Prehistorical Burials Form Cusco (Andrushko)

8/9/2019 Prehistorical Burials Form Cusco (Andrushko)

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The dissertation of Valerie Anne Andrushko is approved.

_____________________________________________

Katharina Schreiber

_____________________________________________

Michael Jochim

_____________________________________________

Phillip L. Walker, Committee Chair

June 2007


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The Bioarchaeology of Inca Imperialism in the Heartland:

An Analysis of Prehistoric Burials from the Cuzco Region of Peru

Copyright © 2007

by

Valerie A. Andrushko


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Dedication

This dissertation is dedicated to:

My mother, Joann Andrushko

and

the memory of my father, Donald Andrushko,

with love and admiration


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Acknowledgments

This thesis represents the culmination of a journey I began many years ago as

a UC Berkeley undergraduate, under the tutelage of Tim D. White. Tim White

introduced me to the subjects that would become my future career—osteology,

bioarchaeology, and paleopathology; yet more than anything, he instructed me

through his dedication, commitment to scientific integrity, and demands for

excellence. For his guidance and support, I am forever grateful. Yohannes Haile-

Selassie also deserves accolades for his unending patience in the Human Osteology

class—a class notorious for driving students to unexplored heights of stress, but one

well worth the sleepless nights.

Several other individuals at Berkeley guided me in important ways. Christine

Hastorf played a crucial role in launching my career in Andean archaeology and was

always available for advice and encouragement. Kent Lightfoot, my professor for

Introduction to Archaeology, regaled us with hilarious tales of fieldwork yet also

studiously provided a foundation in archaeological method and theory. Barb Voss and

Laura Scheiber have remained friends long after leaving Berkeley, as has Walter

Hartwig, a great person to have in your corner. In a fortunate coincidence, Clark

Larsen spent a semester at Berkeley as a visiting professor during my time as an

undergraduate, and I heartily thank him for his wisdom and generosity. At UC

Berkeley’s Hearst Museum, Leslie Freund, Ann Olney, and Joan Knudson have my

sincerest gratitude for all their help. I am also indebted to Robert Jurmain for


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“adopting” me as a student and selflessly assisting me throughout the job search

process.

No acknowledgments section of mine would be complete without highlighting

the contributions of Steve Silliman and his crew: Julie Bernard, Jon Goodrich, and

Linda Ziegenbein, among many others. Working on Steve’s dissertation project at the

Petaluma Adobe, I gained archaeological and managerial skills, took part in an

impressive bucket brigade, heard far too many bad puns, and made life-long friends.

To my dear friends at Archeo-Tec, I am grateful for the personal and professional

support: Viviana Bellifemine, Anna Engberg, Cara Stimpson, Kate Latham, and Julie

Kirkenslager, and a special thank you to Allen Pastron for offering me a life-changing

opportunity. I would also like to recognize Randy Wiberg, Alisa Reynolds, and Eric

Bartelink for their keen interest in advancing the field of California bioarchaeology

and generous data sharing.

In shifting from California to Andean archaeology, I was welcomed by a host

of people during my first field season in 1998, including Brian Billman, Carol

Mackey, Alana Cordy-Collins, John Verano, Kathy Forgey, Lisa Trever, Kit Nelson,

Carie Moreno, Tiffiny Tung, Bonnie Yoshida, and Jason Toohey. Since that time,

I’ve made a number of great friends in Andean archaeology, and to my colleagues far

and wide, I thank you for the stimulating conversations and always enjoyable

conference meetings: Deborah Blom, Kenneth Nystrom, Tiffiny Tung, Bethany

Turner, Nicole Slovak, Melissa Murphy, Kelly Knudson, Carrie Anne Berryman,


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Maria Bruno, Alexei Vranich, John Janusek, Larry Coben, Brian Bauer, Alan Covey,

and Steve Kosiba.

This thesis would not be possible without the support of Gordon McEwan,

director of the Chokepukio project. I am grateful to Gordon for recognizing my

commitment and entrusting me with the osteological research project at Chokepukio.

Hearty thanks also go to the many individuals I have worked with at Chokepukio over

the years: Melissa Chatfield, Kenny Maes, Sheldon Baker, Liliana Zarabia, Froilan

Iturriaga, Paul Steele, Sara Block, Beth Turner, and the people of Huacarpay. At the

Cotocotuyoc project, I’ve been warmly welcomed by Mary Glowacki, Nicolasa

Arredondo, Louis Tesar, Silvana Rosenfeld, and Julie-Anne White, and I have greatly

enjoyed their fascinating project. Thanks to the Velasco family for their hospitality

over several years in Cuzco and for our stays at Rumichaca, a small piece of heaven

on earth in Urubamba.

This project was made possible through funds from the National Science

Foundation (Dissertation Improvement Grant #0424213), Wenner-Gren Foundation

(Individual Research Grant #7283), and the Graduate Division at UC Santa Barbara. I

would like to recognize Mark Weiss at NSF and Mary Beth Moss at Wenner-Gren for

their time and patience. Jenny Sheffield and the incredible people at ISBER provided

crucial assistance in administering these grants at UC Santa Barbara.

In pursuing my dissertation fieldwork, no person could ask for a better

collaborator than Elva Torres at the INC-Cuzco. Elva selflessly worked to assist me

in my dissertation data collection and quickly became a friend, mentor, and family


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At UC Santa Barbara, Phillip Walker has created a comprehensive and

dynamic bioarchaeology program with enormous peer support. I offer my sincerest

thanks to Phil for his tireless support as my committee chair and to Christina Torres-

Rouff and Michele Buzon, who have served as editors, sounding boards, and great

friends. To Jacqueline Eng, I am so glad to have gone through this program together.

And a hearty thank you to Walkerlab members past and present, I’m proud to be a

part of this group: Pat Lambert, Susan Kerr, Ed Hagen, Corina Kellner, Bonnie

Yoshida, Christina Torres-Rouff, Michele Buzon, Jacqueline Eng, Kaethin Prizer,

Rhonda Bathurst, Rebecca Richman, Susan Kuzminsky, and Sabrina Sholts.

Finally, my family and friends have been an invaluable source of support

through good times and bad, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart: Andrea

Rane, Hillary Haldane, Sarah Abraham, Nicole Hess, Julie Afflerbaugh, Barbara

Richmond, Jillian Wehner, Andrew Mikail, the Gabus family, Francine Mendlin,

Joyce Mendlin, Marc and Robin Errichetti, Deborah Andrushko, and my mother,

Joann Andrushko. And lastly, I’d like to acknowledge my father, Donald Andrushko,

who taught his daughters independence and a deep commitment to both work and

family. I hope this dissertation serves as a testament to his legacy.


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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS2007 Andrushko, Valerie A., and Viviana Bellifemine

“Osteological Analysis at Cotocotuyoc, Peru: A Study of Health andTrauma from the Middle Horizon – Late Intermediate PeriodTransition in the Cuzco Region.” Invited symposium participant atthe 72st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology,Austin, Texas.

2007 Andrushko, Valerie A. , Michele R. Buzon, Antonio Simonetti, andRobert A. Creaser“Strontium Isotope Evidence for Prehistoric Migration in the Valleyof Cuzco, Peru: A Diachronic Study of Pre-Inca and IncaPopulations.” Paper presented at the 76st Annual Meeting of theAmerican Association of Physical Anthropologists, Philadelphia.

Abstracted in American Journal of Physical Anthropology,Supplement 44:64.

2007 Viviana Bellifemine, Valerie A. Andrushko, Anna Engberg, andAllen Pastron“Demographic Analysis of Burials from CA-CCo-235: PossibleCauses for an Overrepresentation of Infants.” Invited symposium

participant at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for CaliforniaArchaeology, San Jose.

2006 Andrushko, Valerie A. , Elva C. Torres Pino, and Viviana

Bellifemine“The Tombs of Sacsahuaman: A Bioarchaeological Analysis of EliteBurials from the Capital of the Inca Empire.” Paper presented at the71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, SanJuan, Puerto Rico.

2005 Gibaja, Arminda, Gordon F. McEwan, and Valerie A. Andrushko “Excavating a Capacoccha Sacrifice in Cuzco.” Paper presented atthe 45th Annual Meeting of the Institute of Andean Studies,Berkeley.

