Journal of Archaealogical Science (1994) 21, 515-524

Contributions of Chemical Dietary Reconstruction to the Assessment of Adaptation by Ancient Highland Immigrants (Alto Ramirez) to Coastal Conditions at Pisagua, North Chile

Arthur C. Aufderheide

Paleobiology Laboratory and Center for Ancient Studies, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812-2487, US. A.

Marc A. Kelley

1523 Hidden Terrace Court, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, US. A.

Mario Rivera

7710 South Manitowoc, Oak Creek, WI 53154-2152, U.S.A.

Luz Gray

Sacramento State University, Sacramento, CA 95864, U.S.A.

Larry L. Tieszen and Elysha Iversen

Department of Biology, August ana College, Sioux Falls, SD, U S.A.

H. Roy Krouse

Department of Physics, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Alvaro Carevic

Universidad Arturo Frat, Iquique, Chile

(Received 18 February 1993, revised manuscript accepted 7 June 1993)

At the latitudes of northern Chile the earliest migrants from the highlands were members of the Alto Ramirez cultural group. They arrived in the lower valleys about I 000 nc, where they transferred their highland practices of agriculture and pastoralism to those lower valley sites, acquiring only a minority of their dietary needs from the nearby sea. The unexpected archaeological finding of 11 spontaneously mummified Alto Ramirez bodies at a beach site near Pisagua, northern Chile, provided us an opportunity to evaluate the degree to which they had absorbed and adapted to the subsistence strategy of their purely maritime coastal predecessors (the Chinchorros and their immediate successors, the Quiani people).

Using the methodology of chemical dietary reconstruction, supplemented by anatomic observations (external auditory canal exostoses, a "marker" for prolonged cold water exposure-diving; dental analysis), it became clear that this group's subsistence strategy was indistinguishable from that of the coastal maritime populations. This reflectS a high degree of coastal adaptation by the highlanders and suggests that they may have been functioning as a subgroup of "marine specialists" for their lower valley kin.

Keywords: MUMMIES, CHILE, ALTO RAMIREZ, COCAINE, BIOANTHROPOLOGY.

515 0305-4403/94/040515+ 10 $08.00/0 © 1994 Academic Press Limited

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516 A. C. Aufderheide et a!.

Introduction

E ighteen spontaneously ("naturally") munnni­fied human remains were excavated from a coastal site at Pisagua in northern Chile and II

of these, associated with Alto Ramirez grave goods, studied in detail in July 1990 by a multidisciplinary team from the Universities of Minnesota (Duluth), Calgary (Alberta, Canada), Arturo Prat (Iquique, Chile) and Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) under permit 355 (1987) from Consejo Monumentos Nacionales, Chile. Members of the Alto Ramirez cultural group are believed to be the first migrants to the lower valleys from the highlands at this latitude. They settled in the lower parts of the valleys, transferring to such areas their highland subsistence practices of agriculture and pastoralism (llamas and alpacas) (Santoro, 1980). Previous studies (~ufderheide & Allison, 1992) revealed that only a minority of their dietary needs were supplied by marine resources. The finding of a subgroup of Alto Ramirez people at a beach site raised the question of whether they had adapted to the coastal environment to a greater extent than had the larger Alto Ramirez popu­lation that had settled in the valleys. The mummies and cultural remains were subsequently deposited in the Museum of Archaeology, Universidad Arturo Prat, Iquique, Chile.

The archaeological site

Pisagua is located on the northern coast of Chile at 19°34' south latitude, 70°14' west longitude (Figure 1). It is one of the few natural bays on this part of the coast, and so was an important port during the period of nitrate and guano exploitation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In describing Pisagua, Bird (1943: 253) states " ... at the water's edge the land rises very abruptly 335 meters to a bench, behind which the rise continues for 450 meters more to the general level of the adjacent coastal plateau". The burial site PSG-7 is 2·3 krn south of Pisagua, and represents a cemetery of the (early) Alto Ramirez phase I; the excavated area measures 9·5 x 3·0 m (Figure 2). The site is about midway between Pisagua itself and the tip of Punta Pichalo, at an altitude of about 80-100 m above sea level, facing the ocean on the north side of the point (Figure 1).

