The recent discovery of vestiges of early Montevideo's colonial-era defense system has provided an opportunity to enhance and integrate a past that was buried under the Old City into the current urban landscape, Uruguayan archaeologist Veronica De Leon said in an interview with EFE.

A worker digging out the remains of a fortification, from an early colonial-era defense system, in Montevideo, Uruguay [Credit: EPA-EFE/Municipality of Montevideo]

De Leon, who has studied the impact of public works in the Old City, found the remains of fortifications that have not yet been assessed by the National Heritage Commission.

The most recent find involved the San Carlos Battery, an artillery emplacement near the port of Montevideo, but De Leon said other historical vestiges of colonial Montevideo have been found in the city's oldest district in recent years.

One includes remnants of the colonial city's fortifications found in 2017 during work on sidewalks around Plaza Zabala, named in memory of the Spanish colonial outpost's founder and first governor, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala.

"Last year, we started monitoring public works at Plaza Zabala and by late August some walls were found," the archaeologist said. "We were able to identify the remains as a portion of the colonial fort in Montevideo that was completed around December 1725."

Near the Taranco Palace, located across from Plaza Zabala, other structures found could have been part of the colonial governors residence built after 1740.

View of the remains of a fortification, from an early colonial-era defense system, in Montevideo, Uruguay [Credit: EPA-EFE/Municipality of Montevideo]

"(There) have been other finds outside what was then the walled city, like the colonial water fountain located where the annex of the Executive Tower, the current presidential office building, is now," De Leon said.

The artillery emplacements found recently, like the rest of the fortifications, underwent numerous upgrades over the decades until they were dismantled by on government orders in 1829, four years after the country became independent Uruguay.

"There are different reports and documents that refer to those (upgrades), including the bastions at the Ciudadela, the high-walled fortification built around the Old City in 1741 that comprises some segments of stone wall and others with earthen levees," the archaeologist said.

The Ciudadela became a produce market, the fortifications were demolished and the stones were later used in other buildings.

This explains why in the area where the San Carlos Battery was found there were also vestiges of a cistern along with houses built during the 19th century after the network of walled fortifications was dismantled.

Author: Alejandro Prieto | Source: EFE-EPA [March 11, 2018]

A team of Peruvian archaeologists has found a 1,300-year-old pre-Hispanic cemetery near Lima's main zoo, a researcher said Friday.

Credit: Diffusion

"We have found three human burials that belong to the pre-Inca culture of Lima with an antiquity of 1,300 years," Lucenida Carrión, head of the Directorate of Archaeology of the Parque de Las Leyendas, told AFP.

The human remains, including two skulls belonging to the Peruvian culture (100-650 AD), were shown to the press by the researchers.

Credit: Diffusion

Carrión explained that the remains were found at the end of February in the 'huaca' or pre-Hispanic sanctuary 'El Rosal' in the district of San Miguel, on the coast of Lima.

The remains, which belong to two adults and one child, were found more than a metre deep. In addition, archaeologists found an oven for ceramics, earthenware vessels and two 'piruros' or spindle whorls.

Credit: Diffusion

The archaeologist explained that one of the adults was found lying face down, while the child, who was about three years old, was lying on his right side with bent legs.

"At the moment we are also excavating a third adult burial, some of the bones of which can be seen protruding from the earth," she said.

Credit: Diffusion

La Huaca El Rosal is located in the northeast corner of Peru's main zoo, Parque de Las Leyendas.

The objects found in this park contain traces of three civilizations and are located in the archaeological complex of Maranga.


According to the archaeologist, the inhabitants of the Lima culture built the first structures in Huaca El Rosal.

In 2016, adobe walls and mud floors were discovered in the lower part of the huaca, and the walls of an oven between 400 and 500 AD.

"These findings are contemporary with the nine human burials found between 2016 and 2017," Carrión noted.

Source: El Pais [March 10, 2018]

A scientific team has discovered the geological footprint of earthquakes and tsunamis that affected the Aysen region (southern Chile) up to 9,000 years ago. This new study improves the assessment of seismic hazard in a wide area of the American continent prone to large earthquakes.

