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Funerary art has the body as its main material component, expresses responses to death and offers insight into relationships between the living and the dead. Chinchorro hunter-gatherer-fisher societies along the Atacama Desert coast provide a key example of such connections, having developed one of the world's oldest-known systems of post-mortem body transformation (c. 7000–3250 BP). A study of 162 modified Chinchorro bodies identifies diachronic changes in these practices, including a decrease in internal stuffing—adding invisible contents that created corporeal volume—and an increase in external body treatment that created visible features. The authors propose that such manipulation was a meaningful form of social embodiment designed to construct a collective identity.

The chemical and mineralogical characterization of seven ceramic fragments produced within Tiwanaku state (c.500-1000 ce) is reported. The instrumental techniques used included X-ray elemental and mineralogical chemical analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning and light microscopy. The results indicate there are several clay types, although they show similarities, such as the use of a plant-based temper. The red colour of the decoration is hematite, and manganese oxides such as jacobsite are present in the black. The white colour is a mixture of gypsum and clay, and the orange is a mixture of hematite and clay. The use of colours, the quality of the clays and the temperatures reached during pottery firing point to expertise in ceramic production and to complex decision-making processes. The multi-elemental archaeometric approach documented here could become an important tool to shed a light on ancient ceramic technology and the internal variance of Tiwanaku pottery.

In the extreme north of Chile, the genus

Resumen: Se presentan los resultados del estudio orientado a entender el rol social del aríbalo en el norte de Chile durante el Tawantinsuyu o Período Tardío (1400-1536 Dc). En la decoración de algunos de estos objetos se observa iconografía aymara, y a su vez, las distintas especies vegetales contenidas (maíz, frijol, yuca, pallar) podrían estar relacionadas con ritos fúnebres propios del Collasuyu. En resumen, la circulación de formas con influencia Inca (i.e. el aríbalo), a través de los ritos fune rarios locales, permite entender la identidad del sujeto en el contexto fúnebre.

Algunos valles del norte de Chile presentan alto contenido de boro en sus aguas (> 25 mg/L), reservorios naturales para el consumo humano. En las poblaciones precolombinas del norte de Chile, este consumo conllevó una sobreingesta de boro, elemento nocivo para la salud que causa problemas gastrointestinales, entre otros. Las aguas de los valles de Lluta y Camarones presentan los promedios más elevados de boro (14 y 25 mg/L respectivamente) y el valle de Azapa, los más bajos (1 mg/L). Considerando estos antecedentes, mediante espectrofotometría de absorción molecular se estudiaron muestras de costillas de 211 individuos de los valles señalados, para estimar las concentraciones de boro en poblaciones precolombinas del norte de Chile. Todas las muestras estudiadas presentaron valores promedios entre aproximadamente 7 a 23 veces más que los reportados para poblaciones modernas (10,2 mg/Kg de boro). Las poblaciones que habitaron los valles de Lluta (235,52 mg/Kg) y Camarones (119,09 mg/Kg) fueron las más afectadas, seguidas por el valle de Azapa (69,97 mg/Kg). Concluimos que las antiguas poblaciones del norte de Chile fueron significativamente afectadas por la sobreingesta de boro y que la calidad de las aguas debería ser considerada en las discusiones sobre el poblamiento y trayectorias bioculturales precolombinas.

OBJECTIVES This study explores whether ancient Atacama Desert populations in northern Chile were exposed to endemic boron contamination. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), we studied 144 strands of ancient mummy hair, ranging from 3000 B.C. to 1500 A.D., excavated from the Lluta, Azapa, and Camarones valleys in northern Chile. We tested whether these ancient populations showed signs of significant boron concentration in hair tissue. RESULTS On average, all individuals from these valleys showed high boron concentrations, ranging from 1.5 to 4 times above the average boron concentration in contemporary hair (baseline

Here we evaluate Bhattacharya et al.'s (2018) recent paper "Whole-genome sequencing of Atacama skeleton shows novel mutations linked with dysplasia" published in Genome Research. In this short report, we examine the hypothesis that the so-called "Atacama skeleton" has skeletal abnormalities indicative of dysplasia, critique the validity of the interpretations of disease based on genomic analyses, and comment on the ethics of research on this partially mummified human foetus. The current paper acts as a case study of the importance of using an anthropological approach for aDNA research on human remains. A critical evaluation of the ethically controversial paper by Bhattacharya et al. highlights how an understanding of skeletal biological processes, including normal and abnormal growth and development, taphonomic processes, environmental context, and close attention to ethical issues of dealing with human remains, is vital to scientific interpretations. To this end, close collaboration with palaeopathologists and local archaeologists through appropriate peer-reviewed journals will add to the rigour of scientific interpretation and circumvent misinterpretation.

