Exploring the spatial structure of pre-Columbian cultural landscapes in the Alto Paraná (Misiones

354 Pages·2015·22.1 MB·English

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University of Southampton

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

Department of Archaeology

Exploring the spatial structure of pre-Columbian cultural landscapes in the
Alto Paraná (Misiones province, Argentina)

by

Philip George Constantine Riris

Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

December 2014
This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Eleni and Constantinos Riris
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
ABSTRACT
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
Archaeology
Doctor of Philosophy

EXPLORING THE SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURAL LANDSCAPES IN THE ALTO
PARANÁ (MISIONES PROVINCE, ARGENTINA)

by Philip George Constantine Riris

This thesis investigates new approaches to analysing and interpreting the spatial structure
of pre-Columbian cultural landscapes in the eastern La Plata basin, through two case
studies the upper watershed of the Río Paraná, Misiones province, Argentina. Drawing on
‘non-site’ and ‘distributional’ archaeological theory to establish a robust spatial
framework, the first case study concerns the organization of lithic technology in a sample
constructed from survey data recorded during June and July 2013 in Eldorado
Department. Point pattern data, combined with a desk-based analysis of stone tools,
forms the baseline for the application of a family of spatial statistical analyses of surface
archaeology derived from Ripley’s K function, and supported by Monte Carlo simulation.
These methods succeed in detecting significant technological trends at multiple spatial
scales. The results are interpreted as a long-term accumulation of material deposited
through different systems of land use, which overlap and blend in a palimpsest of
occupational events that are irreducible to their individual episodes. The findings imply
that the notion of archaeological ‘sites’ is unfit for the purpose of studying past cultural
processes in the region. The results also show that surface data possess significant
potential for generating new insights on pre-Columbian settlement patterns in both
Misiones and its broader regional context.

In the second case study, the role of monumental architecture in the later pre-Columbian
period of Misiones is investigated with a geospatial model. It tests the emergence of
territoriality among southern proto-Jê groups as a function of differential access to mound
and enclosure complexes. Through a computational approach that combines
archaeological and simulated random data, the model is able to discern different
hierarchical modalities of accessibility to a sample of southern proto-Jê funerary
earthworks. The results demonstrate that the model succeeds in characterizing hereto
unknown patterns of structured mobility that existed in relation to these distinctive elements
of the later Holocene built environment. Together with a focused point process model
using a larger sample of monuments from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, these efforts
demonstrate that employing quantitative methods allow archaeologists to move from
conceptual models to robust explanatory frameworks in the context of understanding pre-
Columbian socio-political complexification.

In sum, it is argued that standard practice of collecting and interpreting surface data in the
wider study region fundamentally mischaracterizes the variability, temporality, and spatial
scale of this record. Adopting non-site methods and theory offers a solution to this
problem. The approaches are evaluated in the Alto Paraná study area in terms of the new
interpretative perspectives they enabled. New avenues of enquiry for research aiming to
reconstruct past land use are presented based on the findings, including specific
improvements concerning survey method and integrating excavated data.

