Impact of Empire Expansion on Household Diet: The Inka in Northern Chile's Atacama Desert.

ATACAMA Desert (Chile); CHILE

The article discusses a study which evaluated the dietary adaptations of indigenous farmers in northern Chile's Atacama Desert during the time that the Inka Empire incorporated these communities into their economic system. The study tested the hypothesis that the Inka system introduced highland Andean crops into the Lluta Valley while reducing local consumption of taxable maize. The study analyzed a series of 48 coprolites from Lluta Valley archaeological sites to test the hypothesis that the Inka Empire introduced a different framework for crop production, circulation, and consumption.