2003 Gjerdrum, Thor, Phillip L. Walker, and Valerie A. Andrushko “Humeral Retroversion: An Activity Pattern Index in PrehistoricSouthern California.” Poster presented at the 72th Annual Meeting ofthe American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Tempe,Arizona. Abstracted in American Journal of Physical Anthropology,Supplement 36:100.


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2002 Bellifemine, Viviana, Valerie A. Andrushko , and Allen G. Pastron“Inter-Disciplinary Analysis of Differential Funerary Treatment at aBay Miwok Burial Site, CA-CCO-235.” Paper presented at the 32ndAnnual Meeting of the Society for California Archaeology, San

Diego.

2000 Andrushko, Valerie A. , Alana Cordy-Collins, and Gordon F.McEwan“Early Intermediate Period Burials at Chokepukio, Peru: PreliminaryResults from the 1999 Osteological Research Project.” Paper

presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Institute of AndeanStudies, Berkeley.

2000 Andrushko, Valerie A. , Diane L. Grady, Kate A. Latham, and AllenG. Pastron

“Trophy-Taking of Postcranial Skeletal Elements from the RubinoSite in Central California.” Poster presented at the 69th AnnualMeeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists,San Antonio, Texas. Abstracted in American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 30:97.

TEACHINGUCSB Instructor of Record Summer 2006 Teaching Associate, Introduction to Physical Anthropology

Lead Teaching Assistant2006-07 UCSB Anthropology Department

Teaching AssistantSpring 2006 Introduction to Physical Anthropology, UCSBWinter 2006 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, UCSBFall 2005 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, UCSB

ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK1999-2006 Chokepukio Burial Excavations, Cuzco, Peru 1998 CA-SCl-674 Rubino Site Burial Excavations, San Jose1998 CISA Advanced Field School, Moche Valley, Peru1997-98 Petaluma Adobe Archaeological Project, Petaluma, CA

1997 UC Berkeley Tel Dor Archaeological Expedition, Israel1996 Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Field School

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPSAmerican Association of Physical AnthropologistsSociety for American ArchaeologySociety for California Archaeology


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Abstract

The Bioarchaeology of Inca Imperialism in the Heartland:An Analysis of Prehistoric Burials from the Cuzco Region of Peru

by Valerie Anne Andrushko

Though much is known about the Inca Empire from Spanish colonial

documents, few studies have used skeletal data to examine the biological effects of

the empire in its capital region. This dissertation addresses the impact of Inca

imperialism on local Cuzco populations through the analysis of 855 skeletons from 11

sites. These sites span a temporal range from the Early Intermediate Period (200 BC-

AD 700) through the Late Horizon (AD 1476-1532), allowing an investigation into

biological changes related to the rise of the Inca Empire.

The results reveal significant differences between pre-Inca and Inca

populations in four categories—health and disease, trauma, cranial vault

modification, and strontium isotope values. Regarding health, both joint disease and

osteoperiostitis increased from pre-Inca to Inca times. Moreover, these pathological

conditions differed by location: while joint disease was more common in inner-

periphery populations, osteoperiostitis was more widespread in core populations,

highlighting the influence of dissimilar living environments. Overall, the combined

data from non-specific stress markers indicate that both core and inner-peripheral populations were relatively “unstressed”; these results also reveal that core

populations displayed no substantial health benefits from residence in the capital.


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Trauma patterns suggest that violent conflict rose during the period of Inca

state development; subsequently, in the Late Horizon violent conflict apparently

predominated in the inner-peripheral regions outside the capital city. Cranial trauma

also appears to have prompted the use of trepanation as a medical treatment, a finding

that corroborates other studies pointing to cranial trauma as a primary cause for the

surgical procedure.

Following the rise of the Inca Empire, cranial vault modification—indicative

of group affiliation—is seen more frequently in the inner periphery than in the core,

suggesting the migration of different ethnic groups into the areas around the capital

city. Strontium isotope analysis confirms the presence of migrants in the Cuzco

Valley during the time of Inca imperialism, based on the identification of a number of

non-local individuals at the site of Chokepukio. These studies accord with evidence

from colonial documents, demonstrating that migration—possibly state-coerced—

played a key role in influencing the composition of Cuzco populations.


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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ___________________________________________________ v

Abstract __________________________________________________________xiii

Table of Contents __________________________________________________ xv

List of Tables______________________________________________________ xxi

List of Figures ____________________________________________________ xxiii

Chapter 1. Introduction ______________________________________________ 1

The Bioarchaeological Approach ____________________________________ 2

The Present Study_________________________________________________ 3

Structure of the Dissertation ________________________________________ 4

Chapter 2. Ecological and Archaeological Background of the Cuzco Region __ 6

Environment and Ecology of the Cuzco Region_________________________ 6

Andean Chronology _______________________________________________ 7

The Inca Empire __________________________________________________ 9

Archaeology of the Cuzco Region ___________________________________ 13

Pre-Ceramic Period (9000 to 1800 BC) ______________________________ 14

Initial Period/Early Horizon/Early Intermediate Period (1800 BC to AD 700) 14

Middle Horizon (AD 700-1000) ____________________________________ 15

Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000-1400)____________________________ 15


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Inca Imperial Period/Late Horizon (AD 1400-1532) ____________________ 18

Osteological Studies in the Cuzco Region_____________________________ 24

Chapter 3. The Bioarchaeology of Inca Imperialism: Theoretical Considerations

and Hypotheses ____________________________________________________ 27

Empires - Theoretical Considerations _______________________________ 27

Biological Consequences of Empires_________________________________ 32

Skeletal Indications of Imperial Consequences ________________________ 36

Health and Disease ______________________________________________ 36

Trauma _______________________________________________________ 38

Ethnic Identity and Migration______________________________________ 40

Cranial Vault Modification________________________________________ 43

Bone Chemistry ________________________________________________ 44

Research Questions and Hypotheses_________________________________ 46

Chapter 4. Materials and Methods ____________________________________ 50

The Sample _____________________________________________________ 50

Accumulation of Study Sample- Research Design______________________ 50

Sampling Strategy_______________________________________________ 51

Sampling Challenges ____________________________________________ 56

Site Description- Core Sites _______________________________________ 59

Site Description- Peripheral Sites ___________________________________ 67


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Methods of Data Collection ________________________________________ 76

Age Assessment ________________________________________________ 76

Sex Determination ______________________________________________ 78

Analysis of Health Indicators ______________________________________ 79

Trauma _______________________________________________________ 86

Analysis of Commingled Remains __________________________________ 87

Cultural Modification ____________________________________________ 90

Strontium Isotope Analysis________________________________________ 92

Chapter 5. Demography _____________________________________________ 94

Paleodemographic Analysis ________________________________________ 94

Limits to Demographic Interpretation _______________________________ 95

Results of Demographic Analysis ___________________________________ 96

Sex Distribution ________________________________________________ 96

Age Distribution ________________________________________________ 97

Discussion_______________________________________________________ 99

Implications of Differential Age Distributions_________________________ 99

Implications of Differential Sex Distributions ________________________ 101

Case Study: Sacsahuaman________________________________________ 103

Conclusions___________________________________________________ 105


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Chapter 6. Health, Occupational Stress, and Trauma ___________________ 107

Non-Specific Stress Indicators_____________________________________ 107

Linear Enamel Hypoplasias ______________________________________ 108

Cranial Porosities ______________________________________________ 110

Osteoperiostitis ________________________________________________ 114

Stunted Femoral Growth_________________________________________ 116

Discussion of Non-Specific Stress Indicators_________________________ 119

Joint Disease ___________________________________________________ 123

Appendicular Joint Disease_______________________________________ 123

Spinal Joint Disease ____________________________________________ 127

Discussion of Joint Disease ______________________________________ 130

Trauma__________________________________________________________ 131

Cranial Trauma ________________________________________________ 133 Postcranial Trauma _____________________________________________ 139

Discussion of Trauma ___________________________________________ 143

Conclusion _____________________________________________________ 150

Chapter 7. Trepanation in the Cuzco Region___________________________ 153

Introduction____________________________________________________ 153

Previous Trepanation Analyses in the Cuzco Region __________________ 154


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Results ________________________________________________________ 156

