The social life of death : mortuary practices in the North-Central Andes, 11th-18th centuries (original) (raw)
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An Integrated Analysis of Pre- Hispanic Mortuary Practices: A Middle Sicán Case Study
Recent debate has raised serious questions about the viability of the social and ideological reconstruction of prehistoric culture on the basis of mortuary analysis. In recent years bioarchaeology has gained considerable prominence, underscoring the fact that death, burials, and associated mortuary practices are multifaceted phenomena shaped by biological, social, ideological, and taphonomic factors. Few studies attempting social reconstruction through mortuary analysis, including those of a bioarchaeological character, have adequately addressed this multidimensionality. This study shows that social, ideological, and bioarchaeological reconstruction can be productively pursued through tight integration of a multitude of approaches and perspectives set within a long-term regional study. Focusing on two large 1,000-year-old Middle Sica´n shaft tombs on the north coast of Peru, it integrates analyses of mitochondrial DNA, inherited dental traits, developmental health, diet, placement of interred individuals and associated grave goods, and data from ground-penetrating radar surveys. Overall it shows that these tombs reflected the broader social organization and were part of a planned elite cemetery and that the overlying monumental adobe mound served as the physical focus of ancestor worship.
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Latin American Antiquity, 1992
Epiclassic occupants of the site of La Quemada left the disarticulated remains of 11-14 humans in an apparently sacred structure outside the monumental core of the site. Several lines of evidence are reviewed to generate propositions about the ritual meanings andfunctions of the bones. A comparative analysis reveals the complexity of mortuary practices in northern and western Mexico, and permits the suggestion that these particular remains were those of revered ancestors or community members. The sacred structure is seen as a charnel house, in which the more ancient tradition of ancestor worship expressed in shaft tombs was essentially perpetuated above ground. Hostile social relations are clearly suggested, however, by other categories of bone deposits. Recognition of the rich variability of mortuary displays leads to questions about their role in the maintenance of the social order.
An Integrated Analysis of Pre‐Hispanic Mortuary Practices
Current Anthropology, 2004
Recent debate has raised serious questions about the viability of the social and ideological reconstruction of prehistoric culture on the basis of mortuary analysis. In recent years bioarchaeology has gained considerable prominence, underscoring the fact that death, burials, and associated mortuary practices are multifaceted phenomena shaped by biological, social, ideological, and taphonomic factors. Few studies attempting social reconstruction through mortuary analysis, including those of a bioarchaeological character, have adequately addressed this multidimensionality. This study shows that social, ideological, and bioarchaeological reconstruction can be productively pursued through tight integration of a multitude of approaches and perspectives set within a long-term regional study. Focusing on two large 1,000-year-old Middle Sicán shaft tombs on the north coast of Peru, it integrates analyses of mitochondrial DNA, inherited dental traits, developmental health, diet, placement of interred individuals and associated grave goods, and data from ground-penetrating radar surveys. Overall it shows that these tombs reflected the broader social organization and were part of a planned elite cemetery and that the overlying monumental adobe mound served as the physical focus of ancestor worship. i z u m i s h i m a d a is Professor of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, IL 62901, U.S.A. [ishimada@siu. edu]), specializing in Andean archaeology. k e n-i c h i s h i n o d a
Global Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology, 2019
This contribution has the purpose of presenting a set of material evidences linked to mortuary practices from Inca times recovered in Esquina de Huajra and Pucara de Tilcara archaeological sites. This in order to ponder the role of funerary practices in the social life of loca populations under Inca control. The presented contexts refer to diverse practices pointing at the great variability regarding the treatment of the deceased during Inca times, allowing to analyze the new socio-political context established in Quebrada de Humahuaca. The funerary practices registered refer to a strong tradition linked to the cult to the ancestors, probably rooting from pre-Inca moments. As in other Andean cases, these manifestations could have responded to beliefs associated with the regeneration of crops and productive cycles in general. The role of the deceased in strengthening the collective memory and the meaning of traditions shared throughout time is also relevant.