Aridity, on the other hand, is extreme. The land­scape is one of coastal desert (Atacama Desert) with no vegetation whatsoever. These conditions provide an environment ideal for preservation of organic material and enhance the development of spontaneous munnni­fication of human remains.

Methods

Because of the high quality of their preservation (and therefore their value for purposes of educational dis-

Pacific Ocean

0 1 -=---­km

70 14'

Pisagua Viejo

34'

36'

Figure 1. Pisagua archaeological sites (adapted by Rivera from Bird, 1943). Pisagua Viejo (PSV): I :::::Chinchorro. Pisagua (PSG): l:::::Cavemas (Uhle, 1919); 2::::midden; 3=dwelling; 4=Tiwanaku cemetery; 5;::::;midden; 6::::Regional Development cemetery; ?:::Alto Ramirez cemetery; H:::::Hospital cemetery (Uhle, 1919). Punta Pichalo (PCH): !:::::cemetery D-4? (Uhle, 1919); 2=main midden (Bird, 1943); 3::::cemetery (Bird, 1943). Junin (PSJ): l:::::Alto Ramirez and Chinchorro cemetery (Bird, 1943). Abbreviations in parentheses are those used in the site numbers (text and Table 4).

play), seven mummies were not dissected. The remain­ing 11 were subjected to anatomical, biomedical and biophysical investigation.

Following detailed external examination and sam­pling of hair and fingernails, soft tissue dissection exposed the teeth, allowing examination of the denti­tion. Further dissection exposed the viscera, permitting removal, examination and sampling of internal organs. The autopsies were completed with a detailed osteological examination.

Small samples of all preserved tissues were obtained and retained in plastic bags. Samples of muscle, skin or

Adaptation of Ancient Highland Immigrants to Coastal Conditions 517

8 e rnPOST

EJ, " -...

f) e 0 (HEARTH\ 725-A \ I C1,C2 -.;

8 ,Q-A I N

+ 0 40 80

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Figure 2. Field sketch of site PSG-7.

liver, obtained under aseptic conditions, were har­vested and wrapped in aluminium foil for radiocarbon dating. Samples of both soft tissue and bone (trabecu­lar and compact) designed for possible deoxyribo­nucleic acid (DNA) study were also obtained under aseptic conditions without direct human contact.

Appropriately selected samples were rehydrated in the laboratory using Sandison's technique (Sandison, 1955) after which conventional methods of tissue de­hydration, paraffin infiltration, microtome sectioning and histologic staining were employed for microscopic anatomical study.

Stable isotope analysis samples of hair, soft tissue (mainly muscle) and bone (usually rib) were collected free of soil, but bones were covered with varying amounts of soft tissue. This was removed physically. Hair was washed in sulphur-free water and analysed for o34S as described by Krouse & Herbert (1988). Soft tissues were rinsed in distilled water, extracted for 24 h in chloroform:methanol (4:1), dried and analysed for 8!3C and o15N.

Collagen pseudomorphs were obtained by incubat­ing 0·5 g bone fragments in EDTA (0·5 M, pH 7·2) with shaking at 4°C until apatite carbonate was gone. Only intact pseudomorphs or visually definable portions were collected for further treatment. The pseudomor­phs were then extracted in 0·125 N NaOH for 24 h to remove base-soluble contaminants, rinsed, dried at 70°C, and weighed for the determination of "collagen" yield.

Samples for carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotope analyses were then pulverized, sealed (0·6-5·0 mg) in a tin cup, and combusted in a Carlo Erba"" CNH analyser. Carbon dioxide (C02) and nitrogen (N2)

gases were separated at 50"C on a chromatographic column and monitored with a thermal conductivity detector. Reference samples of sugar and urea were determined after every 10 samples. Peaks of C02 and N2 were integrated and molar C:N ratios were calculated.

Carbon dioxide for isotopic analysis was passed from the Carlo Erba@> unit to a triple trapping system of a SIRA I o"" isotope ratio mass spectrometer. C02 was cryogenically purified and analysed with a working reference gas, standardized against Peedee Belemnite (PDB). The laboratory standards for the Carlo Erba"" unit served as isotopic standards as well. The 8!3C value is calculated as:

o13C %o = 13C/12C sample- !3C/12C PDB standard -~=-;c;--~-~__:__:::_=.~== X 1000

!3C/12C PDB standard

Laboratory precision for carbon is <0·1 %o. NBS stan­dards 21 and 22 were used routinely to verify the values of our working reference and laboratory standards.