Shape, Size, and Location________________________________________ 157

Trepanation Methods ___________________________________________ 159

Healing, Infection, and Trauma ___________________________________ 161

Demography __________________________________________________ 163

Geographic and Temporal Distributions_____________________________ 165

Discussion______________________________________________________ 167

Trepanation and Medical Treatment in Prehistoric Cuzco _______________ 167

Motivations for Trepanation ______________________________________ 169

Conclusion _____________________________________________________ 173

Chapter 8. Chokepukio Strontium Isotope Analysis_____________________ 175

Strontium Isotope Analysis in the Andes ____________________________ 176

Results ________________________________________________________ 178

Possible Influence of Food Importation and Preparation ________________ 183

Discussion______________________________________________________ 184

Implications of Pre-Late Horizon Results____________________________ 184

State-Directed Migration in the Late Horizon ________________________ 185

Sex Differences among Chokepukio Migrants________________________ 188

Conclusions ____________________________________________________ 190


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Chapter 9. Cranial Vault Modification________________________________ 192

Cranial Vault Modification in the Andes ____________________________ 193

Results ________________________________________________________ 197

Discussion______________________________________________________ 203

Conclusion _____________________________________________________ 210

Chapter 10. Summary and Conclusion________________________________ 212

Summary of Results _____________________________________________ 212

Demography __________________________________________________ 212

Health, Trauma, and Occupational Stress____________________________ 213

Trepanation ___________________________________________________ 216

Strontium Isotope Analysis_______________________________________ 216

Cranial Modification____________________________________________ 217

Research Hypotheses and Results __________________________________ 218

Hypothesis #1 _________________________________________________ 218

Hypothesis #2 _________________________________________________ 218

Hypothesis #3 _________________________________________________ 219

Hypothesis #4 _________________________________________________ 220

Future Research ________________________________________________ 220

Appendix: Data Tables and Figures __________________________________ 223

References Cited __________________________________________________ 238


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List of Tables

Table 2.1. Andean chronology.......................................................................................8

Table 2.2. Inca dynastic succession ............................................................................19

Table 3.1. Hypotheses regarding health impacts of Inca consolidation ......................47

Table 3.2. Hypotheses regarding evidence for violent injury......................................47

Table 3.3. Hypotheses regarding evidence for cranial modification ...........................48

Table 3.4. Hypotheses regarding strontium ( 87Sr/ 86Sr) isotopic analysis ....................49

Table 4.1. Sites included in the sample........................................................................51

Table 4.2. Skeletal material by time period and sample size.......................................55

Table 5.1. Sex distribution of the Cuzco sites .............................................................97

Table 5.2. Age distribution of the Cuzco sites.............................................................98

Table 6.1. Hypoplastic lesions by tooth type.............................................................110

Table 6.2. Femur length descriptive statistics- entire sample (in mm)......................117

Table 6.3. Late Horizon femur length by location (in mm).......................................119

Table 6.4. Percentage of elements showing slight or pronounced SJD.....................129

Table 6.5. Juvenile rib fractures.................................................................................142

Table 7.1. Trepanned individuals in the Cuzco sample.............................................156

Table 7.2. Number of trepanations per cranium ........................................................157

Table 7.3. Area of trepanned perforations by time period (in cm 2)...........................158

Table 7.4. Age distribution of trepanned individuals ................................................164


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Table 7.5. Survival rates of trepanation over time.....................................................167

Table 8.1. Chokepukio 87Sr/ 86Sr values by temporal phase.......................................181

Table 9.1. Age distribution of juveniles with cranial modification ...........................199

Table 9.2. Distribution of CVM types by time period...............................................200

Table 9.3. Distribution of Late Horizon CVM types by location ..............................202

Table 9.4. Strontium ( 87Sr/ 86Sr) values by cranial vault modification type...............203

Table A.1. Linear enamel hypoplasias by site ...........................................................223

Table A.2. Cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis cases by site............................224

Table A.3. Frequency of osteoperiostitis by bone with healing data.........................225

Table A.4. Joint disease by element with information on severity............................226

Table A.5. Cranial trauma cases by site.....................................................................227

Table A.6. Distribution of long bone trauma by element ..........................................228

Table A.7. Trepanation by site...................................................................................229

Table A.8. Individuals analyzed for strontium study with samples in ascending order

of 87Sr/ 86Sr value............................................................................................230

Table A.9. Chokepukio dental enamel strontium samples by time period ................232

Table A.10. Summary statistics of Chokepukio strontium datasets ..........................233

Table A.11. Cranial vault modification by site..........................................................234


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List of Figures

Figure 4.1. Map of Cuzco sites ....................................................................................53

Figure 5.1. Age distribution of the combined sample..................................................99

Figure 5.2. Sex distribution by site ............................................................................102

Figure 6.1. Degenerative joint disease by age category.............................................125

Figure 6.2. Spinal joint disease by age ......................................................................130

Figure 6.3. Histogram of fracture size by area (cm 2).................................................136

Figure 6.4. Cranial trauma by time period and location ............................................139

Figure 6.5. Long bone fractures by age .....................................................................141

Figure 6.6. Juvenile rib fractures in Kanamarca infant.............................................143

Figure 7.1. Individual with seven trepanations..........................................................157

Figure 7.2. Rectangular incised trepanation- unhealed..............................................160

Figure 7.3. Excised bone from trepanation with cutmarks ........................................161

Figure 7.4. Circular trepanation- unhealed ................................................................162

Figure 7.5. Perimortem trepanation with fractured inferior border ...........................163

Figure 7.6. Age distribution of the trepanned individuals .........................................165

Figure 8.1. Regional distribution of biologically available 87Sr/ 86Sr values

from sites in the Andes ..................................................................................178

Figure 8.2. Scatterplot of Chokepukio human enamel 87Sr/ 86Sr values

showing the presence of several possible migrant individuals ......................179


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Chapter 1. Introduction

In this dissertation, skeletal data are used to investigate the biological impacts

of the Inca Empire in the capital region of Cuzco, Peru. The Inca Empire rose to

unparalleled heights in the New World during the 15 th century: in less than 100 years,

the Inca conquered a wide territory of Andean South America, instituting a system of

governing policies to control populations under their realm. This study reveals the

biological effects of these policies on local populations living in and around the

imperial capital.

To investigate these effects, human skeletal remains have been analyzed for

patterns pertaining to health, trauma, group affiliation through cranial modification,

and indications of migration from biogeochemical analyses. Health, as impacted by

malnutrition, disease, and physical labor, is assessed through paleopathological

analyses of skeletal and dental conditions. The frequency of these pathological

conditions is used to measure the influence of imperial consolidation and expansion

on health. In addition, analysis of traumatic injuries provides a basis for assessing the

role of warfare in the rise of the Inca Empire. Cranial vault modification—an

indication of affiliation among ancient Andean groups—is examined for spatial and

temporal patterns, while strontium isotope results are presented to document state-

directed migration in the Cuzco region.


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A unique aspect of this research, which distinguishes it from other Andean

bioarchaeological studies, is the focus on health in the Inca heartland of Cuzco.

Recent studies have explored imperial influence in provincial regions (e.g., Murphy

2004; Nystrom 2005; Torres-Rouff 2003), yet until now the Cuzco area has not been

the subject of a regional bioarchaeological analysis. The current project addresses this

void with a study of skeletal collections from 11 sites distributed throughout the

Cuzco region.

The Bioarchaeological Approach

Bioarchaeology, the study of human remains and associated archaeological

materials, is the ideal approach for the present research. In this type of study, relevant

data are derived directly from skeletal remains of the people themselves, and

contextualized using information from archaeological studies of artifacts and

mortuary treatment. Human remains provide a wealth of evidence to better

understand diet, health and disease, warfare, social status, and population movements

(Buzon et al. 2005; Larsen 1997). Additionally, the interaction of culture and biology

can be investigated through analyses of body modification practices, such as

intentional head shaping (Torres-Rouff 2003:6).

Multidisciplinary in nature, bioarchaeology incorporates methods from

medicine, forensic science, archaeology, cultural anthropology, geochemistry, and

biological anthropology. In using a demographic approach with large sample sizes,

bioarchaeologists can reconstruct disease frequencies on a populational—rather than


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individual—level; this approach is appropriate for understanding large-scale, regional

phenomena in past cultures (Armelagos and Van Gerven 2003).

The independence of bioarchaeological data from written accounts is one of

its greatest strengths; much of our current information on Inca Cuzco comes from

Spanish chronicles, yet many of these accounts are suspected of inaccuracy and

cultural biases (Covey 2003:334; Urton 1990). Skeletal studies can be used to identify

and correct some of these inconsistencies in the ethnohistoric record. For example,

while many accounts highlight Inca warfare as a main component of imperial control,

some researchers question whether Spanish chroniclers exaggerated these claims.

