Strontium-scapes, cultural change, and human life histories in the southern Andes

TESSONE, A,; LLANO, C.; DURÁN, V. ; FRIGOLÉ, C.; AMALIA NUEVO DELAUNAY; TRONCOSO. A. ; BARBERENA, R; A.GASCO; LUCERO, G.; CORTEGOSO V.; MARSH, E.; SANHUESA, L.; WINOCUR, D; LE ROUX, PETRUS; NOVELLINO, P. ; CORNEJO, L.; FALABELLA, F.; MENDEZ, C. ; SANTANA SAGREDO, F.

Dublin

Congreso; 20th Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA); 2019

INQUA

The main goal of this paper is to reconstruct the spatial scales and patterns of organization of human mobility across a diverse array of ecological and altitudinal settings across the southern Andes (32º-34º S) during the last 2500 years. This project is designed to sample different biogeographic regions from the Pacific coast in Chile to the eastern Andean lowlands in Argentina. By analyzing strontium isotopes in human bone and teeth samples from archaeological contexts, we reconstruct place of origin and death, providing an analyticalwindow for the study of individual life histories, combining the realms of quotidian ranges of human movement and social processes, such as conflict and migration, which disrupt this pattern of daily life. We focus on the analysis of human remains from the last 2500 years, witnessing the most intense processes of socio-demographic and economic change, including an apparent reduction in the intensity of mobility, first presence of archaeological cemeteries, the origins of agro-pastoral economies, and the geographic expansion of the Inka Empire.