Nitrogen isotopes were measured in the same manner except that carbon dioxide and water were removed with an ascarite column preceding the trap. Nitrogen was absorbed on silica gel at liquid nitrogen temperature as the helium carrier gas transported it through the trapping system. Nitrogen was released by raising the temperature of the silica gel to I OO"C. Urea standards were determined every I 0 samples. Precision is better than 0· 5%o when care is taken to insure fresh oxidant and reductant.

For sulphur isotope determinations, the samples were combusted in a Parr@> Instrument Bomb with oxygen at 20 atmospheres pressure. All forms of sul­phur were converted to sulphate. Washings from the combustion chamber were filtered and so.z- precipi­tated as BaS04 by the addition of BaCI2 solution. The precipitate was dried and converted to S02 (Ueda & Krouse, 1986).

The sulphur isotope compositions were determined by stable isotope mass spectrometers constructed nsing key components from Micromass"" 903 and 602 instruments, respectively.

Radioimmunoassay (RIA) using an antibody di­rected against cocaine and one of its metabolic

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518 A. C. Aufderheide et a/.

products-benzoylecgonine (BZE}-was carried out on hair samples of 10 individuals, employing a method outlined in detail elsewhere (Cartmell, Aufdeheide & Weems, 1991; Cartmell et al., 1991).

Results and Discussion The cultural materials and the cultural identity of the mummies

The PSG-7 site contained 18 burials, some of them marked with wooden posts and baskets. Adult (five female, six male) bodies were lying on their right side in flexed or semiflexed positions. One adult lay prone (face down) and flexed. Five subadults were extended and supine. The average burial depth was 50 em. They were wrapped in totora reed mats and in some cases wore ornamental wool bundles ("turbans") on their heads. In most adults polychrome-decorated camelid wool textiles as mantas and shirts accompanied the bodies. Design and colours were characteristic of early Alto Ramirez development, consisting of geometric figures, alternate listings, checkerboard design and rectangles, usually done in a combination of red, blue and yellow colours. Similar features have been found associated with Alto Ramirez burials similarly dated at other valley sites such as Azapa 70 and 71, and Camarones 15. Textiles also included a few specimens made entirely of cotton fibre, with no designs or very simple geometric decoration done in contrasting light and dark natural colours. Other cultural remains asso­ciated with these burials were necklaces, usually of shell beads, but also copper beads, and seeds, probably cotton. Beads were also used as ornaments for the ankles, as was copper, and turquoise as pendants. Spear throwers, particularly of types C and G (Rivera & Zlatar, 1982: 28-29), were also characteristic. Coil­type basketry was extensively represented, and decora­tion of these included geometric designs very similar to those already mentioned by Uhle (1919). Gourds were commonly present and probably used as receptacles and food, while cotton appeared as seeds, bolls or yarn. Fishing equipment included thorn fishhooks, harpoons with lithic lanceolate points, knotted bags (chinguillos), fragments of nets, mussel shells probably used as containers, lithic sinkers, sea-lion bone handles for shellfishing ( chopes ), and cotton fishline.

The most outstanding leather products were sandals (on body PSG 742) and bladder bags or pouches. Only one example of pottery was found: an intact, domestic pot present in association with burial PSG 731. This is similar to Bird's domestic plainware from the Black Refuse at Pichalo (Bird, 1943: 265), and to Uhle's pot from site C from Pisagua (Uhle, 1919). These are slipless cooking pots heavily fire-blackened on the outside, with rather narrow mouths, a rounded base and of a careless manufacture.