Perhaps, as suggested by Morris (1998:304), the chroniclers interpreted Inca

expansion based on their own ethnocentric notions of conquest and thus overstated

the importance of Inca warfare. Skeletal analysis provides the means to address this

question, by documenting the frequency of interpersonal violence and how it changed

with the advent of Inca imperialism.

The Present Study

To address questions of the Inca Empire’s influence on health and warfare, I

analyzed burials from 11 sites in the Cuzco region of Peru. These sites are distributed

throughout the department of Cuzco at a distance of 0.2 km to 147.5 km from the

Plaza de Armas in the city of Cuzco (Figure 4.1). For analysis, the sites were divided

into two groups: a “core” group, consisting of four sites in and immediately around

the city of Cuzco, and a “periphery” group, consisting of seven sites greater than 30

km from Cuzco. This “core”/ “periphery” distinction loosely follows the inner Inca


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heartland/outer Inca heartland division illustrated by Farrington (1992), though the

sites of Aqnapampa in the Quiquijana Valley and Kanamarca in Espinar province lie

outside of the defined Inca heartland (within c. 70 km of the city of Cuzco [Farrington

1992:368]). The sites are only separated into two groups—rather than further dividing

the periphery group—to allow robust sample sizes yielding statistically significant

results. This bipartite division facilitates comparisons based on distance from the

imperial capital, and reduces the likelihood of overlooking nuances that could occur

by combining all the sites into a single group.

From these 11 sites, 855 burials were examined for data on age, sex, dental

and skeletal pathological conditions, trauma, trepanation, and cranial vault

modification. In addition, 59 human teeth from the site of Chokepukio were analyzed

for strontium isotopic ratios at the University of Alberta, the results of which are

presented in Chapter 8. When considered together, the conclusions from this research

broaden our knowledge of the impact of governing strategies, warfare, and migration

on local Cuzco populations under Inca rule.

Structure of the Dissertation

In Chapter 2, I describe the environment of the Cuzco region, along with a

review of previous archaeological investigations that have been conducted there.

Chapter 3 presents theoretical considerations of empires and their subsequent impact

on health and cultural identity, followed by an explanation of the research hypotheses

and data expectations of the present study. In Chapter 4, the study sample is described

with archaeological information on the 11 sites in the sample, along with the methods


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Chapter 2. Ecological and Archaeological Background of the Cuzco

Region

This chapter presents ecological and archaeological information on the Inca

Empire as a foundation for the present study. First, the Cuzco highland environment

is described with data on important resources for the Inca. Second, archaeological and

ethnohistoric evidence are examined for information on Inca imperial strategies.

Finally, previous osteological studies in the Cuzco region are detailed to provide a

comparative basis for the present study.

Environment and Ecology of the Cuzco Region

Located in the south-central Andes at a latitude of 13 degrees south, the Cuzco

region is situated in a highland ecozone well-suited for plant cultivation. The Cuzco

Valley stretches 40 km in length and is divided into three basins: Cuzco, Oropesa, and

Lucre, from northwest to southeast, respectively. The city of Cuzco sits in the

northwest corner of the Cuzco Basin at an elevation of 3,360 meters, flanked by the

Huatanay River and separated from the Yucay Valley by a series of hills to the east.

Modern precipitation patterns in Cuzco follow a six-month rainy period from

October through March (86% of the annual precipitation), and a drier period from

April to September (Wright et al. 2001). Inca agricultural schedules paralleled this

precipitation pattern, with planting in August and September and harvesting during

the months of April, May, and June (Rowe 1944:3). This climatic pattern has varied


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somewhat since the earliest human occupation of the Cuzco region, with climatic

perturbations evident in the Quelccaya and Marcacocha ice cores and sediment cores

from Lake Titicaca (Abbott et al. 1997; Bauer 2004; Chepstow-Lusty et al. 2003;

Kolata 1993:285; Thompson et al. 1985, 1988).

For the Inca, lands at lower elevations within the Cuzco and Urubamba

valleys proved ideal for maize agriculture, whereas the higher grasslands provided

space for potato cultivation and grazing areas for camelids. Besides land for

agriculture and grazing, the Cuzco area provided a number of important natural

resources for the Inca. High quality andesite, quarried from Rumicolca 35 km east of

Cuzco, was used to build the most important buildings in Cuzco (Ogburn 2004:104).

Salt came primarily from the nearby springs of Cachimayu outside of the village of

San Sebastián (Bauer 2004:7), but gold and silver had to be imported from areas to

the north and west (Vilcabamba and Chumbivilcas) (Rowe 1944).Resources from

other regions were brought into Cuzco through a well-defined network of roads

(Hyslop 1984).

Andean Chronology

The chronology of cultural developments in the Andean region is based on

large-scale changes in ceramic styles, with “horizons” defined as eras of stylistic

unity throughout a wide geographical area, and intermediate “periods” indicating

times of regional variation (Rowe 1960). The Early, Middle, and Late Horizons

correspond to the broad stylistic influences of the Chavin, Wari and Tiwanaku, and

Inca cultures, respectively, implying long-distance interactions that created


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similarities in material culture. For the intervening periods, cultural diversification

reflected a shift away from long-distance connections and supra-regional

organization. Decline of the Chavin influence was followed by regionalization in the

Early Intermediate Period, while the collapse of the Wari and Tiwanaku polities was

succeeded by Late Intermediate Period regionalization. The Late Horizon began in

AD 1476 with the appearance of imperial Inca ceramics in the Ica region of southern

coastal Peru (Rowe 1962; Rowe and Menzel 1967) (Table 2.1).

Table 2.1. Andean chronology

Period DatesLate Horizon AD 1476-1532Late Intermediate Period AD 1000-1476Middle Horizon AD 700-1000Early Intermediate Period 200 BC-AD 700Early Horizon 900-200 BCInitial Period 1800-900 BCPre-Ceramic Period To 1800 BC

This chronological scheme proves useful as a broad organization of Andean

prehistory, yet there are recognized challenges in its application (Conlee and Ogburn

2004:5; D’Altroy 2002:45-47; Rice 1993; Silverman 2004:11). While the reign of the

Inca Empire is generally considered synonymous with the Late Horizon, in Cuzco the

Inca imperial period actually began in the late stages of the Late Intermediate Period.

Accruing archaeological and radiocarbon data suggest an early 15 th century date for

the beginning of Inca expansion in Cuzco (Adamska and Michczynski 1996; Bauer

2004:12; Covey 2006a, 2006b:234; Gyarmati and Varga 1999:3), and so an initial

date of AD 1400 is used here to denote the Inca imperial period.


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The Inca Empire

At its height, the Inca Empire (AD 1400-1532) covered an area from Ecuador

through Peru and into Chile, northwest Argentina, and Bolivia. This region was

known as Tawantinsuyu, “the four parts together,” referring to the regional divisions

of Chinchaysuyu (northwest), Antisuyu (northeast), Collasuyu (southeast), and

Cuntisuyu (southwest).

Following initial solidification in the core of Cuzco, the Inca moved to

incorporate nearby Cuzco Valley groups but encountered resistance to their overt

occupation efforts (Bauer and Covey 2002; Covey 2003:346; Covey 2006b). Their

attempts to conquer neighboring groups eventually proved successful, and the Inca

subsequently expanded their strategies of conquest to include alliances and indirect

rule.

Each successive Inca ruler sought to further the reaches of the empire duringhis reign: Viracocha (deposed in 1438), Pachacuti (1438-1471), Topa Inca (1471-

1493), Huayna Capac (1493-1527), Huascar (1527-1532), and Atahuallpa (1532-

1533) (Rowe 1946:203). Viracocha first attempted to organize the areas around

Cuzco and led campaigns into the Lake Titicaca region (Rowe 1946:203-4). His son,

Pachacuti, is largely credited with constructing the capital city and consolidating

nearby regions, while his heir Topa Inca led conquests to the east of Cuzco, south into

Titicaca, and beyond to Bolivia, Chile, and northwest Argentina. Huayna Capac

furthered the Inca domain by integrating the southern region of Cochabamba and the


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northern areas of Chachapoya and Ecuador, eventually ruling from Tomebamba in

southern Ecuador. However, Inca expansion efforts were later hampered by

misfortune: Huayna Capac died suddenly from disease in his royal estate in Quito,

Ecuador, and his son succumbed as well (Cook 1998:76; Rowe 1946:208). The

subsequent period, marred by civil war between brothers Huascar and Atahuallpa,

ended with conquest by the Spanish and disease beginning in AD 1532 (Cook 1998;

Hemming 1970; Rowe 1946:209, 2006).