The new study is a first step forward to improve the evaluation of the seismic hazard in Andean regions [Credit: Universidad de Barcelona]

The study, published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, enabled the researchers to establish the first paleoseismological record of the Liquine-Ofqui Fault Zone (LOFZ), a large geological structure that crosses southern Chile and is partially responsible for the seismic activity of the Andean country.

The LOFZ fracture area, which stretches over more than 1,000 kilometres north-south in Chile, is a geological structure associated with volcanism and that has an impact on the relief of the Andean country. This seismically hazardous area has some active volcanoes –such as Maca, Hudson and Mentolat- and steep reliefs that can enlarge the effects of the most violent geological phenomena.

In this area, Aysen fjord is a model to study geological processes –earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.— that can be a threat to the local population. According to Galderic Lastras, "the Aysen fjord is cross-cut by the strike-slip fault system (LOFZ) that causes local earthquakes, such as the crisis in 2007. The main earthquake of this crisis —magnitude 6.2— caused dozens of landslides and a local tsunami, with some casualties and important damage to fish farms."

"Moreover, this fjord is quite close to the plate boundary between the South American and the Nazca Plates, an active subduction zone that causes large magnitude earthquakes," says Lastras, expert on submarine cartography and head of the oceanographic survey DETSUFA that worked on the cartography of the geological footprint of submarine landslides in Aysen.

Aysen fjord: earthquakes and tsunamis in a natural laboratory

When an earthquake occurs –moderate or strong-, it can destabilize the mountain slopes that surround the fjord. Rock masses can slide and fall until reaching the fjord bottom, causing local tsunamis. This forms an increased risk for the population since there is an extremely short warning time. The geological footprint of these landslides -piled up at the bottom of the fjord and separated by sediments- is then visible in the sedimentary record.

The geological footprints of the last seismic crisis ─April 21, 2007─ are still visible in the Aysén fjord [Credit: G. Lastras]

According to Maarten Van Daele, postdoctoral researcher and expert on sedimentary deposits created by earthquakes, "strong seismic shaking triggers both onshore and subaquatic landslides. These are buried in the fjord and we can image and map them using geophysical methods. In this study, we also retrieved sediment cores, which allowed us to determine ages for the landslide events using radiocarbon dating of organic material in the sediment."

Combining different geophysical techniques —reflection seismics, geochemistry of volcanic ashes, etc.— the scientific team constructed the first paleoseismic record of the Liquine-Ofqui Fault Zone. "For the first time —adds Van Daele— we have a rough idea of earthquake recurrence rates along this fault. Other similar studies are needed along the fault trace, but this is an important first step to improve the assessment of the seismic hazard in the region."

Looking for the most violent seismic episodes

Earthquakes can destabilize fjord slopes and cause landslides, but other factors such as heavy rainfall can also be involved and enhance slope instability. As a result, the experts could identify evidence of ten earthquakes in Aysen fjord –including the most recent one in 2007— but the amount of such earthquake events is probably even higher since not every earthquake will cause a significant landslide.

The study presents the first paleoseismological record of the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone (LOFZ), a geological structure that crosses southern Chile [Credit: University of Barcelona]

According to Katleen Wils, predoctoral researcher at Ghent University and first author of the study, "we know these landslides occurred due to a common trigger: an earthquake. In the Aysen region, the main source of seismic hazard comes from the LOFZ fault rather than the subduction zone. Those earthquakes had intensities similar to those occurring during the 2007 main episode, which was up to IX, corresponding to violent shaking and considerable damage."

"According to the data, six of the analysed earthquake events took place in the fjord during the last 9,000 years, while the other four occurred before that. This shows that there is an important seismic hazard in the region, mainly originating from the LOFZ, but also from the subduction zone," notes Wils, expert on geophysics and the study of earthquakes and seismic hazard.

