Gourd and Squash Artifacts Yield Starch Grains of Feasting Foods From Preceramic Peru
Gourd and Squash Artifacts Yield Starch Grains of Feasting Foods From Preceramic Peru
Gourd and Squash Artifacts Yield Starch Grains of Feasting Foods From Preceramic Peru
In a study of residues from gourd and squash artifacts, we recovered starch grains from manioc (Manihot esculenta), potato (Solanum sp.), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.), arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea), and algarrobo (Prosopis sp.) from feasting contexts at the
Buena Vista site, a central Peruvian preceramic site dating to 2200
calendar years B.C. This study has implications for the study of
plant food use wherever gourds or squashes are preserved, documents the earliest evidence for the consumption of algarrobo and
arrowroot in Peru, and provides insights into foods consumed at
feasts.
www.pnas.orgcgidoi10.1073pnas.0903322106
Fig. 2. The sunken pit and platform in the Fox Temple. (A) Photograph of
sunken pit facing east. (B) Stratigraphic profile of the pit contents from which
artifacts were studied.
Fig. 1. Location of Buena Vista on the central coast of Peru. (Inset) Location
of Buena Vista in the Chillon Valley.
produced only three transient starch grains, all from Level 200,
above the levels containing the starch-bearing gourd and squash
fragments (Table 1). Starch identifications were aided by a
collection of 250 comparative neotropical starch specimens
and regional starch reports and keys (13, 2123). Given the
potential for variation within a taxon, multiple criteria must be
used to identify an individual grain (24). Our identifications are
conservative. We securely identified five taxa: M. esculenta
(manioc), Solanum (potato), Maranta arundinacea (arrowroot),
Prosopis (algarrobo), and Capsicum (chili pepper).
Manioc starch occurs on three artifacts. One grain (Fig. 3B)
is a relatively large (28 m in diameter) sphere with two basal
facets and a large stellate-shaped fissure. Grain size is in the
upper range of domesticated manioc starch and likely too large
to be wild (25). Other hemisphere-shaped grains with two basal
facets are consistent with manioc but not diagnostic on their
own. Facet morphology is distinct from similar grains in Cucurbitaceae and I. batatas (sweet potato); thus, they were identified
as M. esculenta. Another grain identified as M. esculenta is
spherical with a depressed linear fissure and a regular extinction
Artifact nos.
Context
02, 05, 07
01, 03, 04, 08
24601980 calibrated
09, 10
24702020 calibrated
Duncan et al.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Table 2. Starch grain data from squash and gourd artifacts per sediment sample
Artifact no.
Sediment no.
Lagenaria siceraria
Cucurbita sp.
Capsicum sp.
Manihot esculenta
cf. Manihot esculenta
Solanum sp.
Maranta arundinacea
Prosopis sp.
Unidentified
Unidentified root/tuber
Total starch
2*
2
5
2
6
2
8
2
10
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
8
1
1
3
1
1
4
1
3
Sediment 1 was removed from the artifact by sonicating water bath. Sediment 2 was removed by brushing the artifacts interior surface.
*Cucurbita sp. artifact. All others identified as Lagenaria siceraria.
cross. This grain lacks basal facets; however, the type appears
with diagnostic grains and faceted hemispheres in comparative
manioc samples.
Manioc macroremains are widespread in coastal preceramic
contexts; however, manioc is believed to have been domesticated
in the southern Amazon (2627). In Perrys study (22), starch
grains from initial period and late precontact manioc specimens
from coastal Peru lacked the distinguishing stellate fissure (13)
characteristic of lowland Amazonian manioc starch. However,
the large stellate fissure consistent with the lowland morphotype
is present in the Buena Vista assemblage. This grain possibly
represents an earlier imported Amazonian manioc variety that
was subject to selection over time, eventually resulting in the
morphotypes seen in later coastal assemblages. Alternatively,
this starch grain represents an early lowland variety that ceased
to be cultivated or is not related to later coastal forms. Additional manioc starch from early coastal contexts would help to
clarify these issues.
A starch grain from Solanum (potato) tuber was identified
(Fig. 3C). Potato has great significance to modern and ancient
Andean populations. Potato macroremains and microfossils are
reported from a number of contemporaneous sites throughout
Peru (2830). Several potato species and many varieties are and
have been cultivated, and many wild forms exist (31). At this
time, we cannot identify this starch grain to a species.
Capsicum (chili pepper) is represented by a single flattened
lenticular starch grain with an indented base and a linear feature
visible in side view (Fig. 3D). The central linear feature is diagnostic
of starches in this genus (15). Capsicum is reported widely from late
preceramic sites on the coast of Peru (32) and in the highlands (15)
and present in macroremains at Buena Vista.
