2003 CLAS Summer Research Report Andrew Roddick Anthropology "The Taraco Archaeological Project 2003"

From June 4th to August 4th, I traveled to the altiplano (highlands) of Bolivia to conduct archaeological research with Berkeley’s Taraco Archaeological Project (TAP). This project is examining the important social, political and economic changes of the Formative Period (1500 BC-200 AD) in the Lake Titicaca Basin. The Formative Period is defined by several important changes, including plant domestication, the burgeoning of iconographic styles and the development of a religious tradition termed the Yaya-Mama Religious Tradition. The project consists of a multi disciplinary team of archaeologists and sepecialists in geoarchaeology, palaeoethnobotany, and zooarchaeology excavating and analyzing the data which characterizes these changes. TAP is examining sites of the Formative Period, and investigating the origins and development of the urban site of Tiwanaku (200 AD – 1000 AD), the center of one of the earliest Andean states.

The project, directed by Dr. Christine Hastorf and Dr. Mathew Bandy, plans to dig three important Formative Period sites over three years. Excavations began this past summer with a Late Middle Formative Period (400-200 AD), and will be followed with excavations of two Late Formative Period sites. These excavations will allow for the testing of some influential models of state development in the Andes. The aims of study and analysis for the project include:

1) Identification of crops and associated wild plant taxa to record the agricultural land use changes
2) Examination of camelid pack animal use and evidence of long distance caravans.
3) Tracking the exchange of stone, drugs and plants from the Amazon.
4) Excavating ceremonial architecture and their related artifacts to track the importance of public ritual activities.

These four steps are paramount to defining the economic, social and political processes of the Formative Period, and thus will be integrated in all stages of our research. By working in a large project setting we can synthesize our results and feed different data sets into ongoing analysis, and thus generate more specific questions.

Figure 1: Myself and Dr. Christine Hastorf taking in the view of Lake Titicaca. This photo is taken from Achachi Coa Kkollu, the ceremonial sector of the site of Kala Uyuni.

The project is examining these changes on the Taraco Peninsula, a low-lying mountain range (4,000m) that extends into Lake Winyamarka, the small, southern arm of Lake Titicaca. The Taraco Peninsula is an ideal place to examine these changes for several reasons. We have evidence for dramatic demographic shifts and economic changes in Middle and Late Formative Period villages. These shifts undoubtedly contributed to the rise of the nearly urban center of Tiwanaku. In his recent Berkeley dissertation Dr. Mathew Bandy demonstrated a long history of occupation on the peninsula. His research hypothesized that the site of Kala Uyuni, located in the modern day community of Coa Kkollu, was a central site during the transition from the Middle Formative (900 BC – 200 BC) to the Late Formative Period (200 BC – 400 AD). This site, at approximately 7 hectares, was one of the larger and presumably one of the more important sites at the end of the Middle Formative Period. Kala Uyuni would be a perfect local to study the processes which lead to the development of Tiwanaku.

My role on this project this past summer was primarily to conduct excavations of the public architecture. My ongoing work with the Taraco Archaeological Project focuses upon the nature and use of public architecture, and the contribution of religious ideologies to the development of the Tiwanaku state. I am specifically interested in the role that ideology, ritual and public architecture serve in times of social and political change. This interest has developed out of several years of archaeological work and travel in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. Although I finished my first year in the Berkeley anthropology program last year, I have been working with the congenial Andean archaeological “family” for three years. My research into prehistoric Andean public space began several years ago with an analysis of public architecture at the important Middle Formative (600-200 BC) site of Chiripa. I have also conducted research on similar architecture at various sites in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia. In the summer of 2002, I participated in the excavation of the incredible Formative site of Khonko Wankane, a site which will also feed into my dissertation research.

Figure 2: The Taraco Archaeological Project (TAP) 2003. In the back: Soledad, Franz, Kirk, Doris, Nicola, Melissa, José, José Luis, Facundo. In the front: Amanda, little José Luis, Elsa, Pamela, Mary, Lee, Maria. Laying in the front: Matt, myself and Bill Not in photo: Christine Hastorf, Kate Moore and Meredith Sayer.

Before I turn to the details of the archaeology itself, perhaps I ought to add a modern-day, human element to our project. This human element consists, on the one hand, of a large group of Bolivian, American, British and Canadian archaeologists living in close quarters, in the cold altiplano for two and a half months (Figure 1). But it also consists of these same archaeologists living in a small Aymara community, a community which may have differing goals or interests of the data which is being generated. Working in an Andean community always presents a number of interesting interpretive moments. Some of the more stimulating moments of my time in Coa Kkollu were thinking about how archaeologists currently interpret the past and what the modern implications of archaeology on the local community may be.