The number of earthquakes recorded in Aysen fjord may be clear, but "it is more difficult to have a clear idea of their magnitude," warns Galderic Lastras. "One of the identified events has a similar age (about 2,000 years before present) to a tsunami deposit described in the coastal Lake Huelde, in Chiloe Island, and with a turbidite in Lake Rinihue. Identifying signs of an earthquake in different locations far away from each other is a sign of a large magnitude earthquake, which has likely originated in the subduction zone."

According to the authors, their study reveals that LOFZ is an active fault system that should be characterized in more detail in future studies in order to have more knowledge on the complete seismic system.

Paleoseismology: the unwritten history of great earthquakes

The paleoseismological record of Aysen fjord is an important part of the geological history of the region as a written record of past earthquakes in the area is non-existent. Understanding the rate at which earthquakes took place in the past is essential to infer the occurrence of future earthquakes.

Because of this uncertainty, "geological research is an essential tool to explain the unwritten history of the most violent earthquake events that affected a certain area. It is important to know as much as possible about past seismic activity of a region. This means that technology and scientific knowledge are the key to improve the assessment of seismic hazard, mitigate the effects of natural disasters and help society directly," the authors write.

Source: University of Barcelona [March 07, 2018]

The tropical rainforests of Central and South America are home to the largest diversity of plants on this planet. Nowhere else are there quite so many different plant species in one place. However, the entire region is increasingly threatened by human activity, which is why researchers are stepping up their efforts to record this astonishing biodiversity and find out how it developed. In a project undertaken by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in collaboration with Dutch research institutions, the causes of this plant diversity were investigated by studying two closely related groups of trees of the Annonaceae family.

Cremastosperma brevipes, French Guiana [Credit: Paul J. M. Maas]

The researchers identified three relevant factors: the formation of the Andes mountain range, the disappearance due to natural causes of the extensive Pebas wetlands system that once existed in the Amazon region, and the formation of a land bridge between Central and South America in the form of the Panama Isthmus.

Cremastosperma and Mosannona are two genera of the Annonaceae or custard apple family the habitat of which is neotropical rainforests, where they extend from the lowlands up to elevations of 2,000 meters. They are primarily found in the Andes region of South America, but also as far north as Central America.

Mosannona costaricensis, Costa Rica [Credit: Reinaldo Aguilar]

The team of botanists led by Dr. Michael Pirie, who joined JGU as a researcher in 2013, looked at the distributions of the various species of both genera and their phylogenetic history in order to determine the influence of the geological upheavals on the continent.

For this purpose they compiled a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree based on DNA data, using the so-called molecular clock technique which is calibrated using the ages of the available fossils. In total, they analyzed 11 species of the genus Mosannona and 24 species of the genus Cremastosperma.

Formation of the Andes, the Isthmus of Panama, and the drying-out of the Pebas wetland system all promoted diversification

The research has produced a biogeographical scenario that confirms in this context the significance of the geological history of north-western South America during the late Miocene and early Pliocene periods about 5 to 10 million years ago.

Cremastosperma yamayakatense, Peru [Credit: Michael Pirie]

"We have actually discovered that the diversification of these two plant genera took place in parallel with major geological events, namely the formation of the Andes, the drying-out of the Pebas system, and the development of a land bridge to Central America," explained Pirie. Cremastosperma species, for example, were able to spread into what is today the Amazon basin and diversify, once the wetlands had silted up due to the deposition of material from the rising Andes.

One way in which diversification can be stimulated is by migration into a new ecosystem while another is adaptation to new conditions. "Natural changes over longer periods provide plants with a chance to adapt," added Pirie. On the other hand, rapid changes, such as those that have occurred in the recent past, do not give plants sufficient time to evolve.

Cremastosperma leiophyllum, Bolivia [Credit: Lars W. Chatrou]

While the development of the two genera in line with geological conditions could be said to be more or less as might be expected, the biologists did find one clear difference between them. Although their distribution patterns mostly overlap, Cremastosperma species and Mosannona species to some extent dispersed along differing routes. In the case of Cremastosperma, colonization of an area in what is now Guyana began from north-western South America at a time before the last parts of the Andes developed and could form a barrier. Mosannona, on the other hand, began to spread here at a far later date from its base in the Amazon basin.

