Microbotanical analysis in artifacts of the CABUZA phase (900–1200 ce), Azapa Valley, northern Chile: Vessels and rites of “eating and drinking with the dead” in post-Tiwanaku times

We report observations of wear traces and microbotanical analysis of 29 ceramics, one pot of Cucurbita sp., and one wooden spoon—all artifacts of the AZ-6 and AZ-71 cemeteries of the Cabuza cultural phase (900–1200 ce), Azapa Valley, northern Chile—. The results show some unused artifacts (11) besides 21 samples that were positive for starches of Zea mays, Cucurbita sp., Manihot esculenta, Ipomoea batatas, or Phaseolus sp., in addition to vegetable remains (13 cases). This evidence is interpreted as an expression of funerary rites in post-state times, which could be an inheritance of the Andean Tiwanaku State (ca. 500–1000 ce).