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The Lake Titicaca basin was one of the major centers for cultural development in the ancient world. This lacustrine environment is unique in the high, dry Andean altiplano, and its aquatic and terrestrial resources are thought to have contributed to the florescence of complex societies in this region. Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what extent local aquatic resources, particularly fish, and the introduced crop, maize, which can be grown in regions along the lakeshores, contributed to facilitating sustained food production and population growth, which underpinned increasing social political complexity starting in the Formative Period (1400 BCE to 500 CE) and culminating with the Tiwanaku state (500 to 1100 CE). Here, we present direct dietary evidence from stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains spanning over two millennia, together with faunal and floral reference materials, to reconstruct foodways and ecological interactions in southern Lake Titicaca over time. Bulk stable isotope analysis, coupled with compound-specific amino acid stable isotope analysis, allows better discrimination between resources consumed across aquatic and terrestrial environments. Together, this evidence demonstrates that human diets predominantly relied on C3 plants, particularly quinoa and tubers, along with terrestrial animals, notably domestic camelids. Surprisingly, fish were not a significant source of animal protein, but a slight increase in C4 plant consumption verifies the increasing importance of maize in the Middle Horizon. These results underscore the primary role of local terrestrial food resources in securing a nutritious diet that allowed for sustained population growth, even in the face of documented climate and political change across these periods.

In this paper, we examine the development of a Middle Formative (800-200. BC) village and a Late Formative (200 BC-AD 475) political center at the site of Kala Uyuni on the Taraco Peninsula, Bolivia. Traditional political economy models rely on the spatial distribution of archaeological sites documented through site survey to define and explain the appearance of political centers. Recent scholarship on 'depositional histories' offers a framework for interpreting the dynamic and contingent political histories of such places using rich, stratigraphically excavated data. Our approach sheds new light on the diversity of practices and internally complex political processes that contributed to the transformation of Kala Uyuni from village to political center. We argue that serious attention to such 'depositional histories' has the potential to transform larger archaeological narratives in the region, and contribute to a more subtle understanding of the development of political landscapes.

We present an analysis of artifacts recovered from excavations at the site of Camp Michaux (Michaux State Forest, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania). The analysis focuses on iron nails, cartridge cases, a clay pipe fragment, and a metal zipper slider with pull tab, which provide insight into the different people who lived and worked at the site over its 187-year history. There are marked differences in how space was used and controlled with respect to waste disposal from the 18th- to 20thcentury occupations of tenant farmers to the 20th-century occupations of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps and the WWII Prisoner of War camps. These differences reflect discrepancies between the number of individuals occupying the site and the representation of their activities in the archaeological record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the 14C calibration curves IntCal and SHCal are based on data from temperate latitudes, it remains unclear which curve is more suitable for archaeological and paleoenvironmental records from tropical South America. A review of climate dynamics reveals a significant influx of Northern Hemisphere air masses and moisture over a substantial part of the continent during the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM). Areas affected by the SASM receive unknown amounts of input from both hemispheres, where an argument could be made for either curve. Until localized tree-ring data can resolve this, we suggest using a mixed calibration curve, which accounts for inputs from both hemispheres, as a third calibration option. We present a calibration example from a crucial period of environmental and cultural change in the southern Lake Titicaca. Given our current lack of data on past ∆14C variation in South America, our calibrations and chronologies will likely change in the future. We hope this paper spurs new research into this topic and encourages researchers to make an informed and explicit choice of which curve to use, which is particularly relevant in research on past human–environmental relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated in a single location of central Pennsylvania's Michaux State Forest rest the remnants of an Early Republic farmstead, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, a Prisoner of War Interrogation Center from World War II, and a church camp. The one common factor throughout each of these disparate time periods is the farmhouse built ca. 1788. This wooden structure stood until the 1970s when the church camp ended. Now only the stone foundation remains along with questions of the structure's occupants throughout its history. Through an analysis of the standing structure and material culture excavated from 11 test pits on the farmstead as well as a vast array of historical documents including land deeds, historic maps, and government documents, this study depicts the lives of those who occupied and interacted with the building throughout its lifetime. The emerging picture is one of an intricate history of toil and hardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]