Studies of contemporary populations have demonstrated an association between decreased dietary diversity due to resource scarcity or underutilization and an increase in diseases related to poor micronutrient intake. With a reduction of dietary diversity, it is often the women and children in a population who are the first to suffer the effects of poor micronutrient status. Scurvy, a disease of prolonged vitamin C deficiency, is a micronutrient malnutrition disorder associated with resource scarcity, low dietary diversity, and/or dependence on high carbohydrate staple-foods. The aim of this paper is to assess the potential impact of nutritional transition on the prevalence of diseases of nutritional insufficiency in an archaeological sample. Here, we report palaeopathological findings from an Early Formative Period transitional site located in coastal Northern Chile (Quiani-7). The subadult cohort from this site is composed of four perinates who exhibit a number of non-specific skeletal changes suggestive of a systemic pathological condition. One of these is associated with an adult female exhibiting diagnostic skeletal lesions of scurvy. We argue that the lesions exhibited by these perinates may represent maternal transmission of vitamin C deficiency but acknowledge that there are difficulties in applying current diagnostic criteria for scurvy to individuals this young.

The complexity of maize domestication Maize originated in what is now central Mexico about 9000 years ago and spread throughout the Americas before European contact. Kistler et al. applied genomic analysis to ancient and extant South American maize lineages to investigate the genetic changes that accompanied domestication (see the Perspective by Zeder). The origin of modern maize cultivars likely involved a “semidomesticated” lineage that moved out of Mexico. Later improvements then occurred among multiple South American populations, including those in southwestern Amazonia. Science , this issue p. 1309 ; see also p. 1246

Interpreting early life experience in the past is of considerable interest to archaeologists, yet remains fraught with difficulty. Children are sensitive barometers of population health in general. In addition, infant feeding practices, and stresses experienced during infancy and childhood, have important effects on adult health and demographic changes. Understanding how diet and physiological stress interact is therefore of significance, but most bony indicators of stress have non‐specific etiologies that cannot be tied to events during childhood. The recent advent of incremental isotopic techniques means we now have the potential to identify periods of stress and dietary change during childhood through changes to stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios during tissue formation. Being able to establish these individual weaning trajectories allows us to consider individuality in past weaning choices, giving the bioarchaeologist a more nuanced picture of the past. Here, we investigate whether combining paleopathological and isotopic data can give insight into the synergy between infant feeding and stress. We present a case study of a 5‐year‐old child from an early agricultural period archaeological site in the northern Atacama Desert, Chile. We show that, despite physiological stress likely affecting isotopic ratios in this individual, a weaning curve is visible and the interpretation of weaning behaviour is possible. In addition, we suggest that there is isotopic evidence for a micronutrient deficient weaning diet that may be correlated with bony evidence for pathology.

The past two decades have seen a proliferation in bioarchaeological literature on the identification of scurvy, a disease caused by chronic vitamin C deficiency, in ancient human remains. This condition is one of the few nutritional deficiencies that can result in diagnostic osseous lesions. Scurvy is associated with low dietary diversity and its identification in human skeletal remains can provide important contextual information on subsistence strategy, resource allocation, and human‐environmental interactions in past populations. A large and robust methodological body of work on the paleopathology of scurvy exists. However, the diagnostic criteria for this disease employed by bioarchaeologists have not always been uniform. Here we draw from previous research on the skeletal manifestations of scurvy in adult and juvenile human skeletal remains and propose a weighted diagnostic system for its identification that takes into account the pathophysiology of the disease, soft tissue anatomy, and clinical research. Using a sample of individuals from the prehistoric Atacama Desert in Northern Chile, we also provide a practical example of how diagnostic value might be assigned to skeletal lesions of the disease that have not been previously described in the literature.

The Atacama Desert is one of the most inhospitable terrestrial environments on Earth, yet the upwelling of the Humboldt Current off the coast has resulted in the presence of a rich marine biota. It is this marine environment which first enabled the human settlement of the northern Atacama Desert, and continues to form the basis of regional economies today. In this paper we explore how the desert has shaped human dietary choices throughout prehistory, using carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bone collagen (n = 80) to reconstruct the diets of the inhabitants of the Arica region of the northern Atacama. This area is one of the driest parts of the desert, but has been generally understudied in terms of dietary adaptation. Statistical analysis using FRUITS has allowed deconvolution of isotopic signals to create dietary reconstructions and highlight the continued importance of marine resources throughout the archaeological sequence. Location also appears to have played a role in dietary choices, with inland sites having 10–20% less calories from marine foods than coastal sites. We also highlight evidence for the increasing importance of maize consumption, coinciding with contact with highland polities. In all periods apart from the earliest Archaic, however, there is significant variability between individuals in terms of dietary resource use. We conclude that marine resource use, and broad-spectrum economies persisted throughout prehistory. We interpret these results as reflecting a deliberate choice to retain dietary diversity as a buffer against resource instability.