Politically, the Inca Empire functioned as a divine monarchy with regional

administrators and a military force focused on continual expansion. Cuzco served as

the locus of political power, from which the Inca wielded their authority through a

variety of imperial administrative policies (Rowe 1982; Stanish 2001:233). In an

analogy to Pax Romana, the Inca established a period of “ Pax Incaica,” a time of

unification and security with concomitant regional exploitation of labor and resources

(Kuznar 1996:7; Morris 1998:307).

Though the comparison to Pax Romana aptly illustrates the extent of Inca

power, it overlooks the nuances in their governing tactics. In actuality, the Inca

Empire employed a range of strategies incorporating militaristic, economic, political,

and ideological means (D’Altroy 1992). These flexible tactics cover a continuum

from military force with large-scale investment to subtler methods of control using

alliances and ideological persuasion. This approach, a “mosaic of control” (Schreiber

1992:62), depended on the location and level of complexity of the conquered

territory, resource exploitation potential, and possibility of revolt. Regional variation,


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power dynamics, and ideological interplay all contributed to how the policies of

control played out on the ground. Because of these variations, expansion

differentially affected the political structure and domestic economy of conquered

groups (Hastorf and D’Altroy 2001:22).

As a means of control through ideology, the Inca built upon the pan-Andean

principle of ancestor worship (Cieza de León 1985 [1553]; Cobo 1990 [1653];

Betanzos 1996 [1557]; Urton 1999:9). Ancestor worship was practiced in the Andes

for centuries before Inca expansion (Conrad and Demarest 1984:90; Cook 1992),

such as in the Preceramic Chinchorro culture of northern Chile, which created

elaborate mummies of children and adults (Arriaza 1995; Rivera 1995:63). In the

Nasca culture, tombs were reopened to collect bones for ancestor worship ceremonies

(Carmichael 1995:177), while evidence for ancestor worship in the Wari Empire

includes turquoise stone figurines (Cook 1992) and secondary burials in niched halls

(McEwan 1987:40; Topic and Topic 1992).

The Inca co-opted many of these religious tenets and rituals in their state

religion, which included an elite ancestor cult, temples for worship of the Sun, and

creation of a spatially distributed ceque system of shrines (Bauer 1998; Cobo 1990

[1653]; Conrad 1992; Conrad and Demarest 1984; Zuidema 1964). These shrines

included natural features such as caves, rocks, springs, and mountains, along with

places associated with deities and ancestors. To perpetuate the ancestor cult, Inca

rulers were embalmed, cared for as living entities, and displayed during ceremonial

events (Cobo 1990:40 [1653]; Betanzos 1996 [1557]:131; Niles 1999:47). Ancestors


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Capac, who emphasized great halls, oversized doorways, and doubled-jammed niches

(Niles 1999).

Much of the imperial Inca architecture was reportedly modeled after

Tiwanaku, seen as an exemplar of artistic and technical quality. As legend has it, the

emperor Pachacuti sent engineers to the Lake Titicaca region to study and emulate

Tiwanaku design (Gasparini and Margolies 1980:7). Many aspects of Inca urban

planning were thought to come from other cultures contacted during expansion: “The

monumentality of Wari, the grid plan of neighboring Pikillaqta, the compounds of

Chanchan, and the fine stonework of Tiwanaku probably contributed to the formation

of Inca expression” (Gasparini and Margolies 1980:44). However, a comprehensive

comparison of Tiwanaku and Inca architecture concluded that Inca stonemasonry did

not derive from Tiwanaku, but rather was an autochthonous creation (Protzen and

Nair 1997).

Archaeology of the Cuzco Region

The following section outlines the culture history of the Cuzco region, the

focus of study for the present analysis. Here, research from archaeological

investigations is presented to chart human occupation in the region from its earliest

inhabitants to the florescence of the Inca Empire. Settlement patterns, ceramic

typologies, and architectural trends are detailed to explore the corpus of knowledge

compiled through survey and excavation. Ethnohistorical evidence is also introduced

and evaluated as a major source of information on the development and expansion of

the Inca Empire.


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Pre-Ceramic Period (9000 to 1800 BC)

Recent survey and excavations have greatly increased the available

information on the Pre-ceramic Period in the Cuzco Valley, beginning around 9000

BC. Systematic surveys have revealed several sites that supported hunter-gatherer

habitation for thousands of years prior to permanent settlement in the Cuzco region

(Bauer 2004, 2007). Excavations at the site of Kasapata produced artifacts in the form

of obsidian and other lithics, faunal remains, and human burials of the earliest

occupants in the Cuzco region (Bauer 2007).

Initial Period/Early Horizon/Early Intermediate Period (1800 BC to AD 700)

During this time, the first large permanent villages were established (c. 1500

BC [Bauer 2004:39]). One well-known early settlement is the Marcavalle site, located

4 km southeast of the city of Cuzco (Chavez 1980). The site, though now nearly

destroyed (Bauer 2004:40), contained the remains of adobe structures along with

evidence of subsistence practices focused on herding, bean and corn cultivation, and

camelid and guinea pig domestication. Cuzco’s early settlements, such as Marcavalle,

were relatively self-sufficient, though networks of exchange did emerge as villages

developed local specialties (Chavez 1980:206, 259). These exchange networks,

involving trade in camelid meat, salt, ceramics, and obsidian, appear to have

functioned without a centralized administration.

Following Marcavalle in the ceramic sequence, Rowe (1944) identified the

succeeding Chanapata ceramic style from the type site of the same name, a style also

found at Minaspata, Chokepukio, and Mama Qolla (Dwyer 1971; McEwan 1989).

This style is associated with the earliest known architecture in the area, with low


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platforms, retaining walls, and straight-walled structures (as contrasted with the later

inclined-wall buildings) (Kendall 1985:352; Rowe 1944). The Derived Chanapata

style follows in the ceramic seriation around AD 100 (Bauer and Jones 2003:14;

Rowe 1944), during the time that a distinct settlement hierarchy emerged suggestive

of a small chiefdom society (Bauer 2004:45).

Middle Horizon (AD 700-1000)

In the Middle Horizon, the Wari Empire expanded from the central highlands

into the Cuzco region and established large settlements in the Lucre and Huaro

valleys (Glowacki 1996; McEwan 1987, 2005). Pikillacta, an enormous site laid out

in a rigid grid pattern, served as the Wari provincial capital in the empire’s

southeastern periphery (McEwan 1987, 1996:172), while at Huaro, evidence of a high

status cemetery along with several habitation sites provides an indication of the

intensive Wari occupation in the Huaro Basin (Glowacki 2002:269; Rowe 1956). The

Wari occupied the southeastern Cuzco area until approximately AD 1000, when

Pikillacta was abandoned before construction was completed (McEwan 1996:181;

McEwan et al. 2002:292). Wari influence is also evident in the large number of sites

found west of the Lucre Basin with Wari-affiliated ceramics (Bauer 2004:64),

indicating a shift in time from the earlier local Qotakalli ceramics to the later Wari-

influenced styles, such as Arahuay (Bauer 2004:68, see also Barreda 1973, 1995;

Bauer 1999; Bauer and Jones 2003:14; Lyon 1978; McEwan 1989:55).

Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000-1400)

During the Late Intermediate Period, factionalized polities engaged in regional

competition (Bauer and Covey 2002). Rowe (1944) determined that Killke, a ceramic


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functioned in consolidating and maintaining hierarchy through the Andean notions of

reciprocity and communal obligations (McEwan 1997). The Lucre-based polity used

the ability to requisition huge amounts of labor to construct monumental buildings at

Chokepukio, where evidence for ritual feasting includes artifacts such as luxury items

of metal, precious stones, and bone, along with polychrome vessels (McEwan et al.

1995).