The flexed body poSitiOn, wool turbans, polychrome-decorated wool textiles with unique geo-

metric patterns, necklaces, spear throwers, the special designs on the basketry and the type of ceramic pot found with these bodies are all characteristic of the Alto Ramirez culture elsewhere, and these are features foreign to members of the northern Chile coastal Chinchorro (7500-1500 nc) and Quiani (1500-500 nc) groups (except for partial flexion of many Quiani bodies). Evidence for a clearly defined period of tran­sitional development of the highland features among the Chinchorros is lacking, and at one site (PSJ-1, Junin; Figure 2) burials of the contact period of both Late Chinchorro III and early Alto Ramirez I have been found (Bird, 1943). While the site has not been radiocarbon dated directly, the archaeological material obtained by Bird is within the same range as that from Camarones 15-B (Rivera, 1991a) which has been dated at about I 000 nc. Several other artefacts are related to the Alto Ramirez subsistence activities. For instance, fishing gear (harpoons, thorn fishhooks, nets, bags) complements some agricultural activities exemplified by the remains of corn cobs, Capsicum sp. (red pepper), gourds and other products. The most likely interpret­ation of these findings is that these bodies were mem­bers of the Alto Ramirez cultural groups who had learned to employ the hardware that the local maritime Chinchorro people had developed and used for millennia to harvest marine resources.

Anatomical findings

The principal anatomical findings are presented in tabular form in Table I. Noteworthy internal findings include the presence of small exostoses in the external auditory canal, at or near the meatus, identified in two adults (one was a female), autopsy nos. I and 11 (Figure 3). This lesion is rarely seen in members of groups not found on or near marine coasts and is attributed to prolonged and frequent immersion in cold water such as occurs in divers (Gregg & Bass, 1970; Graham, 1979; Kennedy, 1986). These exostoses suggest that at least some of these Alto Ramirez members subspecialized in harvesting marine re­sources. Several similar lesions were found among a group of Alto Ramirez mununies from a low valley site near the coast of Arica, Chile (Standen, Allison & Arriaza, 1985).

Of considerable significance is the dental health of this Alto Ramirez sample. Kelley, Levesque & Weidl (1991) reported on the dental health of several Chile cultures occupying low valley sites in the Azapa Valley and coastal regions adjacent to Arica (c. 200 km north of Pisagua). The samples from the agricultural and pastoral Alto Ramirez group living in the Azapa Valley exhibit caries in 11· 5% of all 599 teeth present while the Pisagua sample reveals caries in only 0· 7% of the 147 teeth present (of which 116 were permanent teeth). Similarly, no ante-mortem tooth loss was noted in the Pisagua sample while the Azapa Valley agriculturalists display an average of 2·2 teeth lost per

Adaptation of Ancient Highland Immigrants to Coastal Conditions 519

Table 1. Principal physical findings in Pisagua mummies

Autopsy Accession Age Staturet Craniumt number number (years) Sex* (em) deformed

1 763 27-30 M 168 II 2 723 40-45 M 168 II 3 726-A 6·0 I I 0 4 751 0·0 F 51 II~ 5 724 25-30 M 165 Head absent 6 721 45+ F 156 12 7 741 1·5-2·0 F 100 11 8 725C 0-()·5 I 75 0 9 725--A, C-1 40-45 M I 0

10 725-A, C-2 35-40 F I 11 11 732 40-45 F 153 11

*Sex: M=male, F=female, !=indeterminate. tEstimated as per Trotter (1970) using table for Mongoloids. tSee Allison et al., 1981, for shape of deformed cranium taxonomy. §2.1B=one simple, dangling braid on each side (sec Arriaza eta!., 1986).

Hair§ style Findings of interest

2.1B Exostosis right external auditory canal 0 Dental caries with abscess, left upper first molar 0 Lobar pneumonia, right with septic myocarditis 0 Newborn. Cord tied. Basket burial. Oral wood bolus

No gross pathology 2.1B Severe ostcopenia; no vertebral crush fractures

0 Nd gross pathology 0 Newborn 0 Isolated head. No other bones

2.1B Isolated head 2.1B Bilateral exostoses as in No. l. Vertebral osteophytosis

'l!Cranium not yet deformed but cloth def01mer was present which would have created Type 11 (see Allison et al., 1981).

Figure 3. Exostosis at outer orifice of external auditory canal.

individual (Kelley, Levesque & Weidl, 1991). Finally, attrition is consistently heavier at Pisagua than in the Azapa Valley. Overall, members of the Alto Ramirez culture at this coastal site exhibit a dental health pattern nearly identical to those of the earlier, archaic, maritime coastal dwellers-Chinchorros---;oharacter­ized by little caries or tooth loss but prematurely advanced attrition (Kelley, Levesque & Weidl, 1991). Thus, environmental setting (including diet), not cul­tural affiliation, appears to be the principal determi­nant of dental health in northern Chile. The findings in the Pisagua mummies are much more consistent with the marine diets of the coastal maritime Chinchorro group than the predominantly-terrestrial foods prima­rily consumed by the Pisagua Alto Ramirez's relatives at regional valley sites.

