The San Pedro de Atacama oases, located in northern Chile’s hyperarid Atacama Desert, have been occupied for at least 3000 years. Here, we examine cemetery use in the oases, with emphasis on the Middle Period (ca. AD 400–1000). By modeling of a large corpus (n=243) of radiocarbon dates, over 90% of which are direct AMS assays of human bone collagen, we attempt to establish a temporal framework by which to explore the establishment of formalized social inequality in this period. Modeling of these dates at three locally defined scales (all ayllus, inter-ayllu, and intra-ayllu) permit heretofore unavailable insights into the chronological and spatial dimensions of life and mortuary activity in the oases and allow us to better contextualize patterns of social inequality during the dynamic Middle Period. The results of this modeling indicate two distinct peaks of occupation during the Middle Period in San Pedro and document significant temporal variability in cemetery use patterns on both inter- and intra-ayllu scales. These results stress the importance of local social and environmental factors to the occupation of the oases and provide crucial chronological structure for future archaeological and bioarchaeological research in the region.

中文翻译：

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智利圣佩德罗德阿塔卡马的中期墓地使用边界

圣佩德罗德阿塔卡马绿洲位于智利北部极度干旱的阿塔卡马沙漠，已被占领了至少 3000 年。在这里，我们研究了绿洲中的墓地使用情况，重点是中期（约公元 400-1000 年）。通过对放射性碳数据的大型语料库 (n=243) 进行建模，其中超过 90% 是人类骨胶原蛋白的直接 AMS 测定，我们试图建立一个时间框架，以探索这一时期正式社会不平等的建立。在三个本地定义的尺度上对这些日期进行建模（所有亚勒斯, 间艾卢, 和内艾卢) 允许对绿洲中生活和太平间活动的时间和空间维度进行深入了解，并使我们能够更好地了解动态中期社会不平等的模式。该模型的结果表明，圣佩德罗中期有两个明显的占领高峰，并记录了公墓使用模式在内部和内部的显着时间变化。艾卢秤。这些结果强调了当地社会和环境因素对绿洲占领的重要性，并为该地区未来的考古和生物考古研究提供了重要的时间结构。