Taxonomic update to include five new species

Dr. Michael Pirie will be continuing his research work in 2018 with the aid of a grant from the Heisenberg Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG). This will also involve publication of an extensive monograph in which a total of 34 Cremastosperma species will be described, including five new species that Pirie and his colleagues have recently discovered.

The study is published on Royal Society Open Science.

Source: Universitat Mainz [Febraury 26, 2018]

The idea of binding and reshaping a baby's head may make today's parents cringe, but for families in the Andes between 1100-1450, cranial modification was all the rage.

Starting around 1300, high-ranking members of a pre-Inca population increasingly had their heads bound into a narrow, elongated shape during infancy [Credit: M. Velasco/Current Anthropology 2018]

Like Chinese foot binding, the practice may have been a marker of group identity. Its period of popularity in what is now Peru, before the expansion of the Inca empire, was marked by political upheaval, ecological stress and the emergence of new cultural practices. In a study published in Current Anthropology, Matthew Velasco, assistant professor of anthropology at Cornell University, explores how head-shaping practices may have enabled political solidarity while furthering social inequality in the region.

Velasco analyzed hundreds of human skeletal remains from multiple tombs in the Colca Valley of highland Peru and discovered that before 1300 most people did not have modified heads. He found that the number of individuals with cranial modifications increased over time, from 39.2 percent to 73.7 percent during the later portion of the Late Intermediate Period.

Above-ground tombs at the cemetery site of Yuraq Qaqa (Colca Valley, Peru) [Credit: David Rodriguez Sotomayo]

Skeletal samples of two major ethnic groups showed that the Collaguas employed methods to make their heads assume a longer, narrower shape, while the Cavanas sought to make their heads wide and squat. Eventually, the elongated head shape of the Collaguas became the predominant style of modification in the upper Colca Valley. According to Velasco, this shift toward embodying a shared identity may have strengthened ties between groups engaged in protracted conflict with outsiders, including the Incas.

"The increased homogeny of head shapes suggests that modification practices contributed to the creation of a new collective identity and may have exacerbated emerging social differences," Velasco said. "Head shape would be an obvious signifier of affiliation and could have encouraged unity among elites and increased cooperation in politics."

About 300 years before the Inca arrived, low-ranking members of the Collagua people sometimes had their heads flattened at the back during infancy (left). More often, their heads were not modified (right) [Credit: M. Velasco/Current Anthropology 2018]

Whether head modification conferred distinct privileges and higher status is unclear, but Velasco found bio-archaeological evidence that modified females possessed greater access to diverse food options and were less likely to encounter violence. Cranial modification thus appears to be a factor in societal inequality, Velasco said.

One explanation for the cranial modifications is offered by a 16th-century Spanish colonial document Velasco examined, which described groups molding skulls into the shape of the volcano from their origin myth. "If this is true, then cranial modification reflects a deeply religious worldview and was fundamental to a person's being and existence, and not simply a fashion statement," Velasco said.

Author: Linda B. Glaser | Source: Cornell University [February 21, 2018]

Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed three 19th-century mummies of Chinese immigrants. The bodies were found inside their wooden coffins by workers of Calidda, a natural gas distributor in Lima and Callao.

Archaeologist Sulema Zelaya shows a 19th century mummy of a Chinese immigrant inside a wooden coffin [Credit: Guadalupe Pardo, Reuters]

The mummies were buried less than a metre (3.2 feet) deep in the Lima district of Carabayllo. Their coffins contained traditional Chinese artifacts, such as lighters and pipes to smoke opium.

The coffins contained traditional Chinese artifacts, such as lighters and pipes to smoke opium [Credit: Guadalupe Pardo, Reuters]

Archaeologists believe the mummies belonged to immigrants from the first wave of Chinese who travelled to Peru in the mid-19th century to work in the country's booming sugar and cotton industries.


