Discover Archaeology: Investigating the Valle Perdido in South America

Background

In 2015 Discover Archaeology magazine received a funding request from well-known archaeologist Dr. Ivana Trowel, who wanted to investigate the history of human settlement in the Valle Perdido. The Valle Perdido is an isolated area in the Western cordillera of the Andes Mountains in South America. The magazine, aware of reports of pyramids and elaborate tombs in the region, provided her with research funds. The editors were confident that her work would result in dramatic photos and interesting discoveries that would grace the pages of Discover Archaeology. Unfortunately, Dr. Trowel disappeared mysteriously before her work could be completed. Her assistants, convinced that she was the victim of an ancient curse, all quit the project, changed careers and have refused any contact with magazine staff. All the magazine has to show for its generous research grant is Dr. Trowel’s field notes.

Below you will find summaries of the results of Dr. Trowel’s survey of the Valle Perdido and her excavations at the large site known locally as La Pirámide, which are drawn from e-mails she sent to Mr. M. Bellish, editor in chief of Discover Archaeology. There are also notes available regarding the skeletal remains Dr. Trowel recovered; they will be dealt with in your other assignment. The notes are followed by a sequence of questions that require you to interpret the information in the notes in the context of what you are learning in class and in the labs/tutorials.

Based on 5 months of surveys by her 30 member team, Trowel believed there were four main stages of occupation in the Valle Perdido, which are summarized below. The dates for each period are estimates based on the timing of similar developments in neighbouring coastal areas. She documented a total of 30 sites, which are represented on the maps presented at the end of this section

Sites from this time period are small with few visible surface remains. They are identified by scatters of stone tools (spear heads, arrow heads etc.) and waste flakes from stone tool manufacture. There is no clear evidence of permanent dwellings on these sites, though some have stone hearths (fireplaces) and in some cases arrangements of rocks suggest wind breaks or hunting blinds. Where animal bones are visible, they are dominated by two species: guanaco and Andean Deer

Some sites from this period are very similar to Early Period sites. However, others are somewhat larger, and include the first evidence of adobe (mud brick) buildings. These larger sites include clusters of 3 to 10 rectangular single-room dwellings. All of the dwellings are of similar size and open onto a shared flat rectangular “patio” area, likely a shared space for group activities. On these sites, in addition to stone tools, pottery sherds are also common (white vessels with black decoration – “black on white ware”  a style that is not found in surrounding regions) and there are some examples of manos and metates (used for grinding plant foods such as maize). Food remains from these patio sites include guanaco and Andean Deer, and for the first time also llama and guinea pig bones and maize cobs. .

Survey Results

Adobe architecture is found on all known sites from this time period. Site size is highly variable. Small sites are scattered across the valley floor, consisting of 3-12 rectangular adobe dwellings of roughly equal size, often arranged around a rectangular patio area. There are two larger centers, one towards the eastern end of the valley, another towards the west, both of which contain several hundred dwellings. These settlements are arranged around a large open patio area with a central pyramid mound. At these sites, dwellings vary in size, with several very large structures adjacent to the patio, and smaller structures towards the site periphery. The centrally located site La Pirámide stands out as the largest in the valley. The remains of over 1000 dwellings are visible on the site surface. A massive central plaza contains 5 flat-topped pyramids .Surface remains on sites from this period include manos and metates, black on white ceramics, maize and llama bones. Wild animal bones are rare except at La Pirámide. A new ceramic style appears throughout the valley which combines red, black and grey

decoration on finely made ceramics with elaborate handles (polychrome ware) . Decorative motifs are mainly mythological creatures and people in elaborate costumes. Andean deer also feature prominently. These ceramics are particularly abundant at La Pirámide. Ceramic styles known from neighbouring Lowland regions also appear for the first time and also present in small amounts. A handful of Spanish coins are known from this period and historic accounts indicate that Spanish traders occasionally travelled to the Valle Perdido from the coast in order to trade with a local “priest-king.”

This period begins with the founding of a Spanish Jesuit mission at the western end of the valley in 1656. A settlement of perhaps a hundred small rectangular adobe dwellings sprang up around the mission over the course of the period. La Pirámide appears to have been abandoned near the beginning of this period, as are many of the sites on the valley floor. Some small sites continue in use, and small sites with single adobe dwellings appear at higher elevations. Guanaco and Andean deer remains become important at all sites late in this period, and are found alongside llama and maize remains. The Spanish mission at the western end of the valley grows over the course of this period. Black on white ceramics with geometric designs and Spanish trade goods are well represented at all sites, and other trade goods all but disappear. Throughout the valley, graves are marked by crosses, which is unknown from earlier periods and there is a cemetery associated with the mission. Historic accounts suggest that Black-on-white ceramic vessels depicting maize, llamas, guanaco and deer are often included in these graves. The Jesuits abandoned the mission and returned to Spain in 1740.

Valle Perdido Cultural Periods

Dwelling 1

This is a large 8-room dwelling adjacent to the central plaza (Figure 8). The entire dwelling was excavated before Dr. Trowel’s disappearance. The largest room in the south-eastern corner of the dwelling contained a long rectangular adobe structure along its east wall which was filled with ash, charred animal bone and large amounts of charred maize. It was interpreted as a large hearth. The room also contained many pieces of broken Polychrome ceramics, fragments of Putumayo and Avoca wares (styles manufactured by Lowland groups in the Amazon Basin) and a single Spanish gold coin. Painted wall plaster was found along the southern wall of this room, decorated with depictions of seated men with elaborate head-dresses. Two small copper beads were identified in a room on the western side of the building, and a gold bracelet was uncovered in another small room on the building’s south-west corner. A stone spearhead was found near the main entrance on the eastern side of the structure. A room in the north-western corner of the dwelling had six adobe benches, each of which contained circular holes approximately 40 cm in diameter. One of these holes contained a large storage jar. Numerous other broken pieces of storage jar were found on the floor of the room. See Table 1 for the artifacts and food remains found in this Dwelling.

Dwelling 2

This is a small two-room dwelling on the western periphery of the site (Figure 8). The entire structure was excavated. Interior walls were undecorated. The single door was located in the south wall, and there was a rectangular hearth structure with charred food remains in the north-east corner. Fragments of Black-on-white Ware were found throughout the main room along with a handful of storage jar fragments, one piece of polychrome ware and several manos and metates. Two burials were found below the floor of the dwelling. One, located in the south- west corner of the main room, was an adult male buried on his right side with knees bent up to his chest, another located in

the north-west corner of the main room was an adult female in the same position, buried holding an infant. Each burial also contained a single Black-on-white ceramic bowl. The man’s bowl was decorated with stylized llamas and placed near his head, and the woman’s bowl was decorated with stylized maize cobs and placed at her feet. See Table 2 for the artifacts and food remains found in this Dwelling.

1) What are guanacos and llamas and what is the significance of their presence or absence during the different time periods? What does their presence or absence tell you about mobility and subsistence practices of the occupants of the Valle Perdido through time?

2) How do you think Dr. Trowel and her team surveyed the region? How would you interpret the changes in the number and location of sites through time?

3) What was going on in the two dwellings? What do the differences between the two dwellings tell you about the social structure of the Late Period society in the Valle Perdido? Place your discussion within the context of other available information.

4) What is a capybara? What does the presence of the capybara and Red Howler Monkey in Dwelling 1 tell you about the Late Period society in the Valle Perdido? What other information supports your answer?

5) Provide a brief overview of the cultural changes over time in the Valle Perdido, including a guess at why the Jesuits left in 1740.