Mummy hair radioimmunoassay analysis for cocaine and its metabolite

The study of the Andean tradition of coca leaf chewing (Mortimer, 1974; Plowman, 1984, 1986; Allen, 1988) also makes a contribution to the assessment of the affiliation of the Pisagua mummies. In earlier publica­tions, Cartmell and colleagues (Cartmell, Aufderheide & Weems, 1991; Cartmell et a!., 1991) demonstrated that a radioimmunoassay (RIA) method (Baumgartner eta!., 1982) is capable of detecting in mummy hair the presence of cocaine and its metabolic product ben­zoylecgonine (BZE) that has been extracted, absorbed (Paly et a!., 1980) and incorporated into hair when chewing the raw coca leaf. Our previous applications of this procedure to several north Chile archaeological

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520 A. C. Aufderheide et a/.

population samples revealed that all hair samples from Chinchorro mummies failed to reveal any cocaine products. No evidence of the coca leaf chewing prac­tice was identified in this area prior to a late phase (AD 0-350) Alto Ramirez group (Cartmell et al., 1991). The positive reaction found in the hair specimens of the 35-40 year old female member (autopsy no. 10, burial no. 725-A, C-2) of the Pisagua mummy group extends the antiquity of this practice in coastal north­ern Chile an additional millennium to about 1000 BC

and helps establish further that these bodies are mem­bers of the highland, coca leaf chewing Alto Ramirez culture.

Chemical dietary reconstruction

Chemical analysis of trace minerals and various el­emental isotope ratios can produce data reflecting the principal dietary components of a studied group. In a previous study, application of such procedures to an Alto Ramirez population from a late phase in the lower Azapa Valley revealed that marine and terrestrial vegetal sources each contributed roughly 40% to their diet, the remainder being terrestrial meat (Aufderheide & Allison, 1992). This suggests a mixed marine and terrestrial economy in that later (c. AD 350) phase, with marine foods constituting less than half of that group's diet. At Pisagua, however, the beach burial site, to­gether with predominantly marine-related assemblages of harpoons, cactus fish hooks, fishnets and shellfish openers, as well as the presence of auditory canal exostoses, suggest a greater commitment to a maritime economy during the early phase of this period.

Light isotopes, especially those of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur, can often be used to identify and quan­titate food resources that have been assimilated into human tissues (Schoeninger, 1989). We documented a

Table 2. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values for samples of grave goods ji·om Pisagua

Organism Ql3C%o 015N%o

Eel jay -14·4 16·1 Sea-lion bone* - 13·1 22·1 Fish vertebraet -12·6 Fish vertebraet -11·3 20·3 Fish vertebraet -12·9 20·3 Seaweedt - 12·5 (27·9)§ Maize cob -12·6 (28·4) Maize cob -10·0 (24·8) Maize cob -11·4 (34·8) Distiehlist · -11·7 {32·3) Seedt -14·6 Seedt - 22·3 Plant stemt -10·3 (31·8)

Collagen samples for all animals had C:N ratios between 3·05 and 3·15 and% carbon values between 40-43%. *,tValues for items labelled with same symbols are not statistically different from each other. §Values in parentheses presumably reflect serious diagenesis in these plant materials.

few grave goods items as well as modern plant and animal resources at Pisagua (Table 2), but we have completed exhaustive analyses of such modern specimens from the Azapa Valley at nearby Arica, Chile (Tieszen & Chapman, 1992). The very positive values for nitrogen we found in the Pisagua grave goods likely reflect diagenetic change as suggested by DeNiro & Hastorf (1985) and by Bada, Schoeninger & Schinnnehnann (1989). They are much higher than modern analogues. Presumably the protection pro­vided by apatite normally minimizes similar diagenetic changes in collagen. There are relatively few terrestrial plant species at this altitude. The Crassulacean path­way (CAM) and four-carbon-sugar (C4) plants that are