Incorporating the archaeological data into a theoretical model of Inca origins,

McEwan and co-workers (2002) suggest that the consolidation of the Killke and

Lucre resulted in the genesis of the Inca polity. In contrast, Bauer and Covey (Bauer

1992, 2004; Bauer and Covey 2002; Covey 2003, 2006a,b) believe that the Lucre

polity was an important rival to the proto-Inca Killke polity, but eventually fell under

Inca domination. Despite the differences in these two interpretations, both emphasize

dynamic processes that led to the emergence of the Inca Empire. Far from being seen

as a “dark age,” the Late Intermediate Period was a time of creative innovation, from

which emerged the largest empire of the pre-Hispanic New World.

Inca Imperial Period/Late Horizon (AD 1400-1532)

The period of Inca imperialism in Cuzco is known primarily through

ethnohistoric documents, rather than archaeological data, for three main reasons.

First, modern urban construction has expanded to cover much of Cuzco city proper.

Second, the city suffered waves of destruction during Spanish conquest: the Spanish

dismantled sectors of Sacsahuaman and built a church over the Temple of the Sun

after stripping its walls of gold (MacCormack 2001a:342), while the Inca themselves


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burned the city when it was under Spanish siege in 1535 (Rowe 1967:59). Third, the

written records left by several chroniclers provide a detailed history of the daily life,

administrative workings, and imperial conquests of the Inca. They also detail the

dynastic succession of Inca kings, compiled by Rowe (1946) in “Inca Culture at the

Time of the Spanish Conquest” (Table 2.2). 1

Table 2.2. Inca dynastic succession (Rowe 1945, 1946:202-203)

Inca Ruler Possible Dates of ReignManco Capac

Sinchi RochaLloque YupanquiMayta CapacCapa YupanquiInca RocaYahuar Huacac

May be historical ormythical figures

Viracocha Deposed AD 1438Pachacuti Inca AD 1438-1471Topa Inca Yupanqui AD 1471-1493Huayna Capac AD 1493-1527Huascar AD 1527-1532Atahuallpa AD 1532-1533

Six Spanish chroniclers penned the most widely-read documents on the Inca

Empire. One of the earliest, a Spanish soldier named Cieza de León, traveled

throughout the region and recorded his observations in travel journals that became the

Crónica del Peru(1985 [1553]). Beginning explorations in 1547, Cieza’s work stands

as one of the most valuable sources on the Inca Empire. Though his devotion to

Catholicism may have biased his accounts of Inca religion, he praised the government

and administrative system. Cieza’s work is not chronologically oriented but rather

1 Accruing data suggest the twelve-ruler king list is an incomplete record of Inca sovereignty, based onarchaeological research and studies of Inca succession (Covey 2006a).


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organized as a detailed travelogue, describing each region and the pre-Inca

characteristics that endured into the Late Horizon. His informants were often older

men who created songs to record Inca history and important events—from these

accounts Cieza wrote three volumes focusing on the land and its people, Inca

civilization, and Spanish discovery and conquest.

Juan de Betanzos’ Suma y narracion de los Inca (1996 [1557]), commissioned

by the Viceroy of Peru, benefits from an intimate knowledge of Inca life due to his

marriage into the family of Atahuallpa in 1541. Betanzos had the unique distinction

of marrying an eyewitness to the Spanish conquest at Cajamarca, and drew on

testimony of Inca nobles for oral history and traditions. He became fluent in Quechua

and established personal relationships with many descendents of Inca nobility; as a

result, his account contains detailed knowledge of the Inca from the nobility’s

perspective. However, because of his marital affiliation to Pachacuti’s panaca,

Betanzos’ narrative is suspected of bias in skewing accounts of Atahuallpa’s actions.

He insisted that the first eight Inca rulers achieved little, while Pachacuti acted as the

catalyst for Inca success, a line of reasoning that legitimized Atahuallpa’s reign.

Born in 1539 to a Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess, Garcilaso de la

Vega spent the first 21 years of his life in Cuzco. His life in the capital city provided

material for Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1986 [1609]), a history of the Inca

Empire which he composed after traveling to Spain, his father’s homeland. Garcilaso

described two types of keepers of oral tradition, the amautas who transformed

historical events into short stories, and the harauicus who recorded these events in


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poems and songs (Niles 1999:7). With the use of these informants, Garcilaso

composed a thorough account of Inca history, with translations of songs and poems,

meditations on medicines, foods, and plants, and room-to-room descriptions of the

Temple of the Sun (Rowe 1944:34). Despite its value as a detailed reference,

Garcilaso’s account is considered Cuzco-centric and sympathetic to Huascar in the

Inca civil war, stating that his brother Atahuallpa was a blood-thirsty aggressor.

Notably, more than forty years passed between the time he left Peru and the

publication of his work (Rowe 1944:7).

Guaman Poma de Ayala’s main contribution is the roughly 400 drawings from

the Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno (1936 [1615]), along with descriptions of daily

Inca customs including norms of apparel, festivals, and administrative practices.

Guaman Poma was born in the province of Huamanga, Peru and trained by

ecclesiastical priests, which led him to join the ‘extirpation’ (literally, “to pull up by

its roots”) of indigenous idolatry. His chronicle includes a history of the dynastic

reign of Inca kings and queens, and their captains and noble ladies. Guaman Poma’s

account, addressed as a letter to the king of Spain, intended to show that the Inca had

a sophisticated system of government before the arrival of the Spanish, and illustrated

the extent of mistreatment the Inca suffered at the hands of the Spanish.

Sarmiento de Gamboa’s Historia de los Incas (2007 [1572]) contains an

account of Inca history—from origin myth to Spanish conquest—based on interviews

with 37 members of the 12 royal clans ( panacas). Following individual interviews,

Sarmiento called together all members to authenticate his text (Julien 2000:57).


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Sarmiento noted that, in lieu of writing, historical events were recorded on quipus

(knotted cords) and passed down from father to son (Niles 1999:14). In contrast to

Betanzos’ text supporting Pachacuti as the legitimate ruler, Sarmiento asserts that

Pachacuti took the “fringe” (Inca crown) without consent from his father Viracocha.

As mentioned earlier with Betanzos, Sarmiento’s account may be equally biased,

reflecting the Spanish agenda to invalidate Inca dynastic rule—Viceroy Toledo

commissioned Sarmiento’s text to justify Spanish conquest by portraying the Incas as

usurping tyrants (MacCormack 2001a:348; Niles 1999:16).

Jesuit priest Bernabe Cobo compiled information from previous chronicles,

supplemented with information from travels throughout Peru during twenty years of

missionary work, to create Historia del Nuevo Mundo(Cobo 1979 [1653], 1990

[1653]). The account synthesizes earlier chronicles including those from Garcilaso de

la Vega, José de Acosta, Cristobal de Molina, Pedro Pizarro, and Juan Polo de

Ondegardo, a colonial administrator of Cuzco intent on destroying royal Inca

mummies. Cobo’s work is considered one of the most reliable of the Spanish

chronicles, and presents a comprehensive description of Inca myths, religious beliefs,

and ceremonies (Urton 1999:31). Though admittedly impressed with Inca architecture

and craftsmanship, he also viewed Inca nobles as cruel and tyrannical, their subjects

victimized by an oppressive regime. Along with the six main chroniclers mentioned

here, other important Spanish chroniclers include Bartolome de las Casas, Miguel

Cabello de Balboa, Juan de Santacruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua, and Martín de

Murúa.


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Though historic accounts provide a wealth of information, they must be read

in consideration of the intentions of their writers and commissioners (MacCormack

2001a:331). Varying agendas likely contributed to conflicting information, for

example, with regard to the role of warfare in the rise of the Inca Empire. Betanzos

and Sarmiento assert that Pachacuti led the Incas to victory over the Chanca (Julien

2000:222), a triumph that catapulted the Inca to the status of “the most powerful

people in the Andes” (Rowe 1946:204). In contrast, Cobo and Garcilaso place the

Chanca war one generation before at the end of Yahuar Huacac’s reign, a shift that

Rowe (1946:194) believed “distorted” the central history of the Incas. Julien

(2000:230) claims this discrepancy originates from different historical narratives,

with Cobo drawing from the ‘genealogical’ genre and Betanzos relying on the ‘life

history genre’.

Given these contradictions, which chroniclers—if any—should be literally

interpreted with regard to warfare and Pachacuti’s role in Inca emergence? Scholars

have noted that Spanish narratives often closely parallel European historical accounts,

and may have been inaccurately biased by Spanish historical tropes and a linear

chronological perspective that conflicts with the Inca worldview of cyclical time

(MacCormack 2001a). As a means to test assertions made in the chronicles,

osteological data provide an important line of evidence. Information from burials can

be used as a source independent of written accounts that complements archaeological

information derived from excavations.