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RESUMEN ESPAÑOL
Esta tesis investiga nuevos métodos para el análisis e interpretación de la estructura
espacial de los paisajes culturales precolombinos en el este de la cuenca de La Plata, a
través de dos estudios de caso ubicados en la cuenca superior del Río Paraná, provincia
de Misiones, Argentina. Sobre la base de teoría ‘non-site’, que constituye un marco
espacial de probada robustez, el primer estudio de caso explora la organización de la
tecnología lítica en una muestra construida a partir de los datos registrados durante el
trabajo de campo desarrollado en el Departamento de Eldorado en los meses de junio y
julio de 2013. Los datos espaciales, junto con un análisis basado en la organización de
tecnología lítica, constituyen la base para la aplicación de una serie de pruebas
estadísticas espaciales derivadas de la función K de Ripley al registro arqueológico
superficial, pruebas que son apoyadas por la aplicación de la simulación de Monte Carlo,
de forma que la combinación de estos métodos permite detectar importantes patrones
tecnológicos a múltiples escalas espaciales. Como primera conclusión, los resultados se
interpretan como una acumulación de material depositado a largo plazo a través de
diferentes sistemas de usos de suelo, que se superponen y se combinan en un
palimpsesto de eventos ocupacionales que son irreducibles a sus episodios individuales.
En segundo lugar, los resultados implican que el concepto de 'sitio' arqueológico no es
adecuado para el estudio de los procesos culturales pasados en esta región. No obstante,
es preciso remarcar que los resultados también muestran que el registro arqueológico en
superficie posee un importante potencial para profundizar en el conocimiento sobre los
patrones de asentamiento precolombinos no solo en Misiones sino también en un
contexto regional más amplio.
El segundo estudio de caso investiga el papel de la arquitectura monumental en el
período precolombino tardío de Misiones a través de un modelo geo-espacial.
Específicamente, se pone a prueba el desarrollo de la territorialidad entre los grupos
proto-Jê del sur entendida como una función de los niveles de acceso diferenciales a los
complejos de montículos funerarios de la zona. A través de un enfoque computacional
que combina datos arqueológicos y simulados, el modelo es capaz de destacar diferentes
modalidades jerárquicas de la accesibilidad a una muestra de montículos funerarios
proto-Jê del sur. Los resultados demuestran que el modelo tiene éxito en la
caracterización de los patrones de movilidad estructurada (desconocidos hasta ahora) los
cuales se relacionan con estos elementos de arquitectura distintivos del Holoceno tardío.
Adicionalmente, se han contrastado estos resultados con la una muestra más amplia de
monumentos ubicados en Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, lo que ha demostrado que la
utilización de métodos cuantitativos permite a los arqueólogos pasar de modelos
conceptuales a marcos explicativos muy robustos en el contexto del estudio de
complejidad de las estructuras sociopolíticas pre-colombinas.
En resumen, se argumenta que la práctica estándar del registro e interpretación de
los datos arqueológicos en superficie en la región de estudio más amplia caracteriza
erróneamente la variabilidad, la temporalidad y la escala espacial de este registro. No
obstante, la aplicación de los métodos y de la teoría ’non-site’ ofrece una solución a este
problema. De este modo, estos enfoques son evaluados en el área de estudio del Alto
Paraná en cuanto a las nuevas perspectivas interpretativas que permitieron por un lado
explorar nuevas posibilidades para las investigaciones que tienen como objetivo la
reconstrucción de los usos del paisaje en el pasado sobre la base de los hallazgos en
superficie, y por otro lado, proponer mejoras específicas tanto en el método de

prospección superficial como en la integración de los datos arqueológicos excavados.

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Contents

ABSTRACT i
RESUMEN ESPAÑOL ii
Contents iii
List of tables viii
List of figures ix
List of equations xiii
Declaration of xiv
authorship
Acknowledgements xv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH 1
1.1 Introduction 2
1.1.1 Location and geography 4
1.2 Overview of archaeological discourse in Misiones 6
1.3 Research questions 12
1.4 Physical environment of the eastern La Plata basin 15
1.4.1 Geology and geomorphology 16
1.4.2 Climatic regime 19
1.4.3 The Atlantic Forests, past and present 19
1.5 Scope of research 25
1.5.1 Study area: the Alto Paraná 25
1.5.2 Spatial data and presentation 28
1.5.3 Structure of the thesis 28
CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH CONTEXT AND FRAMEWORK 35
2.1 Introduction 36
2.2 The epistemology of archaeological research in the 37
macro-study area
2.2.1 Early history of research (1877 – 1964) 37
2.2.2 PRONAPA and its legacy (1964 – 1985) 42
2.2.3 Post-PRONAPA developments and into the present 46
(1985 – )

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2.2.4 Summary 48
2.3 Cultural-historical overview of the eastern La Plata basin 48
2.3.1 Initial peopling 50
2.3.2 Diversification 54
2.3.3 Transition 57
2.3.4 Intensification 61
2.3.5 Summary 63
2.4 Surface archaeological investigations in southern Brazil 65
2.5 Principles of non-site archaeology 72
2.5.1 What is in a site? 74
2.5.2 (A)temporality and the structure of surface data 77
2.6 The analysis of scale, space and pre-Columbian surface 79
archaeology
2.6.1 Models of spatial structure in surface archaeology 81
2.7 Summary 82
CHAPTER 3 DATA COLLECTION STRATEGY 84
3.1 Overview 85
3.2 Survey design 85
3.2.1 Introduction 85
3.2.2 Prior surveys and preparation 86
3.2.3 Fieldwork methodology 93
3.3 Stone artefact analysis 97
3.3.1 Theoretical introduction 97
3.3.2 Artefact categories 98
3.3.3 Metric analysis 100
Dimensions 100
Mass 100
Cortex 100
Retouch extent and retouch type 101
Flake scars 102
Raw material 103
3.3.4 Core classification 104

