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La Chichera y El Patrón: Chicha and the Energetics of Feasting in the Prehistoric Andes
Author(s) -
Jennings Justin
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
archeological papers of the american anthropological association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1551-8248
pISSN - 1551-823X
DOI - 10.1525/ap3a.2004.14.241
Subject(s) - prehistory , consumption (sociology) , geography , production (economics) , archaeology , history , sociology , social science , economics , macroeconomics
Although archaeologists have recognized the importance of feasting in past societies, there has been little systematic work examining the high preparation costs of these events. I suggest that elites faced substantial hurdles in accumulating sufficient land and labor to underwrite feasts. By analyzing the production sequence for the food and drink consumed at these occasions, we can better understand some of the hurdles and how they were overcome. This chapter, a case study for an energetics approach to feasting, details certain aspects of chicha (maize beer) production and consumption in the central Andes and its role in Andean feasts. In particular, I consider the amount of maize needed to brew chicha, the amount of labor and equipment that it takes to brew this beer, and the amount of chicha consumed at an event. I argue that the greatest barrier to throwing feasts in the prehistoric Andes was likely bottlenecks in the brewing process rather than the production of adequate maize.