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Osteological Studies in the Cuzco Region

Although archaeologists have worked in Cuzco since the early 1900s,

bioarchaeological analyses have not figured prominently in these investigations. A

review of the few available studies from the Cuzco/Urubamba region sets the stage

for the present bioarchaeological analysis. One of the earliest reports is Rowe’s

excavation at Chanapata, describing four Early Intermediate Period burials found

seated and flexed without grave goods. There is only a brief mention of skeletal

anomalies: “There were two bone lesions on the head, and the teeth are both badly

decayed (caries) and excessively worn, as is common in ancient skulls from the

Cuzco region” (Rowe 1944:14).

Eaton conducted a study of human skeletal remains from Machu Picchu,

published in 1916. The human remains were collected from cave deposits around the

mountain slope above which Machu Picchu sits, with a few remains recovered from

within the site near the Sacred Plaza (Eaton 1916:84). Eaton believed the skeletal

collection exhibited a skewed sex ratio, with nearly 4 females to every male, and

concluded that the site housed Virgins of the Sun and priestesses serving the temple.

In analyzing head shaping practices, Eaton documented both occipital flattening and

the “Aymara” annular (circumferential binding) deformation, suggesting a mixed

ethnic composition (Eaton 1916:94).

Verano’s (2003a) re-analysis of Eaton’s materials corrected many of his

original assertions. Restudy of sex ratios showed a more normal distribution of sexes,

contradicting the early interpretation of Machu Picchu as a community of “Chosen


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Women.” Age determinations were similarly reconfigured using new methods based

on pelvic changes, techniques unknown in Eaton’s time. However, some conclusions

of Eaton’s were substantiated by Verano, such as the ethnically diverse nature of the

Machu Picchu sample, which apparently included migrants from the Peruvian coast

and highlands (Verano 2003a:66). Other contributions of Verano’s restudy included

identification of anemia-related conditions, documentation of dental disease, and an

overall rarity of joint disease indicators. In addition, the diagnosis of two cases of

prehispanic tuberculosis, aided by radiographs, provided proof of this disease in the

Cuzco region (Verano 2003a:109).

MacCurdy (1923) analyzed 341 skeletons in the Urubamba river drainage area

southeast of Machu Picchu, excavated during Hiram Bingham’s 1914-15 Yale

University/National Geographic expeditions. The majority of individuals were

mummies recovered in a tightly flexed position, wrapped in cloth and secured with

coarse grass rope. Like Eaton’s (1916) cave burials from Machu Picchu, individuals

were commonly interred together in rock shelters. MacCurdy found various

pathological conditions, including fused vertebrae, long bone fractures (some healed

with non-union), osteomyelitis, osteosarcoma, spinal joint disease, and dental disease.

Nine percent of the adult skulls retained the metopic suture of the frontal bone,

normally fused by one to two years of age, and several crania exhibited the Inca bone

in their posterior surfaces (MacCurdy 1923:270). MacCurdy also documented

instances of cranial trauma associated with trepanation, and concluded that


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trepanation served to treat cases of cranial injury in the Late Horizon (MacCurdy

1923:259).

In “Los antiguos pobladores del Cuzco,” Quevedo (1942) studied 55 crania

from the site of Kinsarumiyoc in the Calca region, 20 miles north of Cuzco, and

presented data on craniometrics, cranial vault modification, and trepanation. He found

no evidence of cranial vault modification and asserted that, contrary to prior

assumption, modification was not customary in all regions of pre-Columbian Peru.

Eleven skulls showed evidence of trepanation, and 83% of the trepanned individuals

survived the surgery, with little evidence of infection (Quevedo 1942:55). Quevedo

concluded that trepanation was mainly performed in response to cranial trauma, and

was carried out by trained practitioners with skill and knowledge of cerebral anatomy.

While these studies provide a background on prehistoric skeletal conditions in

the Cuzco region, such studies have yet to be synthesized into a regional perspective.

The present study addresses this void by drawing together data from 11 sites

throughout the Cuzco region. This regional study provides the means to identify

geographical and temporal patterns in relation to Inca expansion. In this chapter, the

review of pre-Inca and Inca civilizations, along with Cuzco archaeological and

osteological investigations, has set the foundation for the study of Inca imperial

impacts from a biocultural perspective. The following chapter merges this

information with theoretical considerations to produce hypotheses regarding the

biological impacts of Inca expansion on local populations.


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Chapter 3. The Bioarchaeology of Inca Imperialism: Theoretical

Considerations and Hypotheses

This chapter addresses theoretical considerations regarding the biological

impacts of imperial consolidation and expansion on Cuzco populations. First, an

exploration of empires is presented, focusing on core/periphery models related to

imperial effects on local populations. Second, the four main datasets used to measure

these effects—skeletal markers of health, trauma, cranial modification, and isotopic

evidence for migration—are detailed through an examination of the relevant body of

literature for each dataset. Finally, hypotheses are formulated that serve as the

framework for ensuing analyses.

Empires - Theoretical Considerations

“[An empire] is a system of interaction between two political entities, one ofwhich, the dominant metropole, exerts political control over the internal andexternal policy—the effective sovereignty—of the other, the subordinate

periphery.” (Doyle 1986:12)

Empires belong in the anthropological category of the state, defined by Wright

and Johnson (1975:267) as having a hierarchy of control and specialized activities for

information processing. State-created institutions entrust individuals with decision-

making for lower levels of the hierarchy, which enable the centralized polity to

control a large populace. Marcus and Feinman (1998:5) augment this definition by

emphasizing the state’s power in areas of warfare, labor requisition, and state

religion, underscoring both corporeal and ideological control of subject populations.


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Though the world systems model provides an important framework for

studying empires, it has been criticized for its “top-down,” reductionist

characterization of core-periphery relations (Dietler 1998:297, 2005:58; Lightfoot and

Martinez 1995:476; Schreiber 2005; Stein 1998:226, 1999:16). While the core

represents the nexus of innovation, the periphery is depicted as passive and

homogenous (Schortman and Urban 1994:402). Class struggles within each region

are downplayed in Wallerstein’s framework, a critical oversight from the view of

Marxist scholars (Bergesen 1984:365; Patterson 1990). The separation of core,

periphery, and semi-periphery has been further critiqued as an artificial separation

more appropriately conceptualized as a continuum (Straussfogel 1997). Moreover,

boundaries are treated as unchanging over time, ignoring historical evidence of

empires as dynamic polities that fluctuate temporally (Stanish 1997:196).

Recent research has therefore expanded core/periphery studies to include

social dynamics, agency, and resistance (Carroll 1999; Deagan 2001; Elson and

Covey 2006; Goldstein 2000:337; Stein 2005). Within this broader perspective,

ideology is recognized as an important tool for both imperial hegemony and local

negotiation (Brumfiel 1996; Demarrais et al. 1996). This nuanced understanding also

emphasizes the primal importance of specific histories in shaping power dynamics

and processes of resistance (Hall 1996; Morrison 2001b; Patterson 1990; Stein

1999:9). In addition, frontiers along imperial borders are seen as loci of dynamic

interactions and ethnogenesis, rather than as irrelevant marginal zones (Alconini

2004; Hall 1986; Lightfoot and Martinez 1995; Sherratt 1993).


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This core/periphery perspective thus eschews simplistic depictions of

monolithic core versus passive periphery, and instead highlights regional differences

that appear within each empire. Several variables contribute to these regional

variations, such as proximity to the core, level of prior political complexity,

population size, complexity of technology and military organization, and amount of

resistance or allegiance (D’Altroy 1992; Kuznar 1996; Schreiber 1992; Stein 2005:8-

9). Another important variable is time: populations incorporated during the rise of an

empire may experience different conditions than those consolidated near the end of an

empire’s reign (Dietler 1998:298; Stanish 1997). Based on these different variables,

the political structure and domestic economy of a local people may be radically

altered, or relatively unaffected, by imperial conquest (Hastorf and D’Altroy 2001).

In summary, based on a world systems perspective, populations in the core of

an empire are expected to experience different circumstances from those in the

periphery. However, conditions in each region will not be uniform or static, but rather

will vary depending on several variables. This is particularly true in the Andes, where

each region responded differently to Inca conquest and consolidation (D’Altroy 1994;

Kuznar 1996; La Lone 1994; Morris 1998:295). While some areas were completely

transformed, with existing groups moved off their lands for purposes of imperial

restructuring, in other regions the Inca forged alliances and allowed local elites to rule

(Schreiber 1992:53-62).


