Towards the Reconstruction of the Ritual Expressions of Societies of the Early Ceramic Period in Central Chile: Social and Cultural Contexts Associated with the Use of Smoking Pipes

Abstract

Drastic cultural changes occurred during the Early Ceramic Period (200 BC–1300 AD) in Chile. The social systems became more complex, manifested by the appearance of a large variety of cultural expressions in archaeological contexts, among them smoking pipes or quitras. The spatial discontinuity of this evidence and the fragmentary state of the investigation of smoking pipes has limited our understanding of the Smoking Complex. We aim to deepen this understanding and widen our perspective by examining their contents and their social scope and dispersion. Our investigation uses evidence from the Smoking Complex at the La Granja site (central Chile), which has been associated with ritual ceremonies of local ceramic and horticultural groups as well as groups from nearby localities. In this chapter, we present results obtained from the initial stage of our project. Analyses of archaeological seeds and residue analysis have been fundamental in the identification of plant species and substances consumed in the smoking pipes. The ethnohistorical and ethnographical data compiled, along with chemical and microfossil analyses, confirms the use of Nicotiana sp. in the pipes. Furthermore, the morphotechnological and stylistic studies have shown ample variability in the pipes from La Granja. In addition, the presence of other elements of smoking paraphernalia has augmented the types of material objects associated with this practice. Based on these results, we discuss this site as a place of social aggregation for communities living in the central region of Chile and how the analysis can enrich our understanding of the local Smoking Complex.