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Feasts with friends from afar key to formation of Peruvian civilization


July 16, 2018

How did small, isolated groups of ancient humans come to form complex societies?

To gain some insight, said author Charles Stanish in Smithsonian.com, researchers studied the role of feasts in an ancient Peruvian society, Paracas. They wanted to determine whether these large communal events helped this society grow by consolidating a single group, or by bringing together diverse groups.

Kelly Knudson, a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change and director of its Center for Bioarchaeological Research, performed chemical analyses of organic remains from an ancient feasting site. Her work revealed that the feast elements came from a very broad range of ecozones all around the south central Andes.

This suggests that widespread alliances were a crucial part of building a civilization, at least for Paracas society.

Read the full article to learn more.

Article source: Smithsonian.com

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