Table 3. Laboratory analytical results of Pisagua mummy specimens

Autopsy Accession 14C Years± s.n. 013Ct olsN

034s

number number BP (1950)' Hair Muscle Hair Muscle Hair BZEt

1 763 -13·5 -17-6 26·2 29·2 16·7 N 2 723 2695 ± 85 -14·5 -16·1 27-0 28-4 17·0 N 3 726A 2955 ± 155 -14·9 -16·9 25·0 28·4 17·3 N 4 751 -15·6 -15-6 21·9 23·7 15·6 N 5 724 - 18·8 -32-4 6 721 -13-6 -13-8 26·0 33·1 18·5 N 7 741 -19·2 27-6 N 8 725C 9 725-A, C-1 -12·4 25·3 16·4 N

10 725-A, C-2 -15·3 -15·3 24·8 26·9 17·6 p 11 732 -12·6 -14·6 24·3 26·2 17·6 N

Mean -13·9 -16·3 25·0 28·8 17·3 S.E.M. 1·2 1·8 1·5 3·0 1·0

"<I3C corrected. s.p.=standard deviation. Analysis by Geochron Labs, 24 Blackstone Street, MA 02139. Autopsy No.2 specimen=skin (Lab Sample GX16098) and Autopsy No.3 spccimen=muscle (Lab Sample GX16097). tisotopes: C=carbon, N=nitrogen, S=sulphur. tBZE=benzoylecgonine. N=Negative, P=Positive reaction.

Adaptation of Ancient Highland lminigrants to Coastal Conditions 521

Table 4. Absolute chronology in Pisagua area

Cultural Site affiliation Period

C/R (') Tiwanaku Middle PSG-7 Alto Ramirez I Early Int. CIR (') Chinchorro III Trans. II PSG-7 Alto Ramirez I Early Int. PCH-2 Chinchorro (?) Trans. II PCH-2 Chinchorro (?) Trans. II C/R (') Chinchorro III Trans. II C/R (') Chinchorro III Trans. II CIR (') Chinchorro III Initial CIR (*) Chinchorro II Initial

C/R (*) Chinchorro II Initial PVJ-1 Chinchorro II Initial PVJ-1 Chinchorro II Initial C/R (') Chinchorro II Initial C/R (*) Chinchorro II Initial C/R (') Chinchorro I Trans. I

(*) Date obtained by cross reference.

present have 813C values near - 100/oo while C3 plants from the highlands reveal values approaching - 26%o. Llama bone collagen 813C values reflect this, averaging - 23%o, while various marine plants and animals range from - 14%, to - 16%o. Plant 815N values generally range up to about + 5%o and llama bone collagen was consistent with that range (about 6%o), but marine animals demonstrated a 15N-enriched pattern ( + 17·0-l9%o). Terrestrial animal 834S values were low.

Collagen extracts from human bones at Pisagua yielded pseudomorphs of poor quality, indicating ex­tensive chemical deterioration of the bone's organic matrix. This was reflected in total carbon/nitrogen ratios exceeding 3·7 in the only two pseudomorphs sufficiently intact for the study, and these revealed widely disparate 813C (- l8%o and - l2·7%o) and 815N ( + l9·l%o and + l3·8%o) values. Clearly the bone or­ganic matrix of these specimens had deteriorated to the point of invalidating their analytical utility.

Alternatively, hair and muscle samples were then also analysed for 813C (Table 3); hair values ranged from - l2·3%o to - l5·6%o while those from muscle were - l3·8%o to - l9·2%o. The muscle 813C values averaged 2·3%o more negative than the hair samples. In our experimental studies (Tieszen & Fagre, 1993), muscle carbon isotope values were usually very similar to those of hair. In addition, the difference between intact muscle and muscle with lipid extracted was 2·3%o, much greater than the approximately 0·5%o usually found in modern specimens. These results suggest that hair samples reflect ante-mortem 813C values in the Pisagua human remains more faithfully than do the bone collagen or muscle. Those hair values (- 12·3 to - 15·6%o) could be generated either by a diet very high in marine foods or in C4 (maize) cultigens. To differentiate these two possibilities we determined 815N and 834S content of the specimens.

