Archaeology Magazine - September/October 2009 - 8

I Carlos Zárate replies : I would like to
Mountain Spotting
The Conversation with Peruvian
thank Johan Reinhard for his interest
in clarifying this point He and my
mountain guide Carlos Zárate
brother Miguel were, in fact, thefirst to
Inca
Peaks,"
July/ August)
("Scaling
stated that Zárate "spotted signs
see the Ice Maiden » When I had made
of what would turn out to be a
the ascent two years prior withfriends,
sacrificed Inca girl, the now-famous
wefound wovengrass (pieces of vegetal
'Ice Maiden*'"This statement leaves
rope) and pieces of worked wood along
the impression that I (and my
the route toward the summit Very
close
to the summit, we saw some
assistant,
Zárate,
climbing
Miguel
Carloss brother) were aware of this
aligned stones that formed part of
to
the
of
the
a wall but the structure was mostly
prior
mummy
discovery
in September 1995» In fact, no one
covered in ice and snow»By the time
had reported to me (or anyone else
Johan and my brother made the climb
I am aware of) that Carlos had seen
two years later, nearby volcanicactivity
I
of
a
had
caused rapid déglaciation and the
mummy questioned
"signs"
structure had broken apart, leaving its
Carlos about the mountain before
offeringsexposed»
climbing it, and he showed me
his
in
which
of
ascent
1993
photos
the summit is completely covered
Hippies Need Soft Skin, Too
While reading "Digging the Age
in snow»He said he had seen only a
of Aquarius" (July /August), I
batch of woven grass a considerable
distance from the summit thought, "What the hell are hippies
nowhere near where we later found
doing with a tube of face cream?"
the Ice Maiden»
Or the red plastic hotels from the
The story leaves the false
capitalistic Monopoly game? These
I
items dont seem to fit with the
that
was
aware
of
the
impression
existence of a mummy on Nevado
image of an anti- establishment
I
that
this
was
and
Ampato
hippie, but this is an example of
why
the true treasure of archaeology»
climbed it»In fact, the permanent
snow cap on the summit led me
The field tells us that throughout
to conclude that it would be the
history, human nature has changed
last place one would expect to find
very little, regardless of the culture,
remains»
community, or commune to which
archaeological
During
one belongs» Thank goodness for the
first
ascent
with
to
my
Miguel,
an
we
"hip" archaeologists who sift through
photograph
erupting volcano,
did not plan to climb to the summit»
it all to narrate the human story
Sonia Kovach
On that expedition, we saw that the
summit was snow-free for the first
Chicago,IL
time in recorded memory, so we
A Tuber's Long Tail
decided to plan a second climb and discovered the Ice Maiden»
Maya Roots (July/ August) details
Johan Reinhard
Payson Sheetss impressive evidence
in
-Residence
for
manioc cultivation in the Classic
ExplorerNationalGeographicSociety
Maya period at Cerén, and Bennet
Bronsons prescient assessment 43
years ago that manioc was economiARCHAEOLOGY
welcomes mailfrom
readers. Please address your comments
cally important to the ancient Maya»
to ARCHAEOLOGY,
36-36 33rd Street,
It is also of interest, though, that
Long IslandCity,NY11106,fax 718-472manioc cultivation was practiced by
3051,e-mail letters@archaeology.org.
the Preclassic Maya at least 1,200
The editors reserve the right to edit
years earlier than at Cerén» In 1992,
submitted material.Volumeprecludes
our acknowledgingindividualletters.
Jon G» Hather isolated manioc

8

remains in half of his samples from
Early Middle Preclassic trash deposits at Cuello, Belize»Manioc was
identified in 50 percent of the samples it was almost as ubiquitous as
maize»This supports Bronsons and
Sheetss assessments of the importance of root crops to the Maya,
but also shows it to be long-lived in
Maya culture»
Norman Hammond
Department of Archaeology
Boston University

Ancient Greek Gender-Bending
lhe last paragraph or Marco Merolas item about a Dionysian relief
from Herculaneum ("Artifact,"July/
August) states that the relief depicts
a ritual or celebration, but that the
scene is a mystery with "no parallels
in ancient Roman art»"It seems clear
to me that it depicts something
called the Oschophoria [meaning
the carrying of vines bearing grapes],
a festival in honor of Athena and
Dionysus in which two male youths
dressed as women [perhaps the gender-ambiguous figures above] lead a
celebratory procession»
David Meadows
Burlington,ON

* September/October 2009
ARCHAEOLOGY
Archaeology Magazine - September/October 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - September/October 2009
