Human skeletal remains from the Pacopampa site in the northern highlands of Peru (original) (raw)
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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.
Homo-journal of Comparative Human Biology, 2001
This study is based on skeletons and mummies belonging to 582 individuals excavated at sites of Pueblo Viejo, Cahuachi, Estaqueria and Atarco in the Nasca valley, South Coast of Peru. Archaeological evidence distinguishes three cultural phases: Nasca (400 BC-550 AD), Wari (600-1100 AD) and Chincha (1100-1412 AD). Since the Chincha human remains were too exiguous (27 individuals), only Nasca and Wari were considered. For the Nasca population, sex ratio was 113 men to 100 women (53% of males); for the Wari population, sex ratio was 117 men to 100 women (54% of males). The palaeodemographic data show that the infant mortality rate was 33‰ for Nasca and 105‰ for Wari. Life expectancy was 38-43 years for Nasca and 31-36 years for Wari. Death percentages in all the age groups increased from Nasca to Wari phase. ANOVA and t-test for paired comparison were applied in order to examine if dental and bone ages were statistically different. Long bones and teeth showed an allometric development, and the age estimated from the tooth formation and eruption was generally higher than the age estimated from the maximum lengths of long bones. The anthropological study of the Nasca valley skeletal populations confirmed the archaeological hypothesis of worse conditions of the Wari population in comparison with the previous Nasca people.
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.
Talking Bones: Bioarchaeological Analysis of Individuals from Palpa
Bioarchaeology, the scientific discipline that studies past societies through human remains, has had an uneven development in Peru. One of the zones of lesser development has been the south coast, probably due to the lack of scientifically recovered collections accessible to investigators. Most studies centre on the skull: cranial deformations, trephinations, and trophy heads, but little is known about the biological characteristics and levels of adaptation of the prehistoric human populations that inhabited the area. In this work we present the results of the osteological analysis of 198 individuals recovered from funerary contexts excavated by the Nasca–Palpa Archaeological Project. The levels of adaptation of Archaic, Paracas, Nasca, and Middle Horizon populations are evaluated through demography, comparative statures, spongiosclerosis, and trauma analysis. The tendencies found suggest that the best levels were achieved during the Archaic, and the worst in Paracas. Other important findings include a differential distribution of trauma among women and men in Paracas and Nasca times, suggesting gendered activities. Finally, there is a rising through time of trauma attributable to interpersonal violence, reaching the highest point in Nasca, when also two cases of possible child abuse are identified
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2018
This study presents a diachronic analysis of pathological conditions from two samples of human remains at the archaeological site of Tumilaca la Chimba, Peru. The site includes two occupations, one dating to the terminal Middle Horizon or Early Late Intermediate Period (ca 950-1250 CE), as the Tiwanaku state underwent collapse. Despite political fragmentation, this occupation is characterized by substantial cultural continuity in Tiwanaku practices. The second occupation dates to the later Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (ca 1250-1476 CE) and is associated with significant changes in material culture. This study analyzes skeletal data derived from cemeteries associated with each occupation in order to compare proxies of nutritional status, infection, and trauma. Paleopathological analysis of individuals from the terminal Middle Horizon Tumilaca cemeteries (N=20) and LIP Estuquiña cemetery (N=23) reveals significant differences in age and sex distributions; this could be an artifact of looting and differential excavation, or a possible shift in fertility and population demography. There are also differences, though not statistically significant, in the frequencies of pathological conditions including cribra orbitalia, which is higher in the Tumilaca sample, and oral decay, which is higher in the Estuquiña sample. These results tentatively suggest that physiological stressors-particularly those occurring in childhood-did not necessarily abate at this site over time, but rather shifted in their causes. These results underscore the importance of bioarchaeological contributions to theorizing local experiences of larger sociopolitical transitions in the pre-Hispanic Andes.
A comparative study on the dental health status of five Precolumbian Peruvian cultures
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1977
In a survey of dental health status of ancient Southern Peru, 101 skeletal remains were studied from five cultures: Paracas, Nazca, Tiahuanaco, Ica, and Inca. The Paracas and Ica cultures exhibited more missing antemortem teeth per mandible than the other cultures. Frequency of missing one or more third molars was less than expected and not as high as reported in peoples of Mongoloid heritage. The Paracas, Ica and Nazca, “coastal” cultures had a higher caries incidence than the “inland” cultures. Whether this relates to some difference in diet or water supply remains unresolved and warrants further investigation. Moderate attrition was noted in all the Precolumbian cultures but pulpal involvement was not observed. Osteitis, noted in all the cultures, was more pronounced in the Nazca, Paracas and Ica cultures. There appeared to be a direct relationship between caries involvement and the number of missing antemortem teeth to osteitis. Calculus was heavier in the Paracas and Ica cultures. In addition, the Paracas culture exhibited a dark brown stain on the teeth which may imply some difference between the cultures in either the food, water or social habits.
Age-at-death estimation is one of the most important aspects of bioarchaeological and forensic investigations. A set of analysis carried out with the osteological sample recovered from Chenque I site (Lihué Calel National Park, La Pampa province, Argentina) aims to test the applicability of multiple methods to obtain reliable information about its demographic composition and structure. In the present paper the results of the evaluation of the structure of uniradicular teeth are presented and discussed. It has been previously stated that chronological age is highly correlated with pulp dimensions in these teeth, because dentine deposition continue during all life. Strong correlation has been also identified with periodontal retraction and apical translucency. The analysis of the structure of these teeth offers useful information in order to obtain age-atdeath estimations of the individuals they belonged to. Dental age-at-death estimations of the control sample were obtained evaluating some skeletal markers (pubic symphysis and auricular surface of coxae), and then compared with the dental analysis. The formulae whose results showed strong correlations with the skeletal estimations were applied to another sample, composed of teeth that were not associated with any skeletal marker of age. The evaluation of premolars and lower central incisors offers estimations that are consistent with those obtained from the evaluation of the pelvic bones, so that the application of these formulae is an alternative method to obtain estimations in archaeological samples from similar contexts.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
In Bioarchaeology, the paleodemographic analysis has been widely questioned and is often reduced to a simple study of the age and sex composition in skeletal series. This work constitutes the first paleodemographic approach for the Médano Petroquímica site (La Pampa, Argentina). We discuss different paleodemographic parameters based on the analysis of the human bone remains recovered from the site. The results obtained from the study of 75 individuals show an attritional mortality curve, with two mortality peaks, one for infants under one year of age and one for young adults. This profile suggests the presence of high infant mortality and high exposure to risk situations in young adults, which is consistent with previous studies about prehistoric huntergatherer societies in the region. Besides, the calculated juvenile index (JI) suggests, on the one hand, that it would be a growing population and, on the other, that the sample would not be biased.
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.