Absolute Date Site

Sample BP (cross ref)

GaK-5817 1220 ± 80 AZ-6 GX-16098 2695 ± 85 GX-18257 2915 ± 70 CAM-15/D GX-16097 2955 ±!55 GaK-9537 2970± 130 Level B RL-1478 ' 2999 ± 250 Level B GaK-5813 3060± 100 CAM-15/B RL-2055 3060 ± 380 CAM-S RL-2054 3060 ± 200 CAM-15/D GX-18258 4010 ± 75 CAM-15/D

GX-18256 4240 ± 145 CAM-15/D IVIC-170 4880 ± 320 IVIC-170 5220 ± 245 l-1349 5630 ± 145 QUI-I GaK-8645 5640 ± 160 CAM-2 l-13653 7810 ± 180 MO-l

The 815N values from hair specimens range from 21·9 to 27·0%o, averaging 25·0%o. These very positive values are supported by 834S values from + 15·6 to 19·0%o. These results clearly indicate that the above­noted 13C-enriched values were not the result of sub­stantial ingestion of a C4 cultigen such as maize, but instead reflect a diet heavily dominated by foods of marine origin. At Pisagua these would include fish, shellfish, sea lions, seaweed, marine-feeding birds and similar items.

Muscle tissue again reveals a much wider range of 815N values, most of which are significantly more enriched with several extraordinary values as high as + 33·1. Furthermore, Table 2 demonstrates that the 815N content of ancient plants removed from the Pisagua tombs is spectacularly elevated, presumably as a result of diagenesis (DeNiro & Hastorf, !985).

In summary it can be concluded that hair is the most reliable matrix for study of the Pisagua mummies' diet. These values clearly indicate that their diet was corn­posed of foods derived largely from the sea, with only minor contributions for terrestrial meat and plant sources.

Chronology

Preliminary analyses done by Rivera (1984, 1987, 199la,b,c) suggest that several population entities were involved in the settlement of this area at different time periods. If we list in chronological order the cultural development of the Pisagua area in pre-Hispanic times, Table 4 can be constructed. This table relates both time period and cultural development in relation to radio­carbon dates from material obtained from Pisagua and also by reference to other similar situations.

Burials from PSG-7 represent the beginnings of Alto Ramirez in the area. Radiocarbon dates from PSG-7

522 A. C. Aufderheide et a/.

PERIODS l STAGES PHASE J DEVELOPMENT SITE C-14 DATE

--- -- --LATE INK A

DESARROLLO [ REGIONAL

Gentilar--:::::: ~~~:: .... -- ... --LATE INTERMEDIATE San Miguel..:.-:::-=._ __ -.:.-----:.. ..,. . ._,P_,Ico:c•·,_• --11000

--~ ____ r ----[

Chiribaya::: : ... _ _ _ _ _ ........ - - -HAZ-~83==~ 76o _ .... _ - ,""rAZ-6 100

Cabuza :::--- .r --;.;··":. ... _ AZ-83 sso {Mollo) ------ ,.

MIDDLE TIWANAKU

,. "'. 7 -- ... - ... - "-"AZ"'-6"---j 300

""' ..-1 , -- ... -III San Lorenzo~---~~:; ... .-" Guatacondo 1 60

A.D. B.C.

EARLY INTERMEDIATE

ALTO RAMIREZ

/­

II Alto Ramirez ' : _

-- ~~~~~ Casar ones 350 -- --- ----- A. Ramirez 450 PLM-7 530 --- ":.. Pimita

I Faldas El Morro - ... .... ... .... -j Azapa ' -:_ .,___ - ' ~lf>.~O

590 AZ-71 730

Guatacondo aao Chinchorro ill (' '' -~ TRANSITION ll

Hakenasa 900 Pi halo 1020

CHINCHORRO

' -' --', ' ' --' -'

CA-15- 1110

Pichalo 1290

Morro-1 1512

INITIAL Chinchorro II • Figure 4. Dynamics of early settlements in northern Chile (Rivera, 1991a).

(Table 3) corroborate the chronological pos1t10n of Alto Ramirez I by 1000 BC. Alto Ramirez people are believed to represent the first settlers of altiplanic origins located in the western valleys at these latitudes, and who brought technological advancements. Thus, by 1000 BC, Chinchorro/Quiani and Alto Ramirez populations coexisted at sites such as Camarones and Pisagua. In Figure 4, this situation is presented graphi­cally as it probably took place, according to the archaeological information we now have.

