Category Archives: SOUTH AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

How Was Tuberculosis Transmitted in South America?

How Was Tuberculosis Transmitted in South America?

Nearly one-quarter of the world’s population is suspected to have been exposed to the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, a disease that accounts for the highest global mortality from a bacterial infection.

TB’s global distribution was once viewed as support for its emergence deep in our past, where it was thought to have evolved in Africa tens of thousands of years ago and became distributed throughout the world following migrations with its host. Its ability to infect a number of mammalian species also make it a highly adaptable pathogen.

Analyses of ancient TB genomes have stirred up controversy about when this host-pathogen association began and precisely how TB became globally distributed.

How Was Tuberculosis Transmitted in South America?
South American sea lions at the Ballestas Islands in Peru.

A 2014 study led by research teams at the University of Tübingen and Arizona State University reported on three ancient TB genomes from coastal Peru, which revealed aspects of its history that was incompatible with prevailing assumptions on TB’s origins.

First, rather than identifying one of the well-characterized human-associated strains of the pathogen, the team identified a comparatively rare strain that today infects mostly marine mammals such as seals and sea lions (pinnipeds). In addition, their data suggested that TB was a much younger disease than previously thought, having emerged only sometime in the last 6000 years.

“At the time, we assumed that TB made its way from Africa to the Peruvian coast through travel with infected seal populations,” comments Kirsten Bos of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who co-led the new study.

“We assumed the source of the infection in Peru had been a zoonosis from seals. It was not clear, though, if the specific TB infection we identified in the three people was a local phenomenon restricted to the area, or whether its distribution was broader”.

TB is an infection well known to specialists in bone lesions and pathology. Paleopathologist Jane Buikstra of Arizona State University has extensively studied human skeletal remains across the Americas, and clear cases of TB infection are easily identified across the continents in the pre-contact period. “We’ve known for decades that a form of TB infection was present in the western coast of South America through the study of human remains.

Now, with 21st-century scientific advances, ancient DNA is the best tool available to investigate the relationships between the TB manifestations we observe osteologically in different parts of the Americas”.

In a study published this week in Nature Communications, the team reports on three new cases of pre-contact era South American TB, this time from human remains that come from inland archaeological sites, two of which are situated in the highlands of the Colombian Andes.

All three people were infected with the marine-associated strain of TB, thus making a simple zoonosis from seals unlikely.

TB’s entry into South America through human exposure to infected seals is still the strongest hypothesis, but how TB was subsequently distributed on land remains an open question. Lead authors Åshild Vågene and Tanvi Honap are confident that these new cases present strong evidence that the TB variant currently found in seals was once able to travel long distances on land.

“The TB bacterium can infect numerous mammalian species, so there are many candidates for its terrestrial dispersal, including humans themselves,” says Vågene.

“Vast trade networks may have played an important role in transporting the pathogen from the coast”. Honap adds that “recovering ancient TB DNA in animal remains from the pre-contact era Americas may one day allow us to explore the transmission chains responsible for bringing this marine variant so far inland”.

Anne Stone of Arizona State University who specializes in the evolutionary history of TB and co-led the current study sees the new results as an opportunity for deeper exploration into the ecology of the disease in the Americas before the colonial period.

“It’s an exciting time in ancient DNA research, as we can now look at genome-level differences in these ancient pathogens and track their movements across continents and beyond.

For TB, the open question is how widespread the seal-associated strain was in human populations of the Americas prior to its replacement by the more virulent strains that arrived with the Europeans.”

SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

How Old Is the Rock Art at La Lindosa?

How Old Is the Rock Art at La Lindosa?

More than 12,000 years ago, South America was teeming with an astonishing array of ice age beasts — giant ground sloths the size of a car, elephantine herbivores and a deerlike animal with an elongated snout.

These extinct giants are among many animals immortalized in an 8-mile-long (13-kilometer-long) frieze of rock paintings at Serranía de la Lindosa in the Colombian Amazon rainforest — art created by some of the earliest humans to live in the region, according to a new study.
“(The paintings) have the whole diversity of Amazonia.

Turtles and fishes to jaguars, monkeys and porcupines,” said study author Jose Iriarte, a professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

Iriate calls the frieze, which likely would have been painted over centuries, if not millennia, “the last journey,” as he said it represents the arrival of humans in South America — the last region to be colonized by Homo sapiens as they spread around the world from Africa, their place of origin. These pioneers from the north would have faced unknown animals in an unfamiliar landscape.

