksargo (Sciaena fasciatea), a bassfish (Paralabrax humeralis), other bass (Hemilutjanus macrophthalmos), and a halibut (Paralichthys adspersus) are also found in the second occupation with some frequency; all of these last are examples of the "group of northern invaders in the Peru Current" (Mann 1954:81).

In the second occupation of Abtao-1, the cold environmental conditions became attenuated. This initiated the retrogretrogression of Choromytilus to its present haunts in the far south of Chile, which obliged the coast dwellers to replace the shell with other raw material. Bones and cactus thorns were the new raw materials for the manufacture of fishhooks.

The Punta Blanca site contains deposits that pertain to a time period following Abtao-1 and reflect environmental factors that affected the late coastal societies. When we analyze the series of bioindicators encountered in the 37 layers of the quantitative column, we observe that some fish, especially those that migrate seasonally (Trachurus, Cilus, Sciaena) are present throughout the column but in an intermittent fashion. Others with definite thermal preferences show themselves only at determined intervals, when environmental conditions were suitable for them. Thus forms common to subantarctic waters, such as Isacia, are dominant in the first occupation and correspond with the shell fishhook occupation in Abtao-1. At the same moment specimens of the subtropical species (Hemilutjanus, Cheilodactylus, Paralabrax, Doydixodon, and Paralichthys) occur as well. This combination is one that, according to the Abtao data, would be located in late preceramic times.

In the second occupation we observed a small variety of fish types with a notable resurgence of Trachurus and a weak presence of Isacia; algarroba appear to have been an important sup- plemental food as well.

In the third occupation of the Punta Blanca site, the most noticeable feature is the appearance of the conger eels, or congrios (Genypterus chilensis and G. maculatus). These do not occur in earlier occupations or sites; they appear to be associated with the late ceramic period, since we have also detected their presence in other late middens. Today these fish are caught between .5 and 3 km from the shore and from 10 to 150 fathoms deep; that is to say, they are not fish that can be caught from the shore. The quantity in which they are found in the archaeological deposit obliges us to think that rafts must have been used for their capture, an idea that is reinforced by the observations made during the first centuries of European contact. In 1672 the chronicler Vas- quez de Espinoza wrote that the Indian fishermen go out to the sea in their rafts "because on that coast they do a great deal of fishing of conger eels, spotted dogfish, lisas, dorados, armados, sea catfish, jackmackerel, tuna, octopus, and many other kinds of fish which they salt down, and they take them with great droves of llamas to Potosi, Chuquisaca, Lipes, and to all those provinces in the highlands" (Vasquez de Espinoza 1969:438).

In addition to the presence of Genypterus, a series of associated facts supports what has been suggested above. When we look at the stratigraphic series made for the keyhole limpets, it is ob- vious that there is strong increase in Fissurella maxima in this third occupation. This species was

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only weakly represented before, being surpassed by Fissurella limbata. Nevertheless, it now goes to the top of the series of the eight Fissurellids. The habitat of F. maxima is the rocky islets most exposed to the breakers. This habitat is undoubtedly most accessible by rafts. F. nigra and F. lata, which share the same habitat, are also constantly present. The large size of the examples of Con- cholepas when compared with the examples of the same species found at lower levels makes us think that the inhabitants of the site were not restricted to the exhaustive exploitation of a few banks of mollusks but had a larger radius of action, with the possibility of selecting from a larger quantity of banks. Finally, it is interesting to note that the presence of corn in the deposit first occurs at this time, a fact that could indicate contact with the valleys where the rafts played an important role.

We believe that Genypterus is a good indicator for the use of rafts and the moment when these craft began to be used. Basing our estimates on this, we have obtained a date for this important event of 1720 ? 50 B.P. (P-2587).

There is no doubt that the use of navigation implied significant contributions to the quantity and quality of food, which in turn would have had repercussions on the social structure. Our next lines of research will be oriented toward quantifying these contributions and, in general, toward trying to understand the significance of the introduction of different techniques of capturing fish, such as the fishhook.

Acknowledgments. It is a pleasure for me to extend my most sincere gratitude to Hector Garces, an of- ficial in the Museo Regional and member of the faculty of the Anthropology Department of the Universidad del Norte of Antofagasta, Chile, and to all the students in that department, most especially to Maria Antonietta Costa Junqueira and Julio Cruz Barahona, and to the museum assistant Bernardo Baez. All of them, with their valuable field and laboratory work, have contributed a fundamental part to the discoveries set forth in this ar- ticle. In addition, several specialists have rendered their participation and advice, among whom I wish to men- tion very specially Dr. Thomas F. Lynch of the Anthropology Department of Cornell University, Dr. Norma Chirichigno of the Instituto del Mar in Peru, Dr. John E. Fitch of the Fish and Game Department of Long Beach, California, Dr. Elizabeth K. Ralph of the Physics Department of the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Henry Wassen of the Ethnographic Museum of Goteburg, and Professor Bo Holmstedt of the Karolinska In- stitutet of Stockholm.

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THE AGGRESSIVE FIELD LAB

Jacqueline Nichols and June Evans

It is proposed that archaeological field labs should be a mandatory and integral part of archaeological research design.

