A History of Paleopathology in Peru and Northern Chile (original) (raw)
Related papers
Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Northern Andes
Latin American Antiquity, 1998
OMPOSING a foreword for a volume honoring Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff is both an honor and an occasion for reflection and sadness. After a first gettogether nearly thirty-five years ago in his office at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, of whose Department of Anthropology he had then just become chair, we met only sporadically. Regrettably this was so especially after 1971, when I moved from Los Angeles to the State University of New York at Albany. Thereafter I missed him almost every time he visited UCLA, where he had become closely associated with the Latin American Center and its longtime director, Johannes Wilbert. But every get-together-including the last one a few months before his untimely death-was over lunch with Wilbert, his good friend and mine (and, incidentally, my mentor in graduate school and since) at the UCLA Faculty Center. Perhaps his death of a heart attack was not untimely but, if death can ever be that, fortunate, for it spared him a more protracted and painful death from cancer of the bladder. Like many other colleagues in the field of shamanic studies, I owe him more than I can ever express. He was an inspiring scholar and colleague; the depth and breadth of his knowledge and insights never failed to amaze. To me personally the viii enormous. Gerardo became a research member of the new Instituto Colombiano de Antropologfa (1953-1960). In 1963, he and Alicia created the first Department of Anthropology in Colombia at the Universidad de Los Andes where he became chairman (1963-1969). In 197 4, Gerardo became Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California at Los Angeles, where occasionally he gave lectures and taught classes. The enormous contribution that Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff made to science has been recognized internationally on several occasions. In 1976 he was made a Foreign Associate Member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States; in 1983, a Member of the Academia Real Espanola de Ciencias; and in 1989, a Fellow of the Linnean Society. He was also awarded, in 1975, the Thomas H. Huxley medal by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. As well, in 1983 he became a Founding Member of the Third World Academy of Sciences. Preface The archaeology and anthropology of Colombia and Latin American have lost a brilliant scholar. Gerardo, however, has left behind a rich legacy of academic achievement and inspiration, as this book demonstrates. The imprint of his scholarly influence can be seen not only in his own students and followers in Colombia but also in the students of Donald Lathrap, five of whom are contributors to this volume. Reichel and Lathrap were friends and colleagues, and admired each other's research. Reichel at times sent students to study with Lathrap at the University of Illinois and in turn helped facilitate the field research ofLathrap's students. Lathrap, the Great Caiman, as his students affectionately referred to him, died in 1990. Now Reichel, the Great Jaguar of the neotropics, has followed his friend, the Great Caiman, but their discoveries, ideas, and teachings live on.
Paleopathology Association Scientific Program and Abstracts Meeting in South America IV Lima, Peru
2013
The analysis of 119 skeletons excavated from 60 tombs of the Middle Horizon-Wari in Huaca Pucllana (Lima) between 2005 and 2010, allowed observation of some of the most frequent perimortem injuries on those remains. The analysis included the sex and age determination as well as the observation of the type and amount of perimortem lesions by every corporal segment affected. This information was contrasted with the field information which permitted us to distinguish the relation between multiple / individual burials and the type of injuries found on each body. Even though most of the bodies did not show any evidence of perimortem injury or these were not observable, and when they were present, there was a prevalence of blunt force trauma to the head or sharp trauma to the rest of the body, while in a few bodies, both kinds of lesions were evident. Together, blunt trauma and sharp injuries may be related in a few cases to ritual violence, possibly the sacrifice of children who were buried as part of the fill of the tombs, while in other cases the injuries were related to some form of interpersonal violence. It was possible to deduce a relationship between multiple burials and sacrificed individuals and individual or double burials to interpersonal violence; however it is important to consider that not all the perimortem injuries are necessarily an indicator for sacrifice or interpersonal violence. Only the analysis of the contextual information including the one coming from the burial, the skeleton, such as age, sex as well as the type, frequency and distribution of the perimortem lesions that may be present throughout the body, can make it possible to see the difference between the these two phenomena.
Prospects: archaeological research and practice in Peru
The following comments reflect on the present state of Peruvian-led research archaeology and its prospects for the future, from the viewpoint of a friend, colleague but notably as an outsider. As such this piece is informed by both personal experience and the informed opinions of local Peruvian investigators who, for reasons that will become apparent, have opted for anonymity. The essential premise here is that the intellectual and financial basis of archaeology in Peru is at a critical stage, and a major part of this article is to see how the next generation can negotiate this quagmire; and believe me for all the myriad problems there are important rays of light that could significantly and positively alter the state of Peruvian archaeology. With this in mind, in this brief essay I consider the research environment, the theoretical basis, and the means by which research projects and resource mitigation are carried out, and summarise some of the challenges that archaeologists living and working in Peru now face. A recent, thorough treatise of the history and state of Peruvian archaeology can be found in Shimada and Vega-Centeno (2011).
