From ice age to modern: a record of landscape change in an Andean cloud forest

Aim To investigate the palaeoecological changes associated with the last ice age, subsequent deglaciation and human occupation of the central Andes. Location Lake Pacucha, Peruvian Andes (13°36′26″ S, 73°19′42″ W; 3095 m elevation). Methods Vegetation assemblages were reconstructed for the last 24 cal. kyr bp (thousand calibrated ¹⁴C years before present), based on pollen analysis of sediments from Lake Pacucha. An age model was established using ¹⁴C accelerator mass spectrometry dates on bulk sediment. Fossil pollen and sedimentological analyses followed standard methodologies. Results Puna brava replaced the Andean forest at the elevation of Lake Pacucha at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Deglaciation proceeded rapidly after 16 cal. kyr bp , and near‐modern vegetation was established by c. 14 cal. kyr bp . The deglacial was marked by the range expansion of forest taxa as grassland taxa receded in importance. The mid‐Holocene was marked by a lowered lake level but relatively unchanged vegetation. Quinoa and maize pollen were found in the latter half of the Holocene. Main conclusions Temperatures were about 7–8 °C colder than present at this site during the LGM. The pattern of vegetation change was suggestive of microrefugial expansion rather than simple upslope migration. The mid‐Holocene droughts were interrupted by rainfall events sufficiently frequent to allow vegetation to survive largely unchanged, despite lowering of the lake level. Human activity at the lake included a 5500‐year history of quinoa cultivation and 3000 years of maize cultivation.     

The Curatorial Voice: U.S. Institutions Exhibit the Ancient Andes

Two new exhibits on ancient Andean civilizations are open in the United States. Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas is a large traveling exhibition and Tiwanaku: Ancestors of the Inca is a smaller temporary exhibition that is not traveling. Both introduce North American audiences to objects and information that have never been exhibited in the United States and each includes some extraordinary artifacts. The two exhibits differ in many ways: Machu Picchu emphasizes information, archaeological science, and cultural history, whereas Tiwanaku focuses on art style and objects. The curatorial voice and point of view are strong in each exhibit, as is the institutional perspective of its originiating museum. In this respect these exhibits differ significantly from contemporary ones on ancient North America, which generally include the voices and points of view of descendant communities and others.     

The importance of guano birds to the Inca Empire and the first conservation measures implemented by humans

The Inca Empire was the largest ancient civilization in South America, extending across almost 4000 km of distinct environments from the Pacific coast to the Andes, and throughout most of the arid desert between. The present study highlights the importance of guano birds (Guanay Cormorant Leucocarbo bougainvillii, Peruvian Pelican Pelecanus thagus and Peruvian Booby Sula variegata) for the expansion and prosperity of the Inca Empire. The use of guano as a fertilizer was fundamental to sustain the agricultural development of the empire and, it has been argued, was the basis for its rapid growth. The access to guano on coastal islands and its subsequent transportation to highlands provided food security for a population of more than 8 million. The importance of guano birds to the Inca Empire led to the development of management plans based on a penal code aiming to preserve these species and their natural habitats. These protective actions may represent the first conservation measures ever implemented by humans based on the importance of species protection for human activities and livelihoods.     

Diet, residential origin, and pathology at Machu Picchu, Peru

Pathological conditions in human skeletal remains provide a wealth of information about archaeological populations, but many are limited in their interpretive significance by their nonspecific etiologies. This study analyzes three common pathological conditions known to manifest in infancy and childhood in the skeletal population from Machu Picchu, Peru (N = 74) with published carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, strontium, and lead isotopic data (Turner et al.: J Archaeol Sci 36 (2009) 317–332; Turner et al.: Chungara: Revista de Antropología Chilena 42 (2010) 515–524) to distinguish early‐life diet from residential origins as significantly associated with pathologies among the site's inhabitants. Analyses of variance indicate highly significant variation between enamel δ¹⁸O values, which serve as a rough proxy of local environment, and both cribra orbitalia (CO) and porotic hyperostosis (PH), generally understood to be markers of anemia. Results tentatively suggest that individuals manifesting these lesions may have lived closer to the arid coasts; however, no significant variation was found in parameters of diet (enamel δ¹³C_carbonate, dentin δ¹³C_collagen, dentin δ¹⁵N) by either CO or PH, suggesting that the primary factors causing anemia may have been more significantly related to residential origin rather than diet. Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) frequency significantly varied by both dietary and residential parameters, supporting models of LEH formation from a synergy of dietary and environmental factors. These results support previous research on the etiology of PH in the Andes; they also represent a useful approach to refining site‐specific interpretations of pathological conditions in archaeological populations, and exploring etiological variation between populations. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Plant motifs on Inca ceremonial vases from Peru*

Fourteen Families, 21 genera and 23 species have been described in this work, as motifs identified on the ancient wooden carved and painted vases known as keros. These date from the early colonial or transitional epoch between the pre-conquest Inca styles and those coming later with very strong Spanish influence. Although many of the well-known food, medicinal, ornamental and ritual plants are depicted, a large number of plants known to the Incas, both wild and cultivated, is absent. Certain motifs have been impossible to identify, but it is hoped that future studies may throw considerable light on the decorative and symbolic motifs in this interesting group of vases.     

