Death in the Bolivian High Plateau : Burials and Tiwanaku Society

My Ph.D. dissertation presents a multi-disciplinary analysis of the mortuary practices of the Tiwanaku culture of the Bolivian high plateau, situated at an altitude of c. 3800 m above sea level. The Tiwanaku State (c. AD 500-1150) was one of the most important pre-Inca civilisations of the South Central Andes. The book begins with a brief introductory chapter. In chapter 2 I discuss methodological and theoretical developments in archaeological mortuary studies from the late 1960s until the turn of the millennium. I am especially interested in the issue how archaeological burial data can be used to draw inferences on the social structure of prehistoric societies. Chapter 3 deals with the early historic sources written in the 16th and 17th centuries, following the Spanish Conquest of the Incas. In particular, I review information on how the Incas manifested status differences between and within social classes and what kinds of burial treatments they applied. In chapter 4 I compare the Inca case with 20th century ethnographic data on the Aymara Indians of the Bolivian high plateau. Even if Christianity has affected virtually every level of Aymara religion, surprisingly many traditional features can still be observed in present day Aymara mortuary ceremonies. The archaeological part of my book begins with chapter 5, which is an introduction into Tiwanaku archaeology. In the next chapter, I present an overview of previously reported Tiwanaku cemeteries and burials. Chapter 7 deals with my own excavations at the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cemetery site of Tiraska, located on the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca. During the 1998, 2002, and 2003 field seasons, a total of 32 burials were investigated at Tiraska. The great majority of these were subterranean stone-lined tombs, each containing the skeletal remains of 1 individual and 1-2 ceramic vessels. Nine burials have been radiocarbon dated, the dates in question indicating that the cemetery was in use from the 10th until the 13th century AD. In chapter 8 I point out that considerable regional and/or ethnic differences can be noted between studied Tiwanaku cemetery sites. Because of the mentioned differences, and a general lack of securely dated burial contexts, I feel that at present we can do no better than to classify most studied Tiwanaku burials into three broad categories: (1) elite and/or priests, (2) "commoners", and (3) sacrificial victims and/or slaves and/or prisoners of war. On the basis of such indicators as monumental architecture and occupational specialisation we would expect to find considerable status-related differences in tomb size, grave goods, etc. among the Tiwanaku. Interestingly, however, such variation is rather modest, and the Tiwanaku seem to have been a lot less interested in expending considerable labour and resources in burial facilities than their pre-Columbian contemporaries of many parts of the Central Andes.

Diversitet och tillväxtfrämjande egenskaper hos Stenotrophomonas-endofyter isolerade från Calliandra calothyrsus Meisn. rotknölar

The bacterial genus Stenotrophomonas comprises 12 species. They are widely found throughout the environment and particularly S. maltophilia, S. rhizophila and S. pavanii are closely associated with plants. Strains of the most common Stenotrophomonas species, S. maltophilia, promote plant growth and health, degrade natural and man-made pollutants and produce biomolecules of biotechnological and economical value. Many S. maltophilia –strains are also multidrug resistant and can act as opportunistic human pathogens. During an INCO-project (1998-2002) rhizobia were collected from root nodules of the tropical leguminous tree Calliandra calothyrsus Meisn. from several countries in Central America, Africa and New Caledonia. The strains were identified by the N2-group (Helsinki university) and some strains turned out to be members of the genus Stenotrophomonas. Several Stenotrophomonas strains induced white tumor- or nodule-like structures on Calliandra?s roots in plant experiments. The strains could, besides from root nodules, also be isolated from surface sterilized roots and stems. The purpose of my work was to investigate if the Stenotrophomonas strains i) belong to a new Stenotrophomonas species, ii) have the same origin, iii) if there are other differences than colony morphology between phase variations of the same strain, iv) have plant growth-promoting (PGP) activity or other advantageous effects on plants, and v) like rhizobia have ability to induce root nodule formation. The genetic diversity and clustering of the Stenotrophomonas strains were analyzed with AFLP fingerprinting to get indications about their geographical origin. Differences in enzymatic properties and ability to use different carbon and energy sources were tested between the two phases of each strain with commercial API tests for bacterial identification. The ability to infect root hairs and induce root nodule formation was investigated both using plant tests with the host plant Calliandra and PCR amplification of nodA and nodC genes for nodulation. The PGP activity of the strains was tested in vitro mainly with plate methods. The impact on growth, nitrogen content and nodulation in vivo was investigated through greenhouse experiments with the legumes Phaseolus vulgaris and Galega orientalis. Both the genetic and phenotypic diversity among the Stenotrophomonas strains was small, which proposes that they have the same origin. The strains brought about changes on the root hairs of Calliandra and they also increased the amount of root hairs. However, no root nodules were detected. The strains produced IAA, protease and lipase in vitro. They also showed plant a growth-promoting effect on G. orientalis, both alone and together with R. galegae HAMBI 540, and also activated nodulation among efficient rhizobia on P. vulgaris in greenhouse. It requires further research to get a better picture about the mechanisms behind the positive effects. The results in this thesis, however, confirm earlier studies concerning Stenotrophomonas positive impact on plants.