Tafonomía de mamíferos en la puna de Atacama: el sitio Tulan-54, Norte de Chile

Identifier:  TDX:2735

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2735

Authors:  Santander Pizarro, Boris David

Abstract:
This work, seeks to understand the way in which the deposits that filled the structures of the Tulan-54 site, in the Puna of Atacama, northern Chile, were formed. The site corresponds to an architectural compound in which a central structure stands out, whose features were completely covered towards the ca. 2000 ap., when it was abandoned. Various interpretations have been made of the role that this site played in Atacama’s prehistory during the first millennium before the Christian era, however, during the last decade, the research developed in the area have confirmed the eminently ceremonial character of the site, highlighting its attributes as a ceremonial center of relevance in an Andean social scene that assisted to the process of implementation and stabilization of large-scale goods traffic within the framework of exchange networks made possible by the emergence of the llama as a cargo animal. The site was systematically covered with debris floors among which the bone assamblages stand out. These wastes eventually filled up all of the structures and led to the abandonment of the site around ca. 2380 ap; and one of the key questions that have been raised about the site, has been the origin of the remains that filled the structures and the nature of the disposal that produced said landfills. This thesis seeks to contribute from zooarchaeology and taphonomy to the answer to this question, in order to better understand the role played by the Tulan-54 site in Andean prehistory and the characteristics of the Formative occupation in the south central Andes