Este trabajo explora desde una perspectiva diacronica la dieta de las poblaciones prehispanicas de la region de Arica mediante analisis isotopicos de δ13C y δ15N, con el proposito de evaluar si hubieron cambios en los patrones dietarios desde los primeros agricultores (periodo Formativo, 3500-1500 AP) hasta la ocupacion Inka (periodo Tardio, 550-400 AP). En particular, examina el impacto del consumo del maiz en esta area, durante los periodos de mayor interaccion social con los centros politicos del altiplano. Nuestros resultados muestran una continuidad en el tiempo del consumo de recursos marinos de amplio espectro, mas que un giro hacia la dependencia del consumo del maiz. Ademas, se comparan y contrastan nuestros resultados con otros previamente publicados para otras regiones andinas, demostrando variaciones biogeograficas en el uso de los recursos, probablemente influenciados por los centros politicos Wari, Tiwanaku y luego el imperio Inka. Finalmente, el analisis isotopico incremental del colageno de la dentina en las muestras de infantes de las poblaciones de la region de Arica, indican que el maiz fue un recurso alimenticio durante la fase del destete, demostrando asi un consumo mas marcado durante la infancia que en la adultez. = This paper presents the results of isotopic analysis of prehistoric diet in the Arica region. Using δ13C and δ15N values obtained from human collagen we evaluate changes in dietary patterns from the early agricultural period (Formative 3500-1500 BP) through to Inka occupation (Late period 550-400 BP). In particular, we examine the impact of maize consumption in the area during periods of major social interaction with the political centres of the Andean highlands. Our results show the continuation of broadspectrum and marine resource use, rather than a shift to maize-reliance during prehistory. In addition, we compare and contrast our data with previously published work from other Andean regions. We demonstrate biogeographical variation in resource use, probably influenced by the political centres of Wari, Tiwanaku and later the Inka Empire. Contrastingly, results from incremental isotopic analysis of dentine collagen from the Arica infant populations indicate that maize was an important resource for infantweaning, and comprises a more obvious portion of childhood diet than that of adults.

Resumen: Se estudiaron el cálculo y las patologías dentales de 40 individuos adultos de sitios arqueológicos de la costa y valle del extremo norte de Chile: MO 1/6, PLM-4, AZ-8 y CAM-9, analizándose 10 sujetos por cada sitio. En todos ellos se encontraron microrrestos de fitolitos y almidones, exceptuando el sitio Arcaico Tardío, MO 1/6, que aunque presentó fitolitos no presentó gránulos de almidón. Estos resultados concuerdan con lo observado macroscópicamente, en donde los individuos pertenecientes al sitio MO 1/6 carecen de caries y presentan en general una mejor salud oral que aquellos individuos del Intermedio Tardío y Tardío, tanto del valle como de la costa asociados a una dieta mixta. Además, se observó una buena concordancia entre las plantas ofrendadas y las variedades detectadas en el cálculo dental de los individuos de los sitios Intermedio Tardío y Tardío.

Aims and objectives: The transition to an agricultural economy is often presumed to involve an increase in female fertility related to changes in weaning practice. In particular, the availability of staple crops as complementary foods is hypothesized to allow earlier weaning in agricultural populations. In this study, our primary aim is to explore whether this model fits the agricultural transition in the Atacama Desert using incremental isotopic analysis. A secondary aim of this study is to identify isotopic patterns relating to weaning, and assess how these may be differentiated from those relating to early life stress. Materials and methods: We use incremental isotopic analysis of dentine to examine changes in δ15N and δ13C values from infancy and childhood in sites of the Arica region (n = 30). We compare individuals from pre‐agricultural and agricultural phases to establish isotopic patterns and relate these patterns to maternal diet, weaning trajectory and physiological stress. Results We find that there is no evidence for systematic temporal or geographic variation in incremental isotopic results. Instead, results from all time periods are highly variable, with weaning completed between 1.5 and 3.5 years. Characteristics of the incremental profiles indicate that both in utero and postnatal stress were a common part of the infant experience in the Atacama. Discussion: In the Atacama Desert it appears that the arrival of agricultural crops did not result in uniform shifts in weaning behavior. Instead, infant and child diet seems to have been dictated by the broad‐spectrum diets of the mothers, perhaps as a way of mitigating the stresses of the harsh desert environment.

Resumen es: We explore the hypothesis that small combs coming from AZ71, PLM4, PLM6, and CAM8 archaeological sites in Northern Chile were produced specifically to re...