“They encountered these large-bodied mammals and they likely painted them. And while we don’t have the last word, these paintings are very naturalistic and we’re able to see morphological features of the animals,” he said.

But the discovery of what scientists term “extinct megafauna” among the dazzlingly detailed paintings is controversial and contested.

Other archaeologists say the exceptional preservation of the paintings suggest a much more recent origin and that there are other plausible candidates for the creatures depicted. For example, the giant ground sloth identified by Iriarte and his colleagues could in fact be a capybara — a giant rodent common today across the region.

The giant sloth painting at La Lindosa.

Final word?

While Iriarte concedes the new study is not the final word in this debate, he is confident that they have found evidence of early human encounters with some of the vanished giants of the past.

The team identified five such animals in the paper: a giant ground sloth with massive claws, a gomphothere (an elephant-like creature with a domed head, flared ears and a trunk), an extinct lineage of a horse with a thick neck, a camelid like a camel or a llama, and a three-toed ungulate, or hoofed mammal, with a trunk.

He said they are well known for fossilized skeletons, enabling palaeontologists to reconstruct what they must have looked like. Iriarte and his colleagues were then able to identify their defining features in the paintings.

While the red pigments used to make the rock art have not yet been directly dated, Iriarte said that ocher fragments found in layers of sediment during excavations of the ground beneath the painted vertical rock face dated to 12,600 years ago.

The camelid painting at the La Lindosa rock painting site in Colombia.

The hope is to directly date the red pigment used to paint the miles of rock, but dating rock art and cave paintings are notoriously tricky. Ocher, an inorganic mineral pigment that contains no carbon, can’t be dated using radiocarbon dating techniques.

The archaeologists are hoping the ancient artists mixed the ocher with some kind of binding agent that will allow them to get an accurate date. The results of this investigation are expected possibly later this year.

Further study of the paintings could shed light on why these giant animals went extinct. Iriarte said no bones of the extinct creatures were found during archaeological digs in the immediate area — suggesting perhaps they weren’t a source of food for the people who created the art.

The research was published in the journal Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society B on Monday.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

2,000-year-old skull held together by metal thought to be the oldest evidence of advanced surgery

2,000-year-old skull held together by metal thought to be oldest evidence of advanced surgery

A 2,000-year-old skull of a Peruvian warrior was found to be fused together by metal. Experts from a US museum believe it could be one of the oldest examples of advanced surgery.

The Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma said the skull is reported to have been that of a man who was injured in battle before undergoing surgery to implant a piece of metal in his head to repair a fracture.

And that’s not the most impressive part. Experts at the museum believe the man survived as a result of the surgery,

Therefore, the skull has now become a crucial piece of evidence to prove that ancient people were skilled enough to perform advanced surgeries.

“Yes, this is a real human skull that is thousands of years old. Elongation was achieved through head binding beginning at a very young age. It was typically practised to convey social status by various cultures,” the Museum of Osteology wrote in a Facebook post.

2,000-year-old skull held together by metal thought to be oldest evidence of advanced surgery
A 2,000-year-old skull, pictured, is believed to have been that of a man who was injured in battle and had surgery to implant a piece of metal to repair the fracture

The post added that the human survived a procedure that is known as trephination, which was practised by all ancient civilizations by different means.

The post added: “This individual survived the procedure. known as trephination,  based on evidence of bone remodelling. Trephination was practised by nearly all ancient civilizations by different means and for different reasons.”

The museum said the metal used in the procedure was not poured as molten metal. However, the experts are not sure about the composition of the alloy

The metal plate was used to fuse the broken bones.

“Although we can’t guarantee anaesthesia was used, we do know many natural remedies existed for surgical procedures during this time period,” the museum informed.

The skull on display is an example of n elongated Peruvian skull, an ancient form of body modification where tribe members intentionally deformed the skulls of young children by binding them with a cloth.

According to reports, the skull was kept in the museum’s private collection for many years, It was put on display in 2020 after growing public interest.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

The Discovery 29 people of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture

The Discovery 29 people of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture

The human remains of 29 people, buried as sacrificial offerings more than 1,000 years ago, have been discovered in a pre-Inca temple in northern Peru. Researchers found four tombs in the Huaca Santa Rosa de Pucalá dig site, in the Lambayeque region of Peru, with the remains of children and teenagers.

They were originally buried as offerings at the time of the construction of the first of the three enclosures, including a Wari-culture temple, according to the team behind the discovery from the Lambayeque Valley Archaeological Project.

As well as the human remains, the team discovered camelids and guinea pigs showing signs of sacrificial practices.