An archaeological field lab should no longer be considered optional for field schools and long- term research projects. By field lab we do not mean a building where things are stored or a kind of "holding station" for artifacts awaiting preliminary analysis; nor do we mean the process of washing, drying, and inking of artifacts by the wife and children of the field director. We refer in-

Munizaga, Juan, and Agustin Llagostera 1969 Restos oseos humanos de un periodo cultural preceramico de la costa de la Provincia de An-

tofagasta, Chile. Revista Chilena de Antropologia 2. (in press.) Niemeyer, Hans, and Virgilio Schiappacasse

1969 Comentarios a tres fechados radiocarbonicos de sitios arqueologicos de Conanoxa, Valle de Cama- rones, Provincia de Tarapaca. Noticiario Mensual del Museo de Historia Natural 151. Santiago.

Nufiez, Lautaro, Vjera Zlatar, and Patricio Nufiez 1974 Caleta Huelen 42: una aldea temprana en el norte de Chile. Hombre y Cultura 2(5).

Patterson, Thomas C. 1971 The emergence of food production in central Peru. In Prehistoric agriculture, edited by Stuart Strue-

ver, pp. 181-207. Natural History Press, Garden City. Perkins, Dexter, Jr.

1964 The prehistoric fauna from Shanidar, Iraq. Science 3626:1565-1566. Reed, C. A.

1961 Osteological evidences for prehistoric domestication in southwest Asia. Zeitschrift fur Tierrzuch- tung und Zuchtungsbiologie 76(1):31-38.

Reed, C. A., and Robert Braidwood 1960 The environmental sequence in northeastern Iraq. In Explorations in Iraqi Kurdistan, edited by R. J.

Braidwood and B. Howe, pp. 163-175. Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago. Schaedel, Richard

1957 Arqueologia Chilena: contribuciones al estudio de la region comprendida entre Arica y La Serena. Centro de Estudios Antropologicos, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.

Shawcross, Wilfred 1967 An investigation of prehistoric diet and economy on a coastal site at Galatea Bay, New Zealand. Pre-

historic Society 33, Cambridge. Struever, Stuart

1968 Flotation techniques for the recovery of small-scale archaeological remains. American Antiquity 33:353-362.

Uhle, Max 1917 Los aborigenes de Arica. Publicaciones del Museo de Etnologia y Antropologia de Chile 1(4-5):151-

176. 1922 Fundamentos etnicos y arqueologia de Arica y Tacna. Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Estudios Historicos,

Quito. Vasquez de Espinoza, Antonio

1969 Compendio y descripcion de las Indias occidentales (1672). Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles 231, Madrid.

White, T. E. 1953 A method of calculating the dietary percentage of various food animals utilized by various aboriginal

peoples. American Antiquity 18:396-398.

THE AGGRESSIVE FIELD LAB

Jacqueline Nichols and June Evans

It is proposed that archaeological field labs should be a mandatory and integral part of archaeological research design.

An archaeological field lab should no longer be considered optional for field schools and long- term research projects. By field lab we do not mean a building where things are stored or a kind of "holding station" for artifacts awaiting preliminary analysis; nor do we mean the process of washing, drying, and inking of artifacts by the wife and children of the field director. We refer in-

Jacqueline Nichols, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 June Evans, Department of Anthropology, The American University, Washington, DC 20016 Jacqueline Nichols, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 June Evans, Department of Anthropology, The American University, Washington, DC 20016

324 324 [Vol. 44, No. 2, 1979] [Vol. 44, No. 2, 1979]

Cover PageArticle Contentsp.309p.310p.311p.312p.313p.314p.315p.316p.317p.318p.319p.320p.321p.322p.323p.324

Issue Table of ContentsAmerican Antiquity, Vol. 44, No. 2, Apr., 1979Front Matter [pp.209-210]Editor's Corner [pp.211-212]Historic Site Content, Structure, and Function [pp.213-237]Comments on the Theory of Holocene Refugia in the Culture History of Amazonia [pp.238-251]Climatic Oscillation as a Factor in the Prehistory of Amazonia [pp.252-266]Geoarchaeology: The Geologist and Archaeology [pp.267-270]ReportsField Systems and Frost Drainage in the Prehistoric Agriculture of the Upper Great Lakes [pp.271-285]Thermoluminescence Determinations on Early Ceramic Materials from Coastal Southern California [pp.285-295]Osteological Identification of Sandhill Crane versus Turkey [pp.295-299]A Maya Dam in the Copan Valley, Honduras [pp.299-305]Paleodemography of the Valdivia III Phase at Real Alto, Ecuador [pp.305-309]9,700 Years of Maritime Subsistence on the Pacific: An Analysis by Means of Bioindicators in the North of Chile [pp.309-324]The Aggressive Field Lab [pp.324-326]

Cultural Resource Management"Significance" in Contract Archaeology [pp.327-328]A Reply to Sharrock and Grayson on Archaeological Significance [pp.328-329]Using NTIS, or How to Disseminate Archaeological Reports [pp.330-332]

CommentsThe Olmec in the Central Highlands: A Non-Quintessential Approach [pp.333-337]A Comment on Curren's "Potential Interpretations of 'Stone Gorget' Function" [pp.337-341]Comments on "Application of Orthophoto Mapping to Archaeological Problems" [pp.341-345]A Comment on Bettinger: Problems in Archaeological Interpretation [pp.345-351]Curation, Statistics, and Settlement Studies: A Reply to Munday and Lincoln [pp.352-359]

Current Research [pp.360-381]Reviewsuntitled [pp.382-383]untitled [pp.383-384]untitled [pp.384-385]untitled [pp.385-386]untitled [pp.386-387]untitled [pp.387-388]

Society for American Archaeology [pp.389-399]Back Matter [pp.400-400]

Old Maritime Subsistence

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