En este articulo discutimos las practicas mortuorias de los grupos Chinchorro durante el Arcaico Medio (7.000-5.000 a.P.) en la costa del extremo norte de Chile, a traves del estudio de 12 contextos funerarios excavados en el sitio Maestranza Chinchorro. Caracterizamos los contextos, discutimos la variabilidad de la practica mortuoria, la configuracion de entierros multiples, el tratamiento mortuorio de fetos humanos, el modo de vida y la paleopatologia del grupo. Concluimos que las practicas mortuorias son heterogeneas, ya que no todos los individuos recibieron el mismo tratamiento. La complejidad mortuoria se centro en los siete infantes del grupo, incluidos dos fetos de escasos meses de gestacion, algo bastante inusual en la prehistoria mundial. El tratamiento consistio en remover los tejidos blandos y usando como soporte los esqueletos reforzados con palos, modelar en arcilla una figura antropomorfa. Otro rasgo concluyente para este sitio fue la asociacion exclusiva entre infantes y mujeres formando entierros multiples. Por otro lado, en base a la distribucion espacial de los sitios contemporaneos a Maestranza Chinchorro y que contienen cuerpos modelados en arcilla, se propone que el poblamiento en la costa de Arica durante el Arcaico Medio, estuvo estructurado en grupos pequenos, que tenian sus campamentos res - idenciales y sus cementerios en torno a recursos claves como aguadas, rios, humedales, zonas de marisqueo, pesca y caza marina. Esta estructura de grupos a lo largo de la costa, habria derivado en una fuerte competencia y conductas altamente territoriales. We discuss Chinchorro mortuary practices during the Middle Archaic (7000-5000 B.P.) as demonstrated by 12 funerary contexts excavated at the site of Maestranza Chinchorro, northern Chile. First we describe each of the funerary contexts. Then we discuss the variability of mortuary practices, the configuration of multiple burials, the mortuary treatment of human fetuses, lifestyle, and paleopathology. We conclude that mortuary practices are heterogeneous and that not all subjects received elaborate treatment. Mortuary ritual focused on the seven infants in the group, which included two fetuses of a few months' gestation, something fairly unusual in human prehistory. Treatment consisted in the removal of all soft tissue and the use of sticks to reinforce the skeletons, upon which abundant gray clay was mounted in order to model the human figure. In contrast to the infants, just one young adult woman received complex mortuary treatment. Finally, based on the spatial distribution of contemporary burial sites, we propose that Middle Archaic communities in coastal Arica comprised small groups, including adults and children of different sexes, that settled around key resources like watering holes, rivers, wetlands, and hunting and fishing areas. This resulted in fierce intergroup competition and highly territorial behavior.

Archaic mummies from northern Chile were examined for the presence of Pediculus humanus capitis. The excellent preservation of mummies and louse nits/eggs permitted a study of the degree of head lice infestation. We studied 63 Chinchorro mummies (ca. 5000–3000 years B.P.) from the Arica-Camarones coast. An area of 2 cm × 2 cm on each mummy's head was systematically inspected for louse nits/eggs. Hairs with nits/eggs and lice were collected and analyzed using optic and scanning electronic microscopy. About 79% (50/63) of the mummies resulted positive for pediculosis, with an average of 2.1 nits/eggs/cm2 per positive individual. Microscopic analyses revealed the micromorphology of all developmental stages, including eggs/nits, nymphal instars and adults. Chinchorro people lived in small huts increasing the transmission of ectoparasites. Considering that head lice thrive in crowded conditions, their prevalence could be used as an bioindicator to assess and debate cultural behavior (e.g., degree of crowdedness and sedentism) and to study paleoepidemiology in prehistoric populations.

The use of incremental carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis is gaining momentum as a way of establishing infant feeding practices in the past. Here we examine the differences in information gleaned through incremental isotopic techniques applied to individuals, relative to more commonly-used bulk isotopic sampling of a cross-section of a population. We use bulk sampling methods, which use bone collagen isotope values from multiple individuals, to construct Bayesian weaning curves for our samples. We then compare these results to individual weaning times established through incremental isotopic analysis of single deciduous teeth. Our results highlight that in contexts with high adult dietary variation it may not be possible to interpret weaning behaviour using cross-sectional techniques, and incremental isotopic analysis may be the only way of interpreting weaning behaviours. Our findings also suggest that cross-sectional analyses are the most useful way of creating population-scale interpretations of weaning behaviour within a sample. Incremental techniques, however, are necessary if we want to tell individual weaning stories and investigate the variation in infant-feeding present within the past.

Entre las lesiones que afectan la columna vertebral, una de las más comunes en las poblaciones humanas extintas son los nódulos de Schmörl. Si bien su etiología es desconocida, las causas más recurrentes parecen ser una debilidad congénita de los platillos vertebrales y el cambio degenerativo asociado a una demanda biomecánica excesiva. Este trabajo examina la prevalencia de nódulos de Schmörl en una muestra ósea de las poblaciones prehispánicas de Arica (N = 97) y su distribución por segmento vertebral, sexo, edad y período cultural. Los resultados muestran una frecuencia importante de individuos afectados en los tres períodos culturales estudiados y una disminución de esta lesión desde el Arcaico al Intermedio Tardío de 39,1%, 30% y 23,8%, respectivamente. Esto indica la existencia de un patrón ocupacional generalizado que demandó un sobreesfuerzo de la columna vertebral de parte de la población, y también una variabilidad interna donde varios individuos desempeñaron labores diferenciales extenuantes o con mayor intensidad que los demás. La presencia de diferencias asociadas a la distribución por segmentos vertebrales de los nódulos de Schmörl durante el Formativo indica que por entonces los hombres afectados comprometieron sus cuerpos en actividades laborales de mayor intensidad que las mujeres y el resto de su población.