The Discovery 29 people of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture
The human remains of 29 people buried as sacrificial offerings more than 1,000 years ago have been discovered in a pre-Inca temple in northern Peru
Researchers found four tombs in the Huaca Santa Rosa de Pucalá dig site, in the Lambayeque region of Peru, with the remains of children and teenagers

Archaeologist Edgar Bracamonte Levano, who is also in charge of the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum, said this was a significant discovery. 

It is the first time they have registered this type of human offering linked to the Wari culture, a civilisation that flourished in the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1000 CE.

So far three of the enclosures discovered at the site have been excavated, according to the team behind the finding. 

As well as the human remains, the team discovered camelids and guinea pigs showing signs of sacrificial practices

As well as the human remains, they also found offerings of camelids, such as alpacas, with signs of sacrifice and eight sacrificed guinea pigs. 

The remains of humans and animals are part of a possible ritual that was carried out at the time of starting construction on Wari-style religious spaces, they said.

The enclosures were ‘D’ shaped, and within one was a tomb with offerings related to a group living in the area between 850 and 900 CE. 

The tomb contained a pitcher with Mochica iconography, a bottle of the well-known Early Sicán or Proto-Lambayeque style, a pot with palette decoration and a knife or tumi with the blade in the shape of a half Moon.  

The work also revealed a temple from the Formative Period of this community, contemporary to the end of the Chavin culture – different from earlier finds.  

Bracamonte said: ‘It is a temple built with walls made of clay as formwork and that include clay maces as prototypes of adobes inside the walls. 

‘The upper part of the temple presents very well elaborated floors, ceilings of vegetal remains and evidence of the incineration of objects were found.

‘The temple was built by a human group with local features and that are linked to the mountains, showing that during the years 400 to 200 BCE, ‘ he added. 

‘There were different communities on the coast with interactions towards the mountains and that also show marked differences with the groups of the Formative Period found in the lower part of the valley, in Collud and Ventarrón.’

These new discoveries have added to the existence of Wari-period ceremonial spaces, forcing experts to rewrite the history of Lambayeque. 

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Red paint on the 1,000-year-old gold mask from Peru contains human blood proteins

Red paint on the 1,000-year-old gold mask from Peru contains human blood proteins

Traces of human blood have been discovered in the red paint that decorated a gold mask found on the remains of an elite man who died 1,000 years ago in Peru, a new analysis reveals. 

The man, who was between 40 and 50 years old at the time of his death, lived during the Sicán that spanned from 750 A.D. to 1375 – an era known for its dazzling array of gold objects, many of which were buried in tombs of the elite class.

The tomb was originally unearthed in the 1990s and archaeologists at the time concluded the red paint cinnabar, a brick-red form of mercury, but the effective organic binder remained a mystery – until now.

Scientists, led by Izumi Shimada, founder of the Sicán Archaeological Project, reassessed the ancient burial mask and found unique peptides that match human blood and bird egg proteins. 

‘The presence of human blood would support previous ideas that red cinnabar paint may represent ‘life force’ intended to support ‘rebirth,’ the team shared in the study published in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Red paint on the 1,000-year-old gold mask from Peru contains human blood proteins
A gold mask discovered on the remains of an elite man who died 1,000 years ago in Peru is decorated with red paint that contains human blood, a new analysis reveals

The mask, made of gold, was found on the man whose skeleton was also painted red, and seated inside the tomb.  

The skeletons of two young women were arranged nearby in birthing and midwifing poses, and two crouching children’s skeletons were placed at a higher level, according to a statement.

Shimada and his colleagues analyzed a small sample of red paint from the mask with the hopes of determining the organic binder.

Using spectroscopy, a study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation, the team found six proteins from human blood in the red paint, including serum albumin and immunoglobulin G (a type of human serum antibody). Other proteins, such as ovalbumin, came from egg whites.

The tomb was originally unearthed in the 1990s and archaeologists at the time concluded the red paint cinnabar, a brick-red form of mercury, but the effective organic binder remained a mystery – until now.

Since the proteins were so highly degraded, the researchers could not identify the exact species of bird’s egg used to make the paint, but a likely candidate is the Muscovy duck.

The Sican culture inhabited the north coast of modern-day Peru and predates the Incas, but how they developed is unclear Ancient Origins reports.

However, some say Sicáns are descendants of the Moche culture that flourished in the country from 100 A.D. to 700 A.D.

The Sicán culture put a large focus on the funerary practices of the elites, who were often buried with stunning grave goods.

