8/2/2019 Apr2 Gabbard and Kurin SAA_2011_Poster

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A Bioarchaeological Assessment of Cranial Modification and Health in Ancient Highland PeruDanielle Kurin and Aubree Gabbard

Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University; Department of Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College

Documenting Compromised Health

Demography

Temporal and Geographic Distribution

Discussion

References Cited

Ethnicity

1330S

1340S

0 km 30 km 60 km

Pucullu

Cachi

Natividad

Ranracancha

LegendChanka Site (AD1000 -1400)

Wari Site (AD600-1000)

River

ProvincialBoundary

N

7330W 730W

Turpo

Fig. 6. Andahuaylas Province, Apurimac Department, Peru

IntroductionThis poster reports on the relationship between cranial modification andphysiological health among the Chanka of highland Peru (AD 1000-1400). Humancrania (N=263) were examined to see if cranial modification (an indicator of ethnicidentity) is associated with porotic hyperostosis (PH) and cribra orbitalia (CO), craniallesions indicative of poor nutritional health and/or disease. Initial results demonstratesignificant health differences between modified and unmodified individuals within thispopulation following the disintegration of the Wari Empire and subsequent drought ca.AD 1000. These data suggest that Wari collapse and drought did not create worseconditions for everyone in Andahuaylas. Instead, shifts in sanitation and resourceavailability and access may have been socially mediated by ethnic divisions, which inturn contributed to the development of pathological lesions on the cranium.

Cranial and postcranial remains were recovered from burial contexts at four sites inAndahuaylas, but only data from the crania are reported here: Turpo (N= 15 crania),Cachi (N =172 crania), Ranracancha (N= 40 crania), and Pucullu (N= 27 crania). Craniafrom Qasiachi burial cave (N= 27 crania), currently stored in the Natividad CommunityMuseum, were also examined.

At Turpo, the Wari era (AD 600-1000) site, crania were recovered from a circular cisttomb. The other four sites (Pucullu, Natividad, Ranracancha, and Cachi) date to thepost-imperial Chanka Period (AD 1000-1400). Chanka populations interred their deadcollectively in small caves, known as machays.

Standard bioarchaeological methods (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994) were employed inthe analysis of crania. Age was based on dental eruption, dental wear, and cranialsuture closure, and skeletal sex was determined based on standard morphological traits(the size and shape of glabella, the mastoid process, nuchal crest, and supraorbitalmargin). Cranial modification- the intentional reshaping of an infants malleable skullwas also assessed for absence or presence. Porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitaliawere coded as present or absent; visible lesions were coded as healed or unhealed.The degree to which PH and CO were expressed and the location of porosity on thecranium were coded using Standards(Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994).

To facilitate future analysis and comparisons with other studies in the region,individuals over 15 years old were categorized as Adults, while those individualsunder 15 years old were classified as Subadults (Tung and del Castillo 2005). Todetermine the skeletal sex of an individual, sexually dimorphic attributes on thecrania were scored.

The adult population (N=194) is equally split between males and females; a patternmirrored in the sub-sample with PH, where 50% (16/32) of affected individuals werefemales. Specifically, 32/104 of males (30.8%) and 32/90 of females (35.6%) exhibitPH (Fig. 7). This demonstrates that males and females were equally likely to sufferfrom physiological stressors that led to pathological changes on the cranial vault.

The ages-at-death of the general population and the sub-sample with PH were alsosimilar (Fig. 9). Although children are underrepresented in Chanka burials, the trendsuggests that Individuals who had PH survived into adulthood at the same rate asthe general healthy (no PH) population.

Fig. 1. Diagnostic Ceramics

ChankaPeriod(ca. AD 1000-1400)

WariEra(ca. AD 600-1000)

Fig. 15. Right and left views ofthe same child mummy.

Without the headband, cranialmodification is visible.

If the socio-political disintegration of the Wari empire and ensuing climacticchanges (drought) significantly impacted the diet, nutrition, and general welfare ofindividuals, then we would expect to see a significant increase in rates of PH andCO among stressed post-imperial Chanka populations. CO and PH increase fromWari to post-Wari times, but the difference is not significantly different (Fishersexact, p=0.2435) (Table 1).This suggests that the health status of people did notsignificantly diminish in the wake of state collapse and severe drought.

The geographic distribution of PH and CO during the post-imperial Chanka periodwas also assessed. For the most part, rates of CO and PH were similar acrosscontemporaneous sites. The Natividad Museum sample had significantly less PHthan other contemporaneous sites (Fishers exact, p