The emergence of complex cultural practices in simple hunter-gatherer groups poses interesting questions on what drives social complexity and what causes the emergence and disappearance of cultural innovations. Here we analyze the conditions that underlie the emergence of artificial mummification in the Chinchorro culture in the coastal Atacama Desert in northern Chile and southern Peru. We provide empirical and theoretical evidence that artificial mummification appeared during a period of increased coastal freshwater availability and marine productivity, which caused an increase in human population size and accelerated the emergence of cultural innovations, as predicted by recent models of cultural and technological evolution. Under a scenario of increasing population size and extreme aridity (with little or no decomposition of corpses) a simple demographic model shows that dead individuals may have become a significant part of the landscape, creating the conditions for the manipulation of the dead that led to the emergence of complex mortuary practices.

Durante decadas los antropologos han discutido como y cuando America fue poblada. El punto de vista predominante al respecto plantea que los primeros paleoindios, poblacion amerindia ancestral, llego en una epoca pre-Clovis desde Asia y Beringia utilizando como ruta la costa pacifica del continente. En el presente trabajo se analizan mediante morfometria geometrica y tecnicas de ADNmt antiguo restos esqueletales de 9.000-4.000 anos a.p., excavados de sitios arqueologicos del Norte, Centro y Sur de Chile. Nuestros resultados muestran que el material craneano arcaico del suroeste de America exhibe un amplio rango de variacion de la forma de la boveda, la cual es independiente de la cronologia de los craneos. El analisis del ADNmt realizado en los mismos restos esqueletales revela la presencia solo de los cuatro haplogrupos fundadores (A, B, C y D) desde los 9.000 a.p. Los resultados obtenidos a partir de datos morfometricos y de mtDNA muestran que, considerando los rasgos analizados, las poblaciones humanas que habitaron America durante la epoca arcaica no constituyen dos grupos diferentes. Estos resultados son consistentes con los analisis de secuencias completas de DNA mitocondrial recientemente obtenidos.

The Camarones (CB) and Vitor (VB) Bays are situated in the middle of Atacama Desert, and their economies are based on activities entirely associated with the extraction of marine produce. The aim of this study was to determine the total arsenic content in three species of fish and seven species of shellfish from these two bays. The quantification of the total arsenic content in these products was performed by Hydride-Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, HG-AAS. The results showed that marine species associated with the CB sector had higher total arsenic levels than the same species in the area of VB, a finding attributed to much higher total arsenic concentrations in the water and soils of CB than VB. The species with the highest total arsenic concentration was the Venus antique (7.50 mg kg (-1)) from the CB, and the lowest total arsenic content was found in Cheilodactylidae variegatus (0.34 mg kg(-1)) from VB.

Chagas diseases is produced by a parasite named Trypanosoma cruzi, that affects humans and other marsupial and placental mammals. Transmission routes are diverse, but the most important transmission is the vector route, which involves the triatomine insects, wild and domestic infected animals, and humans. Here we review the data about oral transmission route and the evidences of the etiological agent (Trypanosoma cruzi) of Chagas disease in pre-Columbian American mummies, making a critical review of the infection in northern Chile. Moreover, we comment on the hypotheses suggested in relation to the most important vector of the infection in South America Triatoma infestans, its antiquity in the Arica coast, and the recent reports about other wild infected vectors in this geographic area. The data presented along this document suggests that Chagas disease was present long before the european conquest and the construction of adobe houses in America. We also discuss the data about the involvement of wild Chilean mammals in the cycle of T. cruzi and propose that the paleoparasitologic study of zooarchaeological remains must be done in the future in order to identify ancient mammalian reservoirs of T. cruzi .

ResumenEste trabajo discute el uso de plantas psicoactivas en el Valle de Azapa del norte de Chile. Al respecto, en el norte de Chile existen evidencias arqueológicas materiales tempranas e ininterrumpidas relacionadas con prácticas psicoactivas en torno a la Anadenanthera, acompañadas de evidencia química que consigna el consumo de Erythroxylum. En este contexto, se evalúa el consumo de Anadenanthera y Banisteriopsis en el cabello de treinta y dos momias del período Medio (ca. 500–1000 d.C.) del Valle de Azapa, mediante cromatografía gaseosa y espectrometría de masa. De los casos analizados ninguno resultó positivo para el consumo de Anadenanthera, pero dos resultaron positivos para la ingesta de Banisteriopsis, planta psicoactiva preparada como infusión denominada generalmente Ayahuasca. Se postula que el consumo de Banisteriopsis en el Valle de Azapa estaría relacionado con prácticas curativas y medicinales como por ejemplo en el parto y/o puerperio, más que una práctica alucinógena.