The three mummies were found on Jan. 22, 2018, as Calidda employees worked to install new natural gas pipelines.


Archaeologist Cecilia Camargo, in charge of the excavation and conservation of these bodies, believes more remains of Chinese immigrants will be found in the area.

Source: Reuters [February 06, 2018]

Imagine your hometown or city's entire population had to live on just one tenth of the land it used to—essentials like food and shelter would quickly go scarce, and it'd be just about impossible for the populace to sustain itself. This, in broad strokes, is what's happening to the flora and fauna of the Atlantic Forest, the second most biodiverse forest system in South America (after the Amazon).

Gracilinanus agilis, a marsupial species whose data is represented in this study [Credit: (c) Noe de la Sancha, The Field Museum]

Spanning the Atlantic coast of Brazil into eastern Paraguay and Argentina, the Atlantic Forest once covered roughly 463,000 square miles of habitat. Today, only 8-12 percent of this original habitat space remains. Deforestation poses a substantial threat to the region's native plant and animal species, and for mammals in particular, habitat loss is the main driver of extinction.

This, of course, is a troubling reality for scientists studying the Atlantic Forest's mammals. Worried that species are disappearing at faster rates than they can be studied, 96 of these scientists took collective action and wrote a paper published in Ecology cataloguing traits such as body mass, reproductive attributes, and tail length in mammals native to the Atlantic Forest.

To give a sense of the project's scale: the 96 co-authors of this paper compiled trait information on 39,850 individuals from 279 different mammal species and 388 separate populations.

"This is the first comprehensive dataset of this forest system's mammalian trait data," said Noe de la Sancha, co-author and research associate at the Field Museum in Chicago. "We wanted to create a resource so that scientists wouldn't have to dig through every natural history museum in the country to find these data. It's a stepping stone for future research, putting that out for everybody to use—it's a really big change in science."

Rodent specimens at The Field Museum representative of the kinds of specimens de la Sancha contributed to this study [Credit: (c) The Field Museum]

De la Sancha explained that when zoologists rely solely on their own data, they're limited in what questions they're able to ask and answer. An example: de la Sancha's research focuses specifically on rodents and marsupials in eastern Paraguay. He's done years of fieldwork, collecting thousands of specimens and authoring dozens of papers along the way. Still, if he wanted to figure out how the small mammals he studies developed their traits over thousands of years, or how they ended up in eastern Paraguay in the first place, he'd need to look for more evidence elsewhere—likely from natural history museums in the U.S. or abroad. This process can be time-consuming and costly.

"For this paper, everyone threw their data into this large, extensive collective," de la Sancha said. "We're putting puzzle pieces together. Having more data available, we can start to ask more interesting questions—questions of ecology and modeling that have more serious impact than cursory descriptors."

Fernando Goncalves, lead author and graduate student at Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) - Sao Paulo State University in Sao Paulo, Brazil, agreed with de la Sancha that this paper expands possibilities for zoological and ecological research.

"Ninety-six authors accepted the challenge to go back to their field notes and send as much information on mammal morphological traits as they could," Goncalves said. "And thanks to them, we'll be able to provide raw data for ecological and evolutionary studies for researchers all over the world."

Gracilinanus agilis, a South American oppossum whose species was represented in this study [Credit: (c) Noe de la Sancha, The Field Museum]

This paper is a critical—and urgent—step in the right direction, providing scientists with an expansive research toolkit as Atlantic Forest habitats continue to shrink. In turn, these scientists hope to draw attention to the Atlantic Forest as a region to protect, so that they can continue their studies and learn more about the impact of factors like climate change and human activity on these mammal species.

"There's still a great deal we don't know about our biodiversity—and as a consequence, we don't know what we're losing," de la Sancha emphasized. He hopes this paper, on top of serving as a resource for fellow scientists, highlights the importance of mammal species to the Atlantic Forest's ecosystem. He's particularly passionate about small mammals' role in this ecosystem.

