Browsing by Author "Pestle, William J."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    An isotopic study of dietary diversity in formative period Ancachi/Quillagua, Atacama Desert, northern Chile
    (2019) Pinder, Danielle M.; Gallardo Ibáñez, Héctor Francisco; Cabello Baettig, Gloria Andrea; Torres Rouff, Christina; Pestle, William J.
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    Mobility and Exchange among Marine Hunter-Gatherer and Agropastoralist Communities in the Formative Period Atacama Desert
    (2015) Pestle, William J.; Torres Rouff, Christina; Gallardo Ibañez, Héctor Francisco; Ballester,Benjamín; Clarot, Alejandro
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    Modeling Breastfeeding and Weaning Practices (BWP) on the Coast of Northern Chile's Atacama Desert During the Formative Period
    (ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2017) Smith, Erin K.; Pestle, William J.; Clarot, Alejandro; Gallardo, Francisco
    Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen is frequently employed as a means of studying the breastfeeding and weaning practices (BWP) of archaeological populations. Such studies are strengthened greatly through the application of statistical models that permit precise and model-bound estimates of weaning age, duration, trophic enrichment, and the isotopic characterization of supplementary foods. Here we present the result of a stable isotope (N-15) and Bayesian computational modeling study of bone collagen from human subadults from two coastal cemetery sites located near the mouth of the River Loa in the Atacama Desert. Recent bioarchaeological and paleodemographic research on remains from these marine hunter-gatherer sites, which are contemporary with the Formative Period (1500 BC-AD 400), has found evidence for notably elevated rates of female fertility. Ultimately, we argue that the modeled BWP parameters, which indicate the early introduction of supplementary foods, support an argument of high fertility as gleaned from the bioarchaeological evidence, and that these results provide novel insights into the child-rearing practices of the coastal populations of the Atacama. Indeed, these populations would have seemed to have developed a set of BWP that carefully balanced the biological and economic production/reproduction of the community.
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    On the pathways. Inter-nodal archaeology in the Atacama desert Pampa (c. 7000 BP-400 BP)
    (2023) Pimentel, G. Gonzalo; Ugarte, F. Mariana; Blanco, Jose F.; Montero-Poblete, Claudia; Gili, Juan; Arevalo, Javier; Gallardo, Francisco; Torres, Christina M.; Pestle, William J.
    We present a synthesis of our investigation into pre-Hispanic pathways of the Atacama Desert Pampa-one of the driest and harshest environments on our planet-where we have identified a variety of mobility strategies and dynamics deployed by the different communities that inhabited both the Pacific coast and the inland oases of this region. Specifically, we focus on the inter-nodal archaeological and biogeochemical data that provides direct evidence of the presence of individuals from myriad regions traversing this area from the Middle Archaic to Late periods (c. 7000 BP-400 BP). Moreover, we analyze how, beginning in the Formative Period, this multiplicity of peoples employed different mobility systems, circulation, relationships, and social exchanges to integrate this apparent "empty space". In doing so, we discuss and reformulate the classic highland caravanning model of the Andes, which considered highland caravanning groups as the only agents promoting long-distance mobility and exchange.