Various ethnographic sources have demonstrated the symbolic and ritualistic importance of psychoactive plants in Native American societies. The social milieu of these mind- altering plants appears to be ancient. Archaeological evidence during the Tiwanaku empire expansion along the Atacama Desert of Chile, circa 500–1000 A.D., shows the presence of highly decorated snuffing tablets and tubes as grave goods. The preservation of mummified human bodies in the Azapa Valley, northern Chile, provided an opportunity to test the exact nature of the psychoactive plants used in this region. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS), here we show that ancient Andean populations from northern Chile consumed Banisteriopsis, a vine that contains harmine. This is the first direct archaeological evidence of hallucinogenic and medicinal ethnographic practices. Interestingly enough, this rainforest plant does not grow along the Atacama coast, thus our findings suggest extensive plant trade networks in antiquity as far as the Amazon.

espanolSeriola lalandi es un pez que tiene descrita su biologia reproductiva en especimenes silvestres. En particular, la maduracion gonadal de este pez presenta variaciones segun el sexo y largo de cada individuo. No obstante, en peces en cautiverio, como es el caso de su cultivo en un Sistema Acuicola de Recirculacion (SAR), para su engorda y posterior comercializacion, aun no se ha descrito su desarrollo gonadal ni su asociacion con el largo o peso del pez. Para contribuir a este vacio se seleccionaron, durante un ano, 30 individuos provenientes del Centro de Estudios Marinos y Limnologicos (CEMYL) de la Universidad de Tarapaca. A estos se les realizo la eutanasia para posteriormente realizarles la necropsia correspondiente, extrayendo las gonadas, a las que se le aplicaron tecnicas histologicas de rutina (Hematoxilina - Eosina) y tecnicas histoquimicas (Picro - Fucsina de Van Gieson y Periodic Acid Schiff). Obteniendo como resultado la identificacion de seis hembras, de las que cinco estaban en una etapa inmadura de crecimiento gonadal presentando solo oocitos inmaduros en los cuales el nucleo y nucleolo eran mas abundantes que el citoplasma y una de ellas presentaba solo oogonios que son los precursores de los oocitos. Se concluye que no se puede determinar la maduracion gonadal en individuos con tallas menores a 40 cm, como los analizados en este estudio. EnglishSeriola lalandi is a fish that has described their reproductive biology in wild specimens. In particular, the gonadal maturation of this fish has variations by sex and length of each individual. However, fish in captivity, as in the case of cultivation in Aquaculture Recirculation System (SAR), for fattening and subsequent marketing, has not yet been described their gonadal development and its association with long or weight of fish. To contribute to this gap, were selectedfor a year, 30 individuals from the Center for Marine Studies and Limnological (CEMYL) at the University of Tarapaca. These were euthanized in order to conduct the corresponding autopsy, removing the gonads, to which were applied Histological Techniques routine (Hematoxylin - Eosin) and Histochemical Techniques (Picro - Fuchsin Van Gieson and Periodic Acid Schiff). Which resulted in the identification of 6 female, 5 of which were in an immature stage of gonadal growth presenting only oocytes immature in which the nucleus and nucleolus were more abundant than the cytoplasm and one of them had only oogonia that are the precursors oocytes. It is concluded that you can not determine the gonadal maturation in individuals with smaller sizes to 40 cm, as analyzed in this study.

The burial found at Patapatane Cave in the highlands of Arica, northern Chile, yielded an incomplete skeleton of a 20-to-23-year-old female, dating to the end of the Middle Archaic period at 5910 ± 90 B.P. The site is located in a semiarid environment on the eastern side of Sierra de Huaylillas at 3800 m. in the hinterland of Arica, northern Chile. We argue that the missing bones, position of the cranium, and breakage of some elements resulted from both postdepositional human intervention and taphonomic processes. The body was laid to rest in a supine position and after it became skeletonized hunters revisited the inhumation and removed some bone elements. However, the other bones present in situ were not displaced and remained in proper anatomical position, with the exception of the cranium, which was placed vertically on top of the cervical vertebrae. The observed breakage of vertebrae, long bones, and skull seems to have been the result of taphonomic, nonanthropogenic, postburial actions. In reporting on the Patapatane burial, Archaic period funerary patterns from western South America are reviewed to support the notion that early hunters and gatherers systematically manipulated their dead through perimortem and postmortem alterations. These included several processes: (1) processes of body reduction and transformation by removal of body sections or removal of bone elements, cremation, and human remains discarded in domestic middens; and (2) processes of artificial preservation of the dead that included roasting, salting, and artificial mummification. In addition, we recognize the simultaneous existence of intact primary burial and that other skeletons were possibly altered accidentally by postdepositional natural or cultural agents.

Tissue specimens from 283 principally spontaneously (naturally) desiccated human mummies from coastal and low valley sites in northern Chile and southern Peru were tested with a DNA probe directed at a kinetoplast DNA segment of Trypanosoma cruzi . The time interval spanned by the eleven major cultural groups represented in the sample ranged from ≈9,000 years B.P. (7050 B.C.) to approximately the time of the Spanish conquest, ≈450 B.P. (≈1500 A.D.). Forty-one percent of the tissue extracts, amplified by the PCR reacted positively (i.e., hybridized) with the probe. Prevalence patterns demonstrated no statistically significant differences among the individual cultural groups, nor among subgroups compared on the basis of age, sex, or weight of specimen tested. These results suggest that the sylvatic (animal-infected) cycle of Chagas' disease was probably well established at the time that the earliest humans (members of the Chinchorro culture) first peopled this segment of the Andean coast and inadvertently joined the many other mammal species acting as hosts for this parasite.