Two grains identified as M. arundinacea (arrowroot) occur on
two gourd fragments (Fig. 3E). Despite its widespread and long
record of use in the neotropics (26), arrowroot is underrepresented
in Peruvian contexts. The only other evidence for arrowroot in the
central Andes comes from microfossils at Waynuna in the southern
highlands in contexts dating to 20501650 B.C. (28). At several
Table 3. Summary of starch grain data from squash
and gourd artifacts
Number of samples
Sample type
Cucurbitaceae starch
Other starch
Total
Sediment 1
Sediment 2
Total
9 (27.3%)
8 (24.2%)
17 (51.2%)
11 (33.3%)
5 (15.2%)
16 (48.5%)
20
13
33
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Fig. 3. Archaeological starch granules recovered from gourd and squash artifacts from Buena Vista. (A) Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) starch hemisphere from
Artifact 3. (B) Manioc (Manihot esculenta) from Artifact 7. Note the central stellate fissure. (C) Potato (Solanum sp.) from Artifact 4. (D) Chili pepper (Capsicum
sp.) from Artifact 6. Note the central linear feature. (E) Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) from Artifact 6. (F) Algarrobo (Prosopis sp.) from Artifact 3.
Duncan et al.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Macroremain analysis is ongoing; however, the fragmentary remains of the plant material, including charred and uncharred wood,
grass, and cotton seeds and fiber, particularly the preponderance of
nonedible parts of food plants and broken gourd and squash serving
vessels found in the pit, are counterindicative of offerings but
consistent with the refuse of consumption. Common Andean
offerings of coca leaves are conspicuously absent. Therefore, the
vegetal contents of the pit likely do not represent the original
intended function or symbolism of the pit, for astronomical observation or for ritual offerings of liquid libations such as later ushnu
(39). Rather, the remains are more likely to be the refuse from
feasting associated with the ritual entombment of the temple. Ritual
entombment of monumental architecture was practiced commonly
in the preceramic and later; however, its association with feasting
as a ritual component or to organize and motivate labor, although
ancient, has been investigated only recently. For example, at the
contemporary site of Cerro Lampay (7) on the north central coast,
multiple small scale construction events were preceded by feasting
rituals hosted by informal leaders who lacked the social power to
organize large amounts of labor for more massive building events.
Despite their large size and complexity, many monumental sites
constructed in the preceramic could have been built by a small local
population organized by emergent leaders who used feasts as ritual
and political tools in materializing labor.
At Buena Vista, feasting event(s) before the entombment of the
Fox Temple likely served both political and ritual functions. Politically, leaders could have used feasting as a means to cultivate and
maintain social relationships, whereby labor would be mobilized
toward a communal goal, not unlike in later periods, where feasting
involving maize beer helped to mobilize labor to maintain canals in
the Andes (6). Ritually, feasting before the temples entombment
may have served also as a symbolic act toward canceling the original
function of the temple, and the concentration of refuse in the pit
suggests a deliberate sequestration of these remains, perhaps as a
final symbolic act of cancellation of the pit before the rooms
interment. The concentration of feasting remains in the sunken pit
may reflect the concentration of symbolic power before its burial.
The potential for understanding plant food consumption and
production in aceramic contexts is greatly enhanced through an
analysis of residues on gourd and squash artifacts. This kind of
cucurbit materials. We also thank Jason Fenton and Eliana Duncan, who
provided helpful criticisms on the manuscript.
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Duncan et al.
Supporting Information
Duncan et al. 10.1073/pnas.0903322106
SI Materials and Methods
Genus-Level Identification of Artifacts. Lagenaria siceraria rind
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Fig. S1. Three archaeological specimens of squash and gourd artifacts from Buena Vista, Peru. The interior surface of each is displayed on the bottom row.
See Table 2 for taxa of starch identified in the residues of (A) Artifact 2, identified by cross-section as Cucurbita sp., and (B, C) Artifact 4 and Artifact 6, both
identified as Lagenaria siceraria by cross-section. (Scale bar, 2 cm.)
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Fig. S2. Comparative starch grains of Lagenaria siceraria from specimens collected near Chiclayo, Peru. Description in SI Materials and Methods. Each grain
is photographed under transmitted light (Left) and cross-polarized light (Right). (Scale bar, 10 m.)
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Fig. S3. Comparative squash starch from Cucurbita ficifolia (AC), C. maxima (DF), and C. moschata (GI). See SI Materials and Methods for descriptions. Each
grain is photographed under transmitted light (Left) and cross-polarized light (Right). (Scale bar, 10 m.)
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