Status and diet in precontact highland ecuador

Abstract

Excavation at the Ecuadorian highland site of La Florida in suburban Quito revealed six deep shaft tombs yielding high‐status individuals (n = 9) as well as apparent sacrifices and other low‐status individuals (n = 23). Determination of sex and age at death of the recovered skeletal remains resulted in a sample of 32 individuals aged from approximately 7 to 50 years of age. The sample of 18 individuals over the age of 18 years included 14 females and 4 males. Temporally, the remains are assigned to the Chaupicruz Phase (circa 100 to 450 AD) of the Regional Developmental Period. In this study, we analyze stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen from human bone in order to compare the diets of the high‐ and low‐status individuals. Stable carbon isotope analyses were carried out on preserved protein and biological apatite (bioapatite), and stable nitrogen isotope analyses were carried out on preserved protein. There is a statistically significant difference in δ 13 C between the two groups for both protein and mineral sources of carbon with evidence for the greater consumption of maize in the high‐status group. There is no significant difference in δ 15 N between the two groups, nor is there a significant difference in the spacing between protein and mineral δ 13 C values between the two groups. Ethnohistorical evidence for the 16th century AD provides the expectation that the only dietary difference was the higher consumption of animal protein by the elite. There is no evidence for this based on the bone chemistry data from La Florida. Instead, the isotope data, along with the archaeological evidence, indicate that the major dietary difference during the Chaupicruz Phase was the greater intake of maize by the elite, probably in the form of beer (chicha). © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.