Synthesis The information generated by the biological studies becomes particularly useful if their results are inte­grated into the anthropological and archaeological database. For example, if our understanding of the Alto Ramirez group's origins (the highland Lake Titicaca area) is accurate, then chemical dietary recon­struction studies are portraying them as a highly adaptive people. The diet of the PSG-7 site population suggests that at least some subgroups of the earliest of these highland agropastoralists settled on the coast (where they almost certainly initially, at least, were in close contact with the aboriginal Chinchorro, or their immediate successors, Quiani people) and adopted

their marine subsistence strategy so completely that their diets became indistinguishable--consisting almost purely of marine resources. On the other hand a later Alto Ramirez group from about AD 350 that settled in the lower Azapa Valley (200 km north of Pisagua), about 20 km from the coast, retained enough of their agropastoral subsistence practices so that marine re­sources, while included in their diet, constituted less than half of their dietary components (Aufderheide & Allison, 1992). Whether such differences are geographi­cally or temporally induced could be differentiated if an Alto Ramirez population of a phase I date could be found (and the diet chemically reconstituted) at a location inland from Pisagua. Current data favours the geographical factor. Demonstration of auditory canal exostoses in both the PSG-7 population at Pisagua and in some members of the AZ-70 group in the Azapa Valley (Standen, Allison & Arriaza, 1985) documents a substantial degree of immersion exposure, consistent with the chemical dietary findings (Bonavia, 1988).

The identification of cocaine metabolite in the hair of a phase I Alto Ramirez member also strengthens the evidence that these people are not the direct successors to the Chinchorro cultural groups, but rather are highland immigrants. The coca plant is native to the eastern Andean slopes and the coca leaf chewing

Adaptation of Ancient Highland Immigrants to Coastal Conditions 523

practice must have traversed the highlands to reach the Pacific coast. Our uniform failure to find cocaine metabolite in hair samples from 26 members of the Chinchorro and Quiani populations (Cartmell et al., 1991) indicates that coca leaf chewing had not been introduced to northern Chile coastal populations prior to the arrival of the Alto Ramirez people, but became identifiable with the appearance of the earliest mem­bers of the phase I Alto Ramirez culture at Pisagua about 1000 BC. The concept that early phase Alto Ramirez members should be the ones to introduce this practice to the northern Chile valley and coastal area is also consistent with the circum-Titicaca archaeological evidence of altiplanic drug use, though most of that appears to be related to the more frankly hallucino­genic agents (Torres, 1987).

Conclrisions

In summary, our Pisagua mummy group dates to the early phase of the Alto Ramirez tradition-about 1000 BC. The archaeological evidence from Pisagua (beach site location and associated artefacts), sup­ported by bioanthropological findings (auditory canal osteomas, dental features and chemically reconstructed diet of predominantly marine components), demon­strate that this small group probably functioned as marine "specialists".

If we accept the origin of the Alto Ramirez tradition as altiplanic (as suggested by ceramic, textile and pastoralist features, re-enforced by finding chemical evidence of coca leaf use in one of our studied mum­mies), then the major maritime adaptation of this early phase Pisagua group was probably enhanced by con­tact with the descendants of the earlier Chinchorro tradition, whose essentially exclusively maritime economy dominated the northern Chile coast from 7500 BC to about 1500 BC.

Acknowledgements

These studies were supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Grant no. DIR #9000780, USE 8851442, DIR 23048), BSR 8819532 Augustana College, the Minnesota Medical Founda­tion and the Paleobiology Laboratory at the University of Minnesota, Duluth School of Medicine. Excava­tions were performed under petmit 355 (1987) from Consejo Monumentos Nacionales, Chile. The authors are very indebted to both administration and faculty of the University of Arturo Prat in Iquique, Chile for logistical support and access to the skeletal collections curated there. Logistical assistance provided in Pisagua by Hugo Salomon Salinas was invaluable, as was the field assistance provided by the following undergradu­ate students: Karen Boom, Timothy Green, Gretchen Hoban, Robert Sloman-Robertson, Lisa Smeenk and Angela Tine.

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