Nature Plants 1, 14003 (2015); published 8 January 2015; corrected 14 January 2015. In the version of the Supplementary Information originally posted online, the Methods section was missing. This has been corrected 14 January 2015.

Maize offers an ideal system through which to demonstrate the potential of ancient population genomic techniques for reconstructing the evolution and spread of domesticates. The diffusion of maize from Mexico into the North American Southwest (SW) remains contentious with the available evidence being restricted to morphological studies of ancient maize plant material. We captured 1 Mb of nuclear DNA from 32 archaeological maize samples spanning 6000 years and compared them with modern landraces including those from the Mexican West coast and highlands. We found that the initial diffusion of domesticated maize into the SW is likely to have occurred through a highland route. However, by 2000 years ago a Pacific coastal corridor was also being used. Furthermore, we could distinguish between genes that were selected for early during domestication (such as zagl1 involved in shattering) from genes that changed in the SW context (e.g. related to sugar content and adaptation to drought) likely as a response to the local arid environment and new cultural uses of maize.

International audience; Results of a methodology applied for the physicochemical characterization of the layers of a coated body of a Chinchorro mummy are presented. Using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) and X-ray Diffraction (µXRD) we confirm that the plaster that covers individuals is composed of different painted layers, prepared based on clays and mineral pigments. The decorations covered by new layers of paint show an intentional act of re-painting, which is interpreted as potential rites of care for and re-signification of the dead. This raises new questions about the role played by the dead and ancestors in the rites, ceremonies and daily life of the Chinchorro society of archaic hunters, gatherers and fishermen (7,000-3,500 BP) from the coastal Atacama Desert.; Se presentan los resultados de una propuesta metodológica aplicada a la caracterización fisicoquímica de las capas pictóricas del cuerpo de una momia Chinchorro con técnica de preparación modelada. La utilización de microscopia electrónica de barrido con energía dispersiva de rayos X (MEB-EDX) y difracción de rayos X (µDRX) permite confirmar que el emplaste que recubre a los individuos se compone por diferentes capas pictóricas, preparadas a base de arcillas y pigmentos minerales, aplicadas sucesivamente. Decoraciones anteriores recubiertas por nuevas capas de pintura muestran un acto intencional de repintado, lo que se interpreta como posibles ritos de cuidado y resignificación de los muertos. A su vez abre nuevas interrogantes respecto del rol que jugaron los muertos y ancestros en los ritos, ceremonias y vida diaria de los Chinchorro, sociedad de cazadores recolectores, pescadores arcaicos (7.000- 3.500 a.p.) que habitaron la costa del desierto de Atacama.

How and when the Americas were populated remains contentious. Using ancient and modern genome-wide data, we find that the ancestors of all present-day Native Americans, including Athabascans and Amerindians, entered the Americas as a single migration wave from Siberia no earlier than 23 thousand years ago (KYA), and after no more than 8,000-year isolation period in Beringia. Following their arrival to the Americas, ancestral Native Americans diversified into two basal genetic branches around 13 KYA, one that is now dispersed across North and South America and the other is restricted to North America. Subsequent gene flow resulted in some Native Americans sharing ancestry with present-day East Asians (including Siberians) and, more distantly, Australo-Melanesians. Putative ‘Paleoamerican’ relict populations, including the historical Mexican Pericúes and South American Fuego-Patagonians, are not directly related to modern Australo-Melanesians as suggested by the Paleoamerican Model.

This paper reports on an unknown yellowish mineral compound found in an archaeological context from Chorrillos cemetery (Calama, Chile) dating to the Early Formative period (800 - 200 B.C.). We used optic microscopy, SEM, EDX, 1 H- RMN, 13 C-RMN, and infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy to tease out the chemical and molecular composition of the sample. The microscopic images show amorphous yellowish granulates with heterogeneous chemical surfaces. 1 H- RMN and 13 C-RMN negative results show that the sample is free of organic matter. The SEM and EDX indicate the presence of arsenic and sulfur in the sample. The IR and Raman analyses suggest the presence of orpiment which is a toxic yellow arsenic sulfide mineral. Keywords: Pigments, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX, Chorrillos, Northern Chile. e-mail: jpabloogalde@yahoo.es INTRODUCTION Instrumental analyses of pigment usage have a significant value to play in many disciplines, such as natural resources, prehistoric artistic expression, archaeology and art history. It is a useful tool to identify and characterize pigments, elemental chemical composition, toxicity, usage, etc. Microsampling and non-destructive techniques are also important variables to consider when dealing with cultural patrimony and unique objects while pursuing chemical characterization and analyses of ancient samples

