Bedrock Mortars in the Semiarid North of Chile (30° S.)

Time, Space, and Social Processes Among Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers

Bibliographic Data

ID12368663
AuthorsMariela Pino (corresponding author), A Troncoso (0000-0002-2844-619X, University of Chile), Carolina Andrea Belmar Pantelis (0000-0002-1757-6976, University of Chile), Daniel Pascual (0000-0001-6096-8505, Alberto Hurtado University)
Year2018
Volume29
Issue4
Pages793-812
Publication date2018-09-26
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-6635 • E-ISSN: 2325-5080
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/laq.2018.52
OpenAlexW2894144558
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited20

Bedrock mortars recur in the record of many prehispanic communities. However, few studies discuss their relationship with social processes. In the present work, we discuss a regional study of bedrock mortars in the semiarid north of Chile, specifically the Limarí River basin (30° S). Using a combination of formal, spatial, contextual, archaeobotanical, and absolute dating analyses, we assess the chronology of bedrock mortars and how they related to social processes of hunter-gatherer populations of the region (2000 BC to AD 1000). In particular, we suggest that an increase in production of bedrock mortars among pottery-using hunter-gatherer groups (AD 1–1000) can be observed, associated with a greater intensity of plant collection and use, and a diminution in the importance of hunting. This situation led to a set of new social relationships structured on the practice of collective grinding and shared use of bedrock mortars. These results show the importance of this material record as a means of approaching aspects of prehispanic social life, and demonstrates a methodological framework within which to interrogate this materiality by combining different analytical levels of bedrock mortars’ variability

Archaeological record · Archaeology · Bedrock · Chronology · Geography · Geomorphology · Holocene · Hunter-gatherer · Mortar · Structural basin · Weathering · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology

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