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Diet, Nutrition, and Foodways on the North Coast of Peru

Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Adaptive Transitions

  • Studies the relationship between health and diet in the context of power and cultural crisis
  • Focuses on the indigenous communities in the Lambayeque River Valley of Peru in the time periods before, during and after colonial domination
  • Delves into the rich and varied roles of foodways on the bodies and communities in this region of the world

Part of the book series: Bioarchaeology and Social Theory (BST)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
  2. Introduction

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 1-10
  3. Theorizing Food and Power in the Ancient Andes

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 11-28
  4. Ecological and Archaeological Contexts

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 29-43
  5. Pre-Hispanic North Coast Cultures and Foodways

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 45-66
  6. Spanish Colonization and Subsistence of the Colonized

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 67-83
  7. The Lambayeque Biohistory Project: Contexts and Analysis

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 85-111
  8. Results: Paleopathological and Stable Isotope Findings

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 113-156
  9. Lambayeque Paleodiet and Nutrition: A Diachronic Analysis

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 157-176
  10. The Lambayeque Valley Complex: Food and Culture in Context

    • Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus
    Pages 177-189
  11. Back Matter

    Pages 191-227

About this book

This book synthesizes in-depth bioarchaeological research into diet, subsistence regimes, and nutrition—and corresponding insights into adaptation, suffering, and resilience—among indigenous north-coastal Peruvian communities from early agricultural through European colonial periods.

The Spanish invasion and colonization of Andean South America left millions dead, landscapes transformed, and traditional ways of life annihilated. However, the nature and magnitude of these changes were far from uniform. By the time the Spanish arrived, over four millennia of complex societies had emerged and fallen, and in the 16th century, the region was home to the largest and most expansive indigenous empire in the western hemisphere.

Decades of Andean archaeological and ethnohistorical research have explored the incredible sophistication of regional agropastoral traditions, the importance of food and feasting as mechanisms of control, and the significance of maritime economies in the consolidation of complex polities. Bioarchaeology is particularly useful in studying these processes. Beyond identifying what resources were available and how they were prepared, bioarchaeological methods provide unique opportunities and humanized perspectives to reconstruct what individuals actually ate, and whether their diets changed within their own lifespans.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Anthropology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA

    Bethany L. Turner

  • Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA

    Haagen D. Klaus

About the authors

Dr. Bethany L. Turner received her PhD in Anthropology from Emory University. She has published 20 peer-reviewed papers and 9 book chapters in social bioarchaeology, geochemical bioarchaeology, and the anthropology of food and diet, including 1 with Springer. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. She has also served as an Associate Editor for Journal of Archaeological Science since 2018. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Haagen D. Klaus received his Ph.D. in anthropology from The Ohio State University in 2008. Since 2002, he has directed the Lambayeque Valley Biohistory Project in Peru, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the National Geographic Society. He has previously co-edited three volumes and two special issues of the International Journal of Paleopathology, and has authored or co-authored 23 journal articles and 25 book chapters on diverse topics, from the diagnosis of diverse infectious and metabolic diseases in human skeletal remains to paleodiet, funerary archaeology, colonialism, biological distance analysis, and ritual violence. He is currently an associate professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason Unviersity in Fairfax, Virginia.   

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Diet, Nutrition, and Foodways on the North Coast of Peru

  • Book Subtitle: Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Adaptive Transitions

  • Authors: Bethany L. Turner, Haagen D. Klaus

  • Series Title: Bioarchaeology and Social Theory

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42614-9

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-42613-2Published: 18 June 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-42616-3Published: 19 June 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-42614-9Published: 17 June 2020

  • Series ISSN: 2567-6776

  • Series E-ISSN: 2567-6814

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVIII, 227

  • Number of Illustrations: 19 b/w illustrations, 23 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: History, general, Archaeology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access