Theoretical Perspectives in Peruvian Archaeology
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 2024
This article explains the development of theoretical perspectives in Peruvian archaeology from the end of the 19th century to the first decades of the 21st century. These perspectives have been characterized by having been influenced, mainly from Western Europe and United States of America, in various ways due to the nature of the Peruvian archaeological remains and their sociopolitical context. Likewise, in Peru, there is an important diversity in the use of hegemonic archaeological theories and the particular use of theories by Peruvian and even foreign archaeologists. Therefore, in this entry, we will refer to the most relevant archaeological theoretical perspectives recognized in Peru and which are evolutionary, culture-historical, Marxist, processualist, and postprocessualist. However, no one archaeologist is a "pure example" of each theory. In fact, many archaeologists have used different theories in archaeological explanations. Because a significant number of archaeologists have focused on the study of the Andes, mainly from the pre-Hispanic era, in this article a series of significant periods and themes of Peruvian archeology have been selected in which a significant number of studies have been carried out. In this way, archaeological perspectives have developed in the concrete practice of such archaeologists. Thus, in this article, we will see how archaeological theoretical perspectives in Peruvian archaeology have been developed in relation to the following areas, social phenomena, and periods: the Norte Chico area and the Late Preceramic Period (3000
An introduction to advances in Andean South American paleopathology
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2020
In the 20 years since the publication of John Verano's foundational paper "Advances in Paleopathology of Andean South America," paleopathological and bioarchaeological investigations of human skeletal remains in the region have increased dramatically. Today, primary foci have grown to span the identification of disease, detailed reconstructions of biocultural interactions, embodied social experiences, and ancient living worlds. In this special issue, more than a dozen scholars reflect on the state of developments in the scientific analyses of ancient disease, life, and society across the region. For this introductory article, we frame the current state of Andean paleopathology by reviewing key historical contributions beginning in the last century. More recent trends since 1997 are defined via a meta-analysis of the literature. We then highlight current innovations and consider future directions of study. We then close with an overview of the papers comprising this special issue. Each article explores major theoretical, topical, and methodological advances that have transpired since 1997 and charts the course for the next two decades of work-with implications and insights that transcend the Andes and speak to key paleopathological issues around the world.
Human skeletal remains from the Pacopampa site in the northern highlands of Peru
Anthropological Science, 2009
The Pacopampa site, located in the northern highlands of Peru, is an archeological site belonging to the Formative Period (2500 BC-0 AD). The purposes of this study are to observe and describe the human skeletal remains from the Pacopampa site, to estimate the sex and age-at-death of each individual, and finally to diagnose morphological traits and skeletal disorders. The materials used here are 498 human skeleton parts. The sample comprises at least 18 individuals: eight subadult skeletons, eight adult skeletons, one skeleton aged 10-39 years, and one of unknown age. The age distribution (six of eight subadults were less than one year) suggests a high proportion of infants in the population. The sexual ratio of three adult males to four adult females indicates a skeletal population with hardly any sexual bias. A paleopathological examination revealed that the percentage of permanent teeth affected by dental caries was 9% (18/192). Two elderly females exhibit periodontal disease in both the maxillae and mandibles. This is the first study to examine the lives and deaths of a Formative Period population from the perspective of bioarcheology.
The human skeletal remains from Cuncaicha rock shelter, Peru
New Perspectives on the Peopling of the Americas, 2018
The settlement of the Peruvian high Andes proved to be extremely challenging for Pleistocene hunter-gatherers due to geographical isolation and the harsh environmental conditions of the region. In this chapter, we present a report of the human skeletal material recovered from the Cuncaicha rockshelter, a Peruvian high-altitude site. The excavation in 2015 yielded skeletal remains of five human individuals. Our report provides demographic information of these, including age-at-death, sex, and body stature, as well as osteological indicators of pathological conditions and their etiology. The skeletal remains of two adult females and three adult males were identified, with isolated human bones confirming the presence of one additional subadult individual. The analysis of the funeral contexts revealed similarities to other contemporary sites in the Andes.
Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris BMSAP, 2023
The Pikimachay cave in south-eastern Peru had an important role in archaeological discussions concerning the first peopling of South America, and the Southern Andes in particular. The excavations by Richard MacNeish in 1969- 1970 identified a sequence of possible but controversial Late Pleistocene human occupations up to historical times. As a part of a research programme aiming to re-assess the Late Pleistocene remains from this site, we made taphonomic observations on a sample of bones (n=40) from the lower strata (layers h to k) as follows: h (n=17), h1 (n=6), i (n=4), i1 (n=7), j (n=5), and k (n=1). The conventional uncalibrated radiocarbon dates initially obtained suggest that these layers span a period of ~14.0 to 25.0 thousand years before present (kybp). Each bone was thoroughly examined to determine the nature of modifications to them, and to describe alterations and the general condition of the specimens in order to identify possible anthropic intervention. For this purpose, we examined the surface modifications indicating fresh or post-depositional fractures, the different kinds of marks, weathering, and the presence of manganese staining. We concluded that several bones (n=8) from layer h showed various human-made modifications. We can therefore suggest that this new information justifies the assumption that the bones and lithic materials from layer h would have been produced during the Early Holocene/Late Pleistocene between ~≥9.0/10.0 and ~14.1, probably at ~14.1 kybp; an assumption that can also be considered for the stone remains from the underlying strata h1 that yielded a similar date. The bone remains from strata j to k do not show any human modifications. Furthermore, if the reported chronology and its association with the anthropic remains are true, the Pikimachay cave could still be relevant to the debate over the human colonisation of western South America that occurred within a similar timeframe during the postglacial era.
2018
Although the Moche phase of the Early Intermediate Period of the north coast of Peru has been well studied, less is known about the Salinar and Gallinazo phases that preceded it. The few pre-Moche sites that have been subject to significant investigation have primarily been inland, urban settlements. To better understand the full range of lived experiences during the Salinar and Gallinazo phases, skeletal remains of 26 individuals recovered from the two small, coastal communities of Pampa la Cruz and La Iglesia were examined. Because of the major political, social, and economic changes that were occurring during this time, these remains were examined for signs of malnutrition and chronic infectious disease to see if rates of these pathological conditions corresponded to those changes. While the small sample size precludes statistical significance in most areas of comparison, trends in the resulting data suggest that Gallinazo people led healthier lives than their Salinar ancestors.