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3.4 Summary 105
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS OF SURVEY 108
4.1 Overview 109
4.2 Description of cultural material 111
4.3 Record formation and biases 113
4.3.1 Record bias 114
4.3.2 Researcher bias 124
4.3.3 Summary 126
4.4 Assemblage distribution 127
4.4.1 Landform classification 128
4.4.2 Analytical sites 131
Aumer I (MPM015) 131
Ziegler II (MPM018) 132
Ziegler III (MPM022) and Ziegler IV (MPM023) 133
Gruber IV (MPM028) 135
4.4.3 Low density sites and ceramic scatters 137
4.4.4 Other finds 140
Gruber plantation 141
Modified stone 141
4.5 Summary 143
CHAPTER 5 LITHIC ANALYSIS 145
5.1 Introduction 146
5.1.1 Objectives 146
5.1.2 Approach 147
5.2 Lithic analysis 149
5.2.1 Cores 149
Cortex and scar count 151
Volume 151
Reduction strategies 153
5.2.2 Flakes 156
Mass 159
Cortex 161

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Relative-thickness 161
5.2.3 Tools 168
Utilized flakes and unifacial tools 170
Bifacial tools 174
5.3 Concluding summary 180
Core and flake exploitation systems 180
Unifacial tool system 182
Bifacial tool system 183
CHAPTER 6 DISTRIBUTIONAL ANALYSIS 186
6.1 Introduction: spatial analysis and land use 187
6.1.1 Representational thought and spatial data 190
6.1.2 Characteristics of spatial point processes and patterns 190
6.2 Methods and analysis 194
6.2.1 A broad view: general spatial trends 194
Nearest Neighbour analysis 195
6.2.2 Scalar complexity: second-order spatial trends 198
6.2.3 Putting stones to the test: bivariate interactions 203
6.2.4 With a fine-toothed comb: local indicators of spatial 210
autocorrelation
Local L function 211
Local bivariate K function 216
6.3 Overview and summary 222
CHAPTER 7 MODELLING PRE-COLUMBIAN LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE 225
7.1 Introduction 226
7.1.1 Movement, earthworks and social structure in late 228
Holocene lowland South America
7.1.2 The archaeology and interpretation of mound and 232
enclosure complexes
7.1.3 Territorial models and modelling territoriality 236
7.2 Modelling framework 237
7.2.1 Archaeological and simulated data 238
7.2.2 Environmental factors 241

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7.2.3 Model specification and focal mobility networks 245
7.3 Results 248
7.3.1 Mobility basins and network 248
7.3.2 Accessibility signature graphs 251
7.3.3 Mapping (in)accessibility 255
7.4 Point process modelling of mound and enclosure 261
complexes
7.4.1 Model construction and covariate data 261
7.4.2 Results 264
Model selection and goodness-of-fit 264
Stepwise model selection 265
7.5 Concluding summary 267
CHAPTER 8 CONCLUDING DISCUSSION: PATTERNS AND 270
PALIMPSESTS IN THE ALTO PARANÁ
8.1 General overview 271
8.2 Pre-Columbian land use in the Alto Paraná 272
8.2.1 Revisiting deposition and land use 272
8.2.2 From signal to noise, and back 278
8.2.3 Modelling spatial practice in pre-Columbian societies 284
8.3 Directions for future research in the eastern La Plata basin 287
8.3.1 Artefact analysis 288
8.3.2 Survey technique 289
8.4 Final remarks: non-site archaeology as integrated strategy 292
in the eastern La Plata basin
APPENDIX A EQUATIONS 296
APPENDIX B EXCAVATION REPORT 303
APPENDIX C ACCOMPANYING MATERIAL 309
BIBLIOGRAPHY 311

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