Another aspect of Sicán funerary practice that has gained attention relatively recently is that of human sacrifice – and it was mostly women who were sacrificed and laid in the tombs of men.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

15th-century Chan Chan mass grave discovered in Peru

15th-century Chan Chan mass grave discovered in Peru

A mass grave of 25 to 30 skeletons has been unearthed in the ancient Peruvian city of Chan Chan, which archaeologists believe is the resting place of the society’s elite members.

The remains were discovered in a small space measuring just 107 square feet, roughly 10 feet long and 10 feet wide, located inside what was once the capital of the Chimú empire that reached its height in the 15th century before falling to the Incas in 1470 AD.

Archaeologist Jorge Menese told Reuters that although this ancient society is known for human sacrifices, there is no evidence suggesting that this occurred at the site.

However, researchers plan to conduct tests in the future to determine each of the individual’s causes of death.

The Chimú were a pre-Incan culture that emerged out of the remnants of the Moche culture along the coast of Peru in 900 AD.

These ancient people lived in a strip of desert, 20 to 100 miles, in the South American country, between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes.

It’s thought that the Chimú culture peaked in the first half of the 14th century, developing a complex civilization with different levels of social hierarchy.

Most of the mass graves found in and around the ancient city were a result of human sacrifice, but Menese said the position of these 25 to 30 skeletons suggest they were buried shortly after the person had died.

15th-century Chan Chan mass grave discovered in Peru
Archaeologists discovered around 25 skeletons in a mass grave in Peru.

Archaeologist Sinthya Cueva said in a video shot at the site that although the remains are of men, women and children, most are women no older than 30.

The Chimú empire is famous for human sacrifices, specifically one uncovered in 2019 that is the largest the world has ever seen.

More than 140 children, along with llamas, were found slaughtered in what is thought to be a mass sacrifice to appease the gods of a now extinct religion.

Many of the children and juvenile animals had their hearts cut out during the grisly ritual.

The children ranged in age from five to 14 years old.

The Chimú were a pre-Incan culture that emerged out of the remnants of the Moche culture along the coast of Peru in 900AD.

It is thought a huge El Niño caused major flooding and storms which triggered the bloody sacrifice.

Analysis of the remains of more than 200 juvenile llamas and humans dates it to approximately 1450, during the peak of the Chimú civilization in northern coastal Peru.

Study author John Verano, professor of anthropology at Tulane University, said: ‘This site opens a new chapter on the practice of child sacrifice in the ancient world.

‘This archaeological discovery was a surprise to all of us – we had not seen anything like this before, and there was no suggestion from ethnohistoric sources or historic accounts of child or camelid sacrifices being made on such a scale in northern coastal Peru.

‘We were fortunate to be able to completely excavate the site and to have a multidisciplinary field and laboratory team to do the excavation and preliminary analysis of the material.’

CHILE, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

New Study Suggests Fisherman Drowned Some 5,000 Years Ago

New Study Suggests Fisherman Drowned Some 5,000 Years Ago

A new study has confirmed saltwater drowning as the cause of death for a Neolithic man whose remains were found in a mass grave on the coast of Northern Chile. The method developed to solve the 5000-year-old cold case opens up new possibilities for assessing the remains of our prehistoric ancestors.

New Study Suggests Fisherman Drowned Some 5,000 Years Ago
The Neolithic fisherman in the burial site

The scientists believe it will help archaeologists understand more about past civilisations in coastal regions and the human stories behind the remains they discover.

Modern forensics can confirm drowning as the cause of death in recent victims by testing for diatoms inside the bones of the victims. Diatoms are a group of algae found in oceans, freshwater and soils. If they are found inside the bones of victims’ bodies, it is likely that they drowned.

This is because if they had died before entering the water, they would not have swallowed any saltwater. The test has never been successfully tried to determine drowning in saltwater on prehistoric human remains, until now.

In addition to the diatom test, the research team, led by the University of Southampton, carried out a wide-ranging microscopic analysis of bone marrow extracted from a man found in a 5000-year-old mass burial site.

This allowed them to search for a greater range of microscopic particles that could provide more insight into the cause of his death.

The results, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, found a variety of marine particles that suggested he drowned in saltwater. These particles included fossilised algae, parasite eggs and sediment, which would not have been detected by the standard diatom test.

Professor James Goff of the University of Southampton, who led the study said, “mass burials have often been necessary after natural disasters such as tsunamis, floods or large storms.