Formation of shoots from leaf axils of Alstroemeria: The effect of the position on the stem

Direct shoot regeneration was induced from leaf explants of Alstroemeria. The explants contained a leaf blade and a small portion of stem node, which were cut from the erect shoots of in vitro multiplicated plantlets. The shoot regeneration capacity of the excised leaf explants was significantly related to the position of the explant on the stem. The youngest explant which was located closest to the shoot apex gave the highest response. A gradient response toward the shoot apex was observed in percentage of shoot regeneration and in the number of shoots per regenerating explant. Histological studies revealed that the shoots were initiated at the leaf axils. The origin of the adventitious buds was located at the epidermal layer of stem peripheral cells. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of ancient Peruvian highlanders

Ancient DNA recovered from 57 individuals excavated by Hiram Bingham at the rural communities of Paucarcancha, Patallacta, and Huata near the famed Inca royal estate and ritual site of Machu Picchu was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, and the results were compared with ancient and modern DNA from various Central Andean areas to test their hypothesized indigenous highland origins. The control and coding regions of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 35 individuals in this group were sequenced, and the haplogroups of each individual were determined. The frequency data for the haplogroups of these samples show clear proximity to those of modern Quechua and Aymara populations in the Peruvian and Bolivian highlands, and contrast with those of pre-Hispanic individuals of the north coast of Peru that we defined previously. Our study suggests a strong genetic affinity between sampled late pre-Hispanic individuals and modern Andean highlanders. A previous analysis of the Machu Picchu osteological collection suggests that the residents there were a mixed group of natives from various coastal and highland regions relocated by the Inca state for varied purposes. Overall, our study indicates that the sampled individuals from Paucarcancha and Patallacta were indigenous highlanders who provided supportive roles for nearby Machu Picchu.     

The variable roads to sacrifice: Isotopic investigations of human remains from Chotuna‐Huaca de los Sacrificios,Lambayeque, Peru

This study investigates two key variables—residential context and subsistence—among sacrificial victims dating to the Late Horizon (A.D. 1450–1532) in the Huaca de los Sacrificios at the Chotuna‐Chornancap Archaeological Complex in north coastal Peru. We investigate whether aspects of sacrifice in this distant coastal province mirrored that found in Inca heartland contexts such as the capacocha, or remained more typical of coastal sacrificial traditions. Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope values were characterized in bone carbonate, bone collagen, and hair keratin to estimate geographic residence during the decade before death and diet in the decade, versus months, before death. Bone δ¹⁸O_carbonate values have a mean (±SD) of 26.8 ± 1.1%, bone δ¹³C_carbonate values ?6.7 ± 1.7%, and bone δ¹³C_collagen values 11.8 ± 1.3%; bone δ¹⁵N_collagen values have a mean of 11.5 ± 1.3%. Combined hair δ¹³C_keratin values have a mean of ?12.8 ± 1.6%, and hair δ¹⁵N_keratin values 10.8 ± 1.3%. In contrast to contemporaneous coastal and highland contexts, we are unable to identify immigrants among the sacrificed individuals or changes in diet that indicate provisioning with a standardized diet leading up to death. Instead, results suggest that victims were local to the area, but consumed moderately variable diets consistent with local subsistence patterns. These findings suggest a distinct pattern of human sacrifice in the Late Horizon and underscore the regional and temporal variation in sacrificial practices in the central Andes. Am J Phys Anthropol 151:22–37, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

山西襄汾石沟砂场发现人类枕骨化石

2012年,山西襄汾县南贾镇上鲁村石沟砂场发现一件人类枕骨化石。该化石埋藏于汾河西岸第Ⅲ级阶地的砂砾层,地质时代可能是中更新世晚期。本文对枕骨形态特征进行描述,并将其与亚洲直立人、早期智人、早期现代人相关标本进行对比。观察发现,石沟古人类具有印加骨的形态特征,为中国古人类印加骨高频出现增添了新的证据;枕鳞中部没有发育枕骨圆枕,而具有最上项线,显示出枕骨形态的进步性,推测石沟古人类可能属于早期现代人。石沟古人类枕骨化石对于探讨中国及东亚地区古人类的系统演化问题提供了证据。