"These are the dudes that drive the world," de la Sancha said, pointing to a shelf of rat specimen in his lab. "It's rodents. It's not primates, lions, bears. Rodents are the most important group of mammals, the base of most food chains. They disperse seeds for trees and spores for fungi. They also act as vectors for various kinds of diseases that might affect us. And the best way to target those diseases is studying the rats affected and why."

De la Sancha sees his contributions to this paper as "putting my grain of sand on the beach, so to speak." And his research, along with the other 95 grains of sand that comprise this paper, could make a real, tangible impact on how we study—and care for—the Atlantic Forest.

"Hopefully if these types of papers start getting attention, people will start to value what they have in their backyards," de la Sancha said. "This paper highlights the importance of this forest system, and that could potentially get locals pumped about conserving it."

Source: Field Museum [February 01, 2018]

The Peruvian government has ordered increased security at the country's world famous Nazca lines after a truck driver ploughed his vehicle through the ancient archaeological site.

This Peruvian Ministry of Culture picture shows damage caused by a truck that illegally entered the archaeological site where the ancient Nazca lines are located on January 27 [Credit: AFP]

In future, the 450-square-kilometre area will be protected day and night with drones, the Culture Ministry said on Tuesday.

The 2,000-year-old Nazca lines are giant drawings of around 370 plants and animals, which can only be seen from the sky. They were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

The ministry said that the truck driver ignored warning signs when he drove onto the heritage site on Saturday, leaving deep tyre marks in a 50-by-100-metre area and damaging the lines.

 The truck driver, who was arrested later that day, said he had wanted to change a tyre, according to the newspaper El Commercio.

In May last year, Austrian Greenpeace activist Wolfgang Sadik was handed a suspended jail sentence of two years and four months and a 200,000-dollar fine for marring the lines during a 2014 protest.

He was accused of laying out fabric letters to form a slogan between the lines, which was meant to draw attention to climate change, leaving tracks in the process that irreparably damaged them.

Credit: DPA [January 31, 2018]

Plants and animals are generally thought to colonize from continents to islands, over time leading to the evolution of separate island species. Scientists have theorized that the reverse – colonizing from islands to continents – seems unlikely, mainly because the few competitors on islands make thriving on the mainland difficult for island specialists. But a new study published in the Journal of Biogeography suggests a re-thinking of colonizing patterns.

Phyllops falcatus, a Cuban fruit-eating bat, is hanging in its diurnal roost in an exposed branch of a tree. Adaptations such  as a short, blunt skull that enables greater bite force, or a window of translucent skin on the wing that enables the bat to see predators approaching the roost, might have given them an edge over competitors when their ancestors reached the tropics of the Americas [Credit: Stony Brook University]

The paper, titled "Out of the Antilles: Fossil phylogenies support reverse colonization of bats to South American," reveals that ancestral Short-faced bats from the Caribbean islands colonized South America. According to co-lead author Liliana M. Dávalos, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution in the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University, reverse colonization from islands to continents had not previously demonstrated using the fossil record. She and colleagues used models of dispersal over time including both the fossil record and extant Short-faced bats. Their models revealed the bats likely originated on Caribbean islands and then colonized Mesoamerica and South America.

The big question, says Professor Dávalos, is how could these tiny frugivorous bats compete for food with the dozens of competitor species on the continental Americas?

The researchers provide two explanations: Short-faced bats evolved with a unique powerful bite and may have been able to eat what other bats could not, and they also possessed unusual semi-transparent windows on their wings which enabled them to see predators while camouflaged among leaves and trees. While demonstrating reverse colonization among bats with dozens of competitor species suggests this process is not as rare as previously thought, the features of Short-faced bats hint that groups with a special features or capabilities may fare better in the perilous competition for continental survival.

She emphasized that this rare example of reverse colonization paves the way for understanding how and which species succeed in the long run.