However, we know very little about whether prehistoric mass burial sites near coastlines could be the result of natural disasters or other causes such as war, famine and disease. This gave us our light bulb moment of developing an enhanced version of a modern forensic test to use on ancient bones.”

After scanning archaeological papers for records of mass burial sites near coastlines, Prof Goff and his team worked with Prof Pedro Andrade of the Universidad de Concepción in Chile.

Prof Andrade had previously studied an archaeological site known as Copaca 1, 30 kilometres south of Tocopilla on the Chilean coastline. The site area contains a grave with three well-preserved skeletons.

The individual they studied was a male hunter-gather aged between 35 and 45. The condition of his bones suggested he was a fisherman as there were signs of frequent harpooning, rowing and harvesting of shellfish.

This made him the ideal candidate to study for signs of drowning and for evidence of the event that led to his death.

Genevieve Cain, Prof Pedro Andrade and the fisherman

“By looking at what we found in his bone marrow, we know that he drowned in shallow saltwater,” Prof Goff continued. “We could see that the poor man swallowed sediment in his final moments and sediment does not tend to float around in sufficient concentrations in deeper waters.”

Based on their initial findings, the team believe that he died in a marine accident rather than in a major catastrophic event. This is partly because the bones of the others he was buried with did not contain marine particles so it is unlikely they all died by saltwater drowning.

The team advise they could shed more light on this by testing other human remains on the site and studying geological records for evidence of natural disasters in the area.

Most importantly, scientists believe this new technique can be used for ancient mass burial sites around the world to get a richer picture of the lives of people in coastal communities throughout history.

“In taking more time over the forensic technique and testing for a broader range of beasties inside the prehistoric bones, we’ve cracked open a whole new way to do things,” Prof Goff continued. “This can help us understand much more about how tough it was living by the coast in pre-historic days – and how people there were affected by catastrophic events, just as we are today.”

“There are many coastal mass burial sites around the world where excellent archaeological studies have been carried out but the fundamental question of what caused so many deaths have not been addressed. Now we can take this new technique out around the world and potentially re-write prehistory.”

Prof James Goff and the fisherman
BOLIVIA, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Three images that prove the Ancient Builders of Puma Punku had access to advanced technology

Three images that prove the Ancient Builders of Puma Punku had access to advanced technology

Perhaps the biggest mystery involving Puma Punku is, how ancient mankind managed to transport these huge blocks of stone from quarries within 10 to 100 km.

How did they manage to achieve this type of precision cuts and how did they place the blocks in such a perfect manner? Engineers and constructors around the world today cannot answer nor replicate these achievements done by ancient mankind thousands of years ago.

Scientists cannot come to a conclusion and answer how were these amazing blocks of stone transported. Some of them believe that it was accomplished by the large labour force of ancient Tiwanaku. Several theories have been proposed as to how this labour force transported the stones from the quarries to Puma Punku, but these theories remain speculative.

Another puzzling mystery at Puma Punku is the assembly of the walls. Each stone was finely cut to interlock with the surrounding stones and the blocks fit together like a puzzle, forming load-bearing joints without the use of mortar. The precision challenges today’s engineering abilities.

The answer to these and other enigmas can be solved by a different approach and different thinking methods.

By looking at images from Puma Punku you can notice a perfection that is baffling, you will notice the elegance in every single construction at Puma Punku, but most importantly, you will notice a mysterious pattern that could help explain how ancient man achieved all of this, thousands of years ago.

Three images that prove the Ancient Builders of Puma Punku had access to advanced technology

This image is one of the best examples of advanced technology present at Puma Punku. We are looking at andesite blocks, a material that is extremely difficult to work with.

Can anyone explain how ancient mankind managed such perfection, elegance, and precision? We believe that this is one of the best examples of highly advanced tools that were made available to ancient man, thousands of years ago.

One of our favourite images of Puma Punku is where you can see small holes that are placed with such perfection apart that it is hard to believe that primitive man achieved this with sticks and stones.

Puma Punku is one of the most important places if you want to see what ancient man was capable of. These stone structures are among the biggest ever found.

The H Blocks. A trademark of Puma Punku and perhaps one of the best examples of lost technology. The perfection present within these blocks is staggering.

It is difficult to even think that ancient mankind managed to cut, transport and stack these blocks of stone which such perfection without the use of some sort of technology. Not everything can be achieved through force.

What do you think? Is it possible that the ancient builders of Puma Punku and Tiahuanaco had access to advanced technology that has been lost in history? A forgotten, omitted piece of history that mainstream scholars do not seem to be interested in?