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This research explores the relationship between mortuary practice and sociopolitical change among a collection of communities incorporated into the Inca Empire. I conducted this work in the Chincha Valley of central Peru, an area controlled by a complex polity known as the Chincha Kingdom in the Late Intermediate Period, or LIP (AD 1000 – 1400). During the Late Horizon (AD 1400 – 1532), the Chincha Kingdom fell under the rule of the Inca Empire. In this study, I investigated a dense, well-preserved distribution of graves in the middle Chincha Valley. Using methods from archaeology, GIS, and Bayesian statistical modeling, I examined the nature and development of local mortuary practice in the mid-valley from the LIP to the Late Horizon and recorded over 500 well-preserved graves that cluster into 44 mortuary sites. These sites vary in layout and have two distinct grave types that differ in architecture and use: above-ground and subterranean graves (chullpas) and subterranean cists. Radiocarbon data indicate continuity, change, and innovation in tomb use and treatment of the dead through time. I argue that these diachronic mortuary patterns were products of negotiations among indigenous groups and the Inca. Mid-valley peoples manipulated the remains of their dead to produce new deceased persons before and during their incorporation into the Inca Empire. They dynamically reconfigured the ways relationships among the living and the deceased were performed, thereby transforming their sociopolitical landscape in the face of imperial conquest. This study provides support for a model of mortuary practice as an interface through which interactions between complex societies and expansionist empires occurred.
Ñawpa Pacha, 2022
Ancient Andean mortuary practices were dynamic events where individual and group identities were displayed and negotiated during Inca imperial expansion (AD 1400-1532) and the Colonial period (AD 1532-1824). This article explores the significance of a large communal ossuary found at the site of Las Huacas in the Chincha Valley through analyzing the context, material culture, and human remains. The feature is a secondary interment of at least 42 individuals that incorporates broad local trends and integrates some Late Horizon innovations, including the manipulation of vertebrae on a reed post. If the feature was deposited during the Late Horizon, the burial event was likely embedded within sociopolitical strategies under Inca-Chincha joint rule. If deposited during the colonial period, it could represent an offering made in response to a drastic decrease in population. Regardless, the feature demonstrates how local Chincha material culture and mortuary practices persisted and changed after Inca expansion. Las prácticas funerarias en el mundo andino antiguo fueron eventos dinámicos, donde las identidades de individuos y grupos eran exhibidos y negociados durante la época de la expansión Incaica (AD 1400-1532) y el periodo colonial (AD 1532-1824). Este trabajo explora el significado de un osario común encontrado en el sitio Las Huacas en el Valle de Chincha, a partir del análisis del contexto, cultura material y restos humanos. El rasgo consiste en un depósito segundario de por los menos 42 individuos que incorpora técnicas locales e integra innovaciones del horizonte tardío, incluyendo la manipulación de vertebras en cañas. El articulo concluye explorando el posible significado de este evento funerario. Si fue depositado durante el Horizonte Tardío, probablemente estuvo relacionado con estrategias sociopolíticas como parte del dominio conjunto Chincha-Inca. Si fue depositado durante el periodo colonial, probablemente representa una ofrenda hecha en repuesta a la drástica disminución de la población. De cualquier forma, el rasgo demuestra cómo la cultura material y las practicas funerarias de los Chincha persistieron y cambiaron después de su incorporación al imperio Inca.
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2004
Sacred landscapes are a subset of the diverse media that people use to make statements about social order. Mary Douglas has discussed two dimensions of social order-group and grid-and suggested connections between their varied conceptions and expressions in the culturally constructed landscape. I extend Douglas's concepts to a specific domain of sacred landscapes, funerary architecture. Drawing on two examples from the prehispanic Andes, I argue that differences in Chimú and Inka funerary landscapes represent different conceptions of social order. Archaeological investigations of sacred spaces as expressions of varying social experience deepen understanding of Andean societies and other ancient peoples.