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Differential Bone-Refuse Accumulation in Food-Preparation and Traffic Areas on an Early Ecuadorian House Floor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Peter W. Stahl  and
James A. Zeidler
Peter W. Stahl
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13901
James A. Zeidler
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
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Abstract

Ethnographic observations of floor formation in an occupied and an abandoned Achuar jea dwelling structure are combined with contemporary taphonomic studies of swept and trampled surfaces. These studies suggest that refuse accumulation and incorporation are markedly different in food-preparation areas with ash deposits around fixed hearth features when compared to regularly trampled traffic areas of domestic earthen house floors. These points are examined in the horizontal and vertical analysis of highly fragmented bone remains in an Early Formative domestic house floor at the site of Real Alto, in the coastal lowlands of southwestern Ecuador. The food-preparation area of the Structure 1 house floor contained high concentrations of bone specimens characterized by their large size (over 25 mm), broad surface area, low bulk density, and greater total weight, vertically distributed throughout the ash matrix. The traffic area contained bone specimens characterized by their small size (under 25 mm), narrow surface area, high bulk density, and lower total weight, distributed unevenly in vertical profile. The horizontal distribution of fish bone only partially followed the observed pattern, as a proportionately greater amount of large fish bone was located in the traffic area. This analysis demonstrates the potential utility of bone refuse as a sensitive and reliable taphonomic indicator for inferential arguments regarding house-floor deposition.

En este artículo, se combinan observaciones etnoarqueológicas de la formación de pisos habitacionales en viviendas (jea) occupadas y abandonadas de la cultura Achuar, del oriente ecuatoriano, con estudios tafonómicas contemporáneos de superficies barridas y pisoteadas. Estos estudios sugieren que la acumulación e incorporación de desechos en pisos de tierra es marcadamente distinta en “áreas de cocina” con depósitos de ceniza alrededor de fogones permanentes, cuando se lo compara con “áreas de tráfico” regularmente pisoteadas de la vivienda. Se examinan estas observaciones mediante el análisis horizontal y vertical de desechos de fragmentos óseos faunísticos en el piso de una vivienda arqueológica del Período Formativo Temprano en el sitio Real Alto, ubicado en el litoral suroeste del Ecuador. El “área de cocina” del piso de la Estructura 1 contiene concentraciones altas de huesos fragmentados caracterizados por: tamaño grande (> 25 mm), área superficial ancha, baja densidad de masa (bulk density), y peso total mayor, distribuido verticalmente por toda la matriz cinerítica. El “área de tráfico" contiene huesos fragmentados caracterizados por: tamaño pequeño (< 25 mm), área superficial estrecha, alta densidad de masa (bulk density), y peso total menor, distribuido desigualmente en perfil vertical. La distribución horizontal de huesos de pescado se adecua sólo parcialmente al patrón observado, puesto que una cantidad proporcionalmente más grande de hueso grande de pescado se encuentra en el “área de tráfico.” Los resultados de estos análisis sirven para demostrar la utilidad potencial de los desechos óseos como un indicador tafonómico sensible y confiable para realizar inferencias con respecto a la deposición de pisos habitacionales.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , June 1990 , pp. 150 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1990

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