This spot is still used for agricultural ritual. Recording it I met with a small party of men digging up and upending one of the large limestone pillars from the Middle Formative structure. Reportedly, flipping this pillar - known as 'the Colonel' - brings rain. This has been the custom in the community of Coa Kkollu as long as any of these men - some quite elderly - could remember.
(From Mathew Bandy’s 2001 UC Berkeley Dissertation)

Archaeologists are constantly in the process of conducting a type of analogy. From the material remains we recover we can either interpret them solely from our own worldview and experiences, or we attempt to interpret our data through some sort of ethnographic lens. This usually means that we use ethnographic and ethnohistoric works from our region, attempt to account for change and isolate continuities, and find patterns in our archaeological data that will fit these expectations. Truly a shaky endeavor, yet such an approach often provokes a diversity of ways to interpret prehistoric material culture. As the above quote suggests, there are certain locales that continue as sacred space through the long durée of history.

However, I often feel uncomfortable with this process for two reasons. First, ethnographers did not (and do not) conduct their work with archaeological work or material culture explicitly in mind. This has profound effects on the type of data they collect and how they present such data. And second, as archaeologists we work within Andean communities, communities that are often quite interested in the process of excavation (which they actively participate) and the results of this work. By interacting within the communities more explicitly with our data, we may find that alternative interpretations are possible by simply being more open within the communities within which we work. By no means have I discovered a solution, or even a method to address this problem. Yet this question has begun to affect my research, and will certainly play out in some way in the future of my dissertation. But on to the research!

Last summer, the project excavated three distinct areas at a site called Kala Uyuni – a Middle Formative village, in an area with a high density of artifacts linked to domestic activities; a Middle Formative area devoted to public ritual and ceremonialism; and a Late Formative area with large architecture, although we are uncertain of the purpose of this area. The excavation of the Middle Formative village revealed large middens, or garbage heaps, full of llama bone and ceramics related to cooking and consumption activity. Our faunal expert has begun to analyze the range of animal consumption in this area, elucidating the age of death and health of animals. The Late Formative area consisted of large opened area revealing a large structure, with a cobble foundation and an adobe superstructure. Outside of this structure we discovered a large hearth or cooking area. An abundance of fancy decorated pot sherds were also recovered.

I conducted excavation in the area with Middle Formative ceremonial sector of the site, at an area called Achachi Coa Kkollu, located on a hillside above the Middle Formative village. From a brief examination of the topography, it was clear that the area had been built up in areas to form a terrace, with a dug out section in the middle. We hypothesized that one of these features represented a sunken temple, an architecture form found throughout the Middle and Late Formative altiplano. We were surprised, however, to find two well-preserved Middle Formative sunken temples. The smaller temple measured approximately 14 meters across, whereas the lower, larger temple – and the focus of most of my work – measured approximately 21 meters by 18 meters.

The excavation of the lower, larger sunken temple was facilitated by the presence of the two large limestone blocks (as discussed in quoatation above by Dr. Bandy) found embedded in the surface of the platform. These limestones were transported from a nearby local quarry. Although these blocks have been moved significantly in the past they also fit with the topography of the sunken temple. We thus focused our excavations on defining the size and form of the court, working initially off of where these blocks aligned. Here we eventually excavated through two bright yellow floors, and found an abundance of ceramics from the Middle Formative Period.

Figure 3: Limestone and cobble construction of the north wall of the lower sunken temple.

 

The preservation of the walls was excellent, and the construction technique was extremely well preserved. Three of the walls were created with large limestone blocks and small cobbles between them (Figure 2). They were constructed on-top of series of floors prepared surfaces, suggesting that the floors represented an earlier use than the wall itself. The fourth western wall of the structure was constructed in a very different manner and perhaps is an earlier manifestation of the court. The wall was constructed directly upon a sterile (non-prepared surface), using a different cobble technique (Figure 3). On top of this cobble wall we encountered a coursed multi-colored coursed adobe wall. Finding a 2000-year old earth brick wall 10 centimeters below surface was definitely a highlight of my summer. We hypothesize that this wall either represents an earlier occupation of the court, or a different building technique for aesthetic reasons. As this wall faces the village, the multi colored adobes may have been visible from below. Outside of the structure we found various pits dug into the surface, filled with ash and large amounts of fish bones. Clearly fish was essential to whatever activity that was occurring within the structure; much more so than llama or other large animals, which are more common in other areas of the site.

Figure 4: Andrés working on the west wall as our screen workers look on.

This is a very short summary of a long productive archaeological season and the beginning of another two years of excavation in the Taraco Peninsula. Our large data is in the process of being analyzed by the various members of the team; results which will direct our future work. I will return to the Bolivian altiplano next year, to dig a Late Formative Period site which will likely also feed into my dissertation data set. Working within the environment of a large team allows my research to expand into area much larger than if I were attempting to address the relationship of public space to changes in the Formative. The CLAS travel grant has greatly aided me in my first season with the Taraco Archaeological Project, a season which served as groundwork for my ongoing dissertation research.