Dissertation Research: Collapse and Agricultural Innovation in the Titicaca Basin Formative

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Under the direction of Dr. Christine Hastorf, Mr. Matthew Bandy will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological fieldwork in the Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia to study the Formative Period center of Chiripa. At the close of the Formative, ca. 550 AD the first of the major Andean prehistoric states arose in this region and its influence spread over much of the Bolivian and Peruvian highlands. This Tiwanaku State preceded by almost 500 years its better known Incan counterpart. Examples of `pristine states` - those which arise independently and not in response to pressure from other similar entities - are extremely rare and anthropologists study them to understand the processes which lead to complex societies. In the Titicaca region the Formative Period spans approximately a thousand years and the general cultural trajectory during this interval it towards greater social scale and integration. Chiripa lies at the heart of the future Tiwanaku state and what makes it anomalous is that fact that it underwent a collapse during the late Formative. Preliminary archaeological data suggests a wholesale reconfiguration of local social, economic and political institutions. The scale of integration decreases, contrary to what one might expect. In preliminary work, Mr. Bandy noted changes in settlement pattern and in the configuration of stone celts. Today, simple plows are widely used in the highland Andes and Mr. Bandy hypothesizes that the `collapse` is not in fact one but reflects a shift in subsistence and settlement pattern which resulted from the introduction of the plow. He believes that this simple device for the first time permitted the utilization of heavy lake margin soils, that population dispersed to take advantage of this new technology and that this movement resulted in smaller, settlements. However the data necessary to provide strong support for such a scenario are missing. With NSF funding Mr. Bandy will carry out an integrated program of foot survey, systematic surface collection of Formative Period materials, limited test excavations and problem-oriented laboratory analyses. This research will shed new light on the rise of the first great Andean civilization. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.