Source: Stony Brook University [January 31, 2018]

A long-buried group of enclosures and agricultural terraces have been discovered at an archaeological park in the southern Peruvian region of Cuzco, officials said Wednesday.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

The Decentralized Culture Directorate of Cuzco said in a statement that the find was made in the Qentepata sector of the Chinchero Archaeological Park during restoration and enhancement work that began in 2013 and is to be completed this year.

The project head, archaeologist Felix Vilca, said the farming terraces and enclosures had been buried due to the construction of homes and an archaeological museum in Chinchero, a town 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the colonial city of Cuzco.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

A total of 1,262,000 soles (around $382,000) was invested in 2017 to execute works at terraces 1, 2, 3 and 10 of the Qentepata sector, Vilca said.

The work encompassed more than 200 linear meters of Inca walls that form "part of the stair-step like terraces rising to the top, where the Chinchero site museum is located," the archaeologist added.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

Excavation work at terrace No. 1 revealed small enclosures dating to the Inca era and an aqueduct at the foot of the wall that was used for irrigating crops.

At terrace No. 2, excavators found on one side part of a multi-section enclosure and evidence of another wall pointing northward, as well as another enclosure with similar characteristics on the opposite side.

Undated photo shows workers at an archaeological site, in Chinchero, Cuzco region, Peru [Credit: EPA-EFE/Peru's Ministry of Culture]

Three large rectangular enclosures that fully cover the cultivation area were discovered at terrace No. 3.

Evidence of a stone floor was found at one of those enclosures, indicating it dates from the colonial or republican period.

Source: EPA-EFE [January 26, 2018]

It has long been recognized that the Inka incorporated diverse peoples into their empire, but how these ethnic groups developed historically during the political upheaval of the preceding Late Intermediate Period (LIP; AD 1100-1450) is only now receiving commensurate attention.

Proto Nazca deformed skull, c 200-100 BC [Credit: WikiCommons]

Before the expansion of the Inka empire, the Late Intermediate Period was marked by political upheaval and the emergence of new cultural practices. In "Ethnogenesis and Social Difference in the Andean Late Intermediate Period (AD 1100-1450): A Bioarchaeological Study of Cranial Modification in the Colca Valley, Peru," published in Current Anthropology, Matthew C. Velasco examines how the prevalence and evolution of cranial modification practices during the Late Intermediate Period influenced ethnic identity formation in Peru's Colca Valley. In the study, Velasco explores how head-shaping practices may have enabled political solidarity and furthered social inequality in the region.

The study employs ethnogenetic research to determine the historical processes responsible for the formation and embodiment of new group identities during this period.

Cranial modification is a deliberate, permanent, and highly visible identity marker that is inscribed during infancy. Head shape may have served as an indicator of ethnic affiliation, kin categorization, or geographic origin. Archaeological and ethnohistoric data offer insights into the head-shaping practices of two major ethnic groups in the Colca Valley, the Collaguas and the Cavanas. The Collaguas employed methods to make their heads assume a longer, narrower shape while the Cavanas sought to make their heads wide and squat.

To analyze how the frequency and significance of cranial modification changed over time, skeletal samples were collected from two mortuary sites in the Collagua region and submitted for radiocarbon measurement. Crania were assorted into five categories based on modification type. Utilizing newly-calibrated radiocarbon dates, the samples were divided into two groups representing the early LIP (AD 1150-1300) and the late LIP (AD 1300-1450).

Bioarchaeological and radiometric data present a significant increase in the prevalence of cranial modification practices. During the early LIP, 39.2% of individuals exhibited modification. This percentage rose to 73.7% during the later portion of the Late Intermediate Period. The study also reveals a significant change in the distribution of modification types as time progresses. Initially, there is an equal distribution of individuals among four modification types: tabular, erect, oblique, and slight. However, results indicate that by the late LIP, oblique modification -- similar to the elongated head shape of the Collaguas -- became the predominant style of cranial modification.

Increased homogeny of head shapes in the late LIP suggests that modification practices contributed to the creation of a new collective identity, and while cranial modification consolidated prior social boundaries, the author argues that the standardization of these practices may have exacerbated emerging social differences.