Introduccion: La Pediculosis es una ectoparasitosis que ha recibido poca atencion en el norte de Chile, a pesar de que es recurrente en la poblacion infantil escolar. Nuestro objetivo fue determinar la prevalencia de Pediculus humanus capitis, en la poblacion escolar basica de la Provincia de Arica. Pacientes y Metodo: Se estudio un grupo de 665 alumnos de ensenanza basica del sistema municipalizado, de la Provincia de Arica, durante agosto a noviembre de 2010. Se seleccionaron 467 ninos que cumplian con los criterios de inclusion. Previo consentimiento informado de los alumnos y apoderados, el diagnostico se llevo a cabo a traves de la revision a ojo descubierto de la cabeza de los escolares participantes, en dependencias de cada establecimiento, registrando la presencia de Pediculus humanus capitis, grado de infestacion y estadio del ectoparasito. Resultados: De la poblacion analizada, el 40,3% (188/467) presento Pediculosis, afectando a las seis escuelas estudiadas. Las mujeres presentaron Pediculosis en un 55,2% (138/250) y los hombres un 23% (50/217). Conclusion: La poblacion escolar de la Provincia de Arica esta significativamente afectada por Pediculosis y su prevalencia es similar a otras regiones del pais.

Single strands of very short PCR products can be covalently immobilized to a slide and then easily detected by probe hybridization. In this work, the PCR product was a 70-nucleotide segment of ancient DNA, representing a portion of repeat minicircle DNA from the kinetoplast of Trypanosoma cruzi, the infectious agent of Chagas’ disease (American Trypanosomiasis). The target segment was initially established to be present in soft tissue samples taken from four “naturally” mummified Andean bodies using PCR followed by cloning and sequencing. Hybridization screening of the covalently immobilized PCR products positively identified products from 25 of 27 specimens of different tissues from these four mummies. The method appears to be ideal for the purpose of screening a large number of specimens when the target PCR product is very short.

Recientemente fallecio Arthur Aufderheide, paleopatologo norteamericano, profesor Emerito de la University of Minnesota, Duluth, y Director del Laboratorio de Paleobiologia de su Universidad. Arthur Aufderheide realizo importantes investi-gaciones bioantropologicas que contribuyeron sustancialmente a una mejor comprension de los modos de vida y las enfermedades a que se vieron expuestas las poblaciones prehispanicas andinas, en particular del norte de Chile y sur del Peru. Llego a Arica por primera vez a inicios de la decada de 1980. De ahi en adelante mantendria visitas cientificas permanentes por casi dos decadas, para posteriormente intensificar sus investigaciones en el sur de Peru y en otras regiones del mundo. Arthur Aufderheide nacio en New Ulm, una pequena ciudad en el estado de Minnesota, Estados Unidos, el 9 de septiembre de 1922 y fallecio en Duluth el 9 de agosto de 2013, es decir, ituvo la dicha de vivir 90 anos! Mary fue su infatigable y talentosa companera, versatil en el manejo de distintas lenguas y concertista de violin clasico. Realizo sus estudios de medicina, graduandose de la University of Minnesota, donde posteriormente se mantuvo como profesor en el Medical School, entre los anos 1978 y 2009. A partir de mediados de la decada de 1970 comenzo a descubrir el ambito antropologico de su profesion en la medida que como medico entro en contacto con culturas tra-dicionales como los Inuit. En 1983 visito Arica en un programa de turismo cientifico organizado por Marvin Allison, que lo llevo a descubrir la punta del

Pediculosis is an ectoparasitosis infestation that has not received much attention in northern Chile despite it is a common reoccurring condition among school-age children. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of Pediculus humanus capitis infestation in elementary schools of Arica.A group of 665 elementary school students from the Province of Arica were screened between August and November 2010; 467 children who met the inclusion criteria were selected. After parents and students signed an informed consent, the diagnosis was carried out through examination of the head with naked eye in each participating school, recording the presence of Pediculus humanus capitis, infestation level and parasite stage.40.3% (188) of the children presented Pediculosis; the six schools studied were affected. Pediculosis infestation in girls reached 55.2% (138/250) and 23% (50/217) in boys.The school population of Arica is significantly affected by Pediculosis and its prevalence is similar to other regions.

The characterization of biomolecules from ancient samples can shed otherwise unobtainable insights into the past. Despite the fundamental role of transcriptomal change in evolution, the potential of ancient RNA remains unexploited - perhaps due to dogma associated with the fragility of RNA. We hypothesize that seeds offer a plausible refuge for long-term RNA survival, due to the fundamental role of RNA during seed germination. Using RNA-Seq on cDNA synthesized from nucleic acid extracts, we validate this hypothesis through demonstration of partial transcriptomal recovery from two sources of ancient maize kernels. The results suggest that ancient seed transcriptomics may offer a powerful new tool with which to study plant domestication.