Ridge Anderson, Zachary Chase, PhD, Anthropology

Introduction

The Huarochirí region of the central coast of Peru has been of utmost importance to Andean  anthropologists since the late 1930s discovery of the Huarochirí Manuscript. The manuscript is the only historical document we have that is written in an indigenous Andean language. Consequently, it has been one of the main sources for understanding indigenous Andean lifeways leading up to the Early Colonial period. The first systematic archaeological research in this area commenced in 2010 under the Proyecto Arqueológico Huarochirí-Lurin Alto (PAHLA) directed by Dr. Zachary Chase. So far, the research involved in PAHLA indicates a different story than the one constructed by ethnohistorians through their interpretations of the Huarochirí Manuscript.

The traditional understanding of the region’s history, drawn from the manuscript, holds that beginning around AD 900 the Yauyos ethnic group, specifically the Checa, invaded the valley and drove former populations to the coast. The findings of PAHLA, however, indicate a single late prehispanic occupation at Llacsatambo, the hilltop ceremonial center that the Checa claimed as their origin place, as opposed to a series of occupations leading back to AD 900 (Chase 2016/2017). Because of this new information, our traditional readings of the unique Huarochirí Manuscript do not hold. Now that our understandings of the prehispanic Andes based on the manuscript have been dismantled, we must recalibrate ourselves and put our interpretations back in order. One of the questions we hope to address is, if the ancient occupants of the areas surrounding Llacsatambo were not who they said they were, then who were they and where did they come from?

Methodology

To answer this question, we turned to stable isotope analysis. Stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains from the area has the potential to provide us with a good amount of information regarding these people’s origin and possible migration patterns. By comparing the isotopic values of their bone with the isotopic values of Huarochiri plants, animals, and water, we can suggest whether or not they and their ancestors were “local” (Tung 2011). Furthermore, we can compare the isotopic value of the person’s dental enamel and bones, to determine whether or not the individual lived in this region for the entirety of their life (Knudson and Tung 2011). We can do this because, as opposed to their bones, the individual’s dental enamel is formed in their early childhood and if they lived in a different location as this enamel formed, it would show different isotopic values than those of their bones (Hillson and Simon 2005). If the chemical signatures indicate that all Llacsatambo’s dead came from the Huarochirí area, then we may conclude that the narrators’ characterizing their ancestors as conquerors was likely part of their self-identification as warriors. Conversely, if analyses show two differently clustered chemical signatures with one matching that of the animal bones and the other approximating the signature from a  neighboring area, the original interpretation of a series of conquest and invasions must be revisited.

Results

Fortunately, collections of skeletal remains from Huarochiri that would be fitting for our research have been stored in Harvard’s Peabody museum. These samples were acquired by a Peruvian archaeologist Julio C. Tello in the 1930’s, and were labeled with the various place-names from where they were taken. Unfortunately, as we went through the process of obtaining the samples from the museum, we realized that there is confusion surrounding the correspondence of many of the place names to actual locations. To solve this issue, I used ORCA funding to travel to Perú with Dr. Chase so we could use the manuscript, military maps, and the help of local community members to verify that the samples would be appropriate for our study. After 10 days of backpacking through the Peruvian highlands and documenting sites, we were able to declare our mission a success. We are now sure which of the original samples our study requires. We have also collected bones from locally raised guinea pigs and already excavated faunal remains for isotope comparison.

Pending Research and Conclusion

We are currently awaiting the samples from the Peabody Museum. Upon their arrival, I will travel to Nashville, TN to work alongside Dr. Tiffiny Tung in her Vanderbilt University lab and have them prepared and processed for strontium, carbon, and nitrogen isotope analyses. The prepared samples will then shipped to the University of Wyoming Stable Isotope Facility for analyses (for carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen), and to the University of Georgia’s Center for Applied Isotope Studies (strontium). Based on the returned results, we will be able to further confirm the recent discoveries of PAHLA or revisit previous interpretations. Through this process I have made connections with important researchers in the field of Andean Archaeology at both Harvard and Vanderbilt and have been involved in the research of one of the most important archaeological projects in Andean studies. These invaluable relationships will continue to form as we carry out this project to the end. Once the project is completed, we will be able to confirm or strongly challenge decades of traditional understandings of Andean history.

Scholarly Sources

Chase, Zachary. 2016. Performing the Past in the Historical, Ritual, and Mythological Landscapes of Huarochirí, Peru (ca. AD 1400-1700) . Doctoral dissertation, The University of Chicago.

Chase, Zachary. 2017. Past Forward Past Making: Late Prehispanic and Early Colonial Andean Archaeology and History. In Constructions of Time and History in the Pre-Columbian Andes , edited by Andy Roddick and Edward Swenson. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

Hillson, Simon. 2005. Teeth , second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Knudson, Kelly J., and Tiffiny A. Tung. 2011. Investigating regional mobility in the southern hinterland of the Wari Empire: biogeochemistry at the site of Beringa, Peru. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 145(2): 299-310.

Tung, Tiffiny. 2011. Identifying locals, migrants, and captives in the Wari Heartland: A bioarchaeological and biogeochemical study of human remains from Conchopata, Peru. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Elsevier.