Acting as a signifier of affiliation, head shape may have encouraged unity among elites and fostered increased cooperation in politics. Involvement in political and social matters may have, in turn, elevated the status of modified individuals and conferred on them distinct privileges that were not available to unmodified individuals. Bioarchaological evidence also suggests that modification practices reinforced structures of inequality that prioritized modified females. Compared to unmodified females, modified females possessed greater access to diverse food options and were less likely to encounter violence.

Source: University of Chicago Press Journals [January 22, 2018]

Costa Rica said it is "more complete" after recovering nearly 200 pre-Columbian artefacts from Venezuela, where they had been amassed by a wealthy Estonian art collector.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

The handover of the 196 stone and ceramic figurines to the National Museum in Costa Rica on Wednesday marked the biggest-ever return of archaeological items to the Central American country.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

The figurines included representations of warriors and animals, as well as hand-crafted spheres and grinding stones made by indigenous people who had lived in different parts of Costa Rica for thousands of years before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1502.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

The head of the museum's heritage protection department, Marlin Calvo, told a news conference that the artifacts had been taken out of the country via "illicit trafficking."

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

They ended up in the possession of Harry Mannil, an Estonian businessman who settled for most of his life in Venezuela and who died in Costa Rica in 2010.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

Mannil's Caracas house operated as a private museum, displaying the many works of pre-Columbian and South American indigenous art he had accumulated.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

The pieces returned to Costa Rica were seized by Venezuelan authorities between 2009 and 2014. Mannil had tried to transfer some of them to the United States but was stopped by Venezuela's customs service.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

Venezuela shipped them out on December 24 and they arrived in Costa Rica on January 2 ahead of the formal delivery to the National Museum.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

"Today, Costa Rica is more complete," President Luis Guillermo Solis told the news conference.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

"Today, the country, with the return of these nearly 200 items from our heritage, is complemented, is filled up with a part of ourselves that wasn't with us," he said.

Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP

Solis added the artifacts had "suffered so many humiliations in the hands of those who had illegally grabbed this important part of our history," and called on the National Museum to display them in a special section.

Source: AFP [January 18, 2018]

Archaeologists have discovered two chambers used for political ceremonies on Peru’s desert coast more than 1,500 years ago that had previously only been glimpsed in the illustrations of the ancient Moche people, an archaeologist said on Monday.

Credit: El Comercio

The finding, at the ruins of the Limon archaeological complex in the region of Lambayeque, will provide key clues to understanding the Moche’s political life before the desert society’s sudden decline, said lead archaeologist Walter Alva.

One room features two thrones where a powerful leader and guest likely enjoyed elaborate feasts, said Alva. The other has a circular podium, possibly for making announcements.

Credit: El Comercio

The events that took place in the chambers were so important they had been featured repeatedly on Moche ceramics, Alva said.

“These scenes had been depicted in the iconography of the Moche world but we had never been lucky enough to physically find where they took place,” he said. “It’s a very important finding.”

Credit: El Comercio

The Moche, one of several complex societies that thrived in Peru long before the rise of the Incan empire, ruled over a vast swath of coastal desert from 100 to 700 AD, thanks to irrigation canals they built to grow crops in desert valleys. The Moche are known for their elaborate gold work and sculptures featuring a wide variety of sexual acts.

Many researchers believe a disastrous climate event, such as the El Nino phenomena that still triggers severe flooding in northern Peru, probably led to the collapse of Moche society.


Alva said construction on part of the recently unearthed chambers appears to have halted abruptly in the 5th century. The rooms were believed to have been used only by the elite, and paintings of fish and sea lions can be seen on the walls.

Women are believed to have held political and religious positions in Moche society. Last year, Peruvian officials and archaeologists unveiled a replica of the face of an ancient female Moche ruler, the Lady of Cao, whose elaborately tattooed body had been buried with weapons and gold objects.

Author: Marion Giraldo | Source: Reuters [January 09, 2018]