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mechanisms—focus on resources and infrastructure provided through the state’s

organizational capabilities (Service 1975). The benefits of centralization, such as

stable food sources, translate into better health for all citizens. For instance, during

disasters or poor harvests, the state may offer subsidies through stored surpluses,

while disabled individuals or others in need receive welfare provisions from the state

(Kendall 1985:142).

Could such a characterization apply to the Inca Empire? Some researchers

have described the Inca Empire as a beneficent “socialist empire”:

[L]and was communally held and redistributed according to need, taxes andlabor were reallocated for the common good, and the state through its

beneficent aristocracy and clergy was the ultimate creator and purveyor of peace, prosperity, and happiness. (van den Berghe and Flores Ochoa2000:11)

Though this view seems simplistic, other researchers confirm the redistributive efforts

of the Inca Empire (Kuznar 1996:13; MacCormack 2001b:421; Murra (1980 [1955]),

maintaining that government storehouses held food supplies for state laborers

(Kendall 1985:142). In his classic text of Inca society, Rowe (1946:273) described

several socialistic aspects of Inca governance, asserting that the empire “insured the

individual against every sort of want.”

As a redistributive organization, the Inca Empire would have significantly

influenced health by provisioning a stable diet (D’Altroy 2001:46). In this scenario,

expansion benefits individuals in both the core and periphery: lower status

individuals in the capital profit from increased resources extracted from conquered

regions, while redistributed goods from the core provide additional resources to


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These conditions—visible as small circular lesions in the upper orbits and posterior

cranial surfaces—have been attributed to a number of causes, including nutritional

deficiencies, parasitic infection, and bacterial infection (El-Najjar et al. 1976; Lallo et

al. 1977; Reinhard 1992; Stuart-Macadam and Kent 1992; Walker 1985, 1986). Since

these conditions ensue from malnutrition and disease, their prevalence can reveal

evidence of stress in past populations (Blom et al. 2005; Cohen and Armelagos 1984;

Hill and Armelagos 1990; Kent 1986; Larsen 1997:30; Mensforth et al. 1978; Stuart-

Macadam 1985, 1992a,b; Ubelaker 1992; Walker 1986).

Two additional stress indicators, stunted growth and dental enamel

hypoplasias, reflect growth disruptions suffered during childhood development

(Larsen 1997:44; Rose et al. 1985). Inadequate nutrition will restrict growth, since the

individual receives too few nutritional resources to fuel normal development.

Furthermore, growth is restricted in diseased individuals because the body must divert

resources to the costly demands of fighting disease. The resultant “stunted” growth,

with long bones that are significantly shorter than those of healthy individuals,

indicates compromised health (Lambert 1993).

Dental enamel hypoplasias result from disruption of tooth enamel formation

and are visible as grooves in the labial dental surface. Cessations in growth leading to

hypoplasias may be caused by nutritional deficiencies or diseases that strain an

individual’s metabolism. As an indication of stress, the condition provides evidence

of compromised health in populations (Goodman and Rose 1991; Hillson 2000).

Documentation of this condition complements other indications of non-specific


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stress: while femur length usually reflects chronic stress incurred during an

individual’s entire development, hypoplasias more often indicate specific episodes of

stress that affected an individual during a short period of time (Goodman and Martin

2002:27).

One final stress indicator, osteoperiostitis (inflammation of the subperiosteal

cortical bone), ensues from bacterial infection and is easily visible in skeletal

collections. Osteoperiostitis often increases with dense population aggregation and

unsanitary hygienic conditions (Steckel et al. 2002). As such, osteoperiostitis can be

used to assess the influence of imperially-driven settlement changes involving

urbanism and aggregated living conditions.

These conditions—porotic hyperostosis, stunted growth, enamel hypoplasias,

and osteoperiostitis—comprise the overall “health index” of an individual (Steckel et

al. 2002). By combining health indices of all individuals within a group,

bioarchaeologists can measure the relative health of a population, and compare it to

other groups from different regions or temporal periods (Steckel and Rose 2002b).

The present study compares pathological conditions before and after the rise of the

Inca Empire to measure the health impacts of imperial expansion.

Trauma

Bioarchaeologists record traumatic injuries as a means to understand patterns

of violence throughout human history (Walker 1989, 2001). Specific skeletal

indicators of violence include depressed cranial fractures, embedded projectile points,

and cutmarks reflecting scalping or dismemberment (Andrushko et al. 2005; Jurmain


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1991a, 2001; Lambert 1994, 2002; Walker 1989; Walker and Lambert 1989). War-

related conflict may result in injuries such as blunt force trauma from clubs and

stones, cutting wounds from metal weapons (Novak 2000; Walker and Steckel 2002),

and “parry” fractures of the midshaft forearm bones, often attributed to self-defense

stances in which an individual raises their arm to ward off a blow and receives blunt

force trauma to the ulna (Judd 2002, 2004). To distinguish accidental injuries from

those related to violent conflict, location of injury, pattern of targeted body regions,

and sex of afflicted individuals are used to discern the social context of observed

trauma (Walker 1997; Lambert 1994; Larsen 1997:110).

Evidence of violent trauma can be used to investigate warfare in the Inca

Empire. Though the Spanish documents extensively describe Inca warfare (Arkush

and Stanish 2005; Niles 1999:61-62; Rowe 1946:274), some researchers believe the

chroniclers exaggerated these accounts, interpreting Inca expansion based on their

ethnocentric notions of conquest (Morris 1998:304). To assess the validity of these

historical accounts, skeletal evidence of perimortem trauma can be distinguished from

healed, nonlethal injuries, providing a means to assess the prevalence of pervasive,

lethal conflict.

Trepanation, the removal of a section of the cranial vault, provides

complementary (though indirect) evidence of violence, due to its association with

cranial trauma. This type of surgical intervention, a common practice in the

prehistoric Andean region, was performed largely to relieve intracranial pressure

from cranial trauma (Verano 1997a, 2003b). The analysis of trauma and associated


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trepanations can therefore test hypotheses of the role of warfare in Inca imperial

development and expansion.

Ethnic Identity and Migration

Two datasets in this study, cranial modification and strontium isotope

analysis, are used to identify Inca imperial influence on ethnic identity and migration.

In the Andes, migration played a key role in shaping the pre-Columbian social

landscape. At times, highland Andean groups exploited ecological niches at different

altitudes, maintaining a base population in one location and sending off smaller

groups to exploit other “vertical islands” (Masuda et al. 1985; Murra 1968, 1972,

1985). One well-documented example of resource-based migration is found in the

Middle Horizon state of Tiwanaku (AD 500-1000), where colonists migrated to the

Moquegua Valley, Peru from the capital near the Bolivian shore of Lake Titicaca

(Blom et al. 1998; Goldstein 1993, 2000; Knudson et al. 2004; Kolata 1993; Owen

2005). Described as “diaspora communities” (Goldstein 2000), the colonists remained

both biologically and culturally affiliated with the Tiwanaku core (Blom 1999; Blom

et al. 1998; Goldstein 1989a, b, 2005:266; Owen 2005:64; Stanish 2003:291). In

Moquegua they cultivated and exported resources—such as maize, cotton, peppers,

and coca—that were either unavailable or limited in the capital region (Goldstein

2005:237).

In the Late Horizon, the Inca adopted this pattern of ecological migration as a

tool of state control (Goldstein 2005:48; Wachtel 1982:200). This tactic proved

invaluable for imperial success: as Stanish (2001:224) notes, “Forcible movement of


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Further complicating the matter, ethnic identity is not static, but rather fluid

and varied, such that material assemblages may not properly reflect its multi-

dimensional nature (Bernardini 2005:32; Eriksen 1992; Jones and Graves-Brown

1996). Ethnic identity incorporates both self-ascription and ascription by others,

influenced by external circumstances and internal agency (Barth 1998; Nagel 1994).

Rapid shifts in ethnic identity can result from changes in the physical or social

environment (Reycraft 2005:5); in Late Intermediate Period Chile, Atacameños

created a unified identity in response to social encroachment following Tiwanaku

collapse (Torres-Rouff 2003:142). Ethnic identity may also be manipulated for

personal gain, such as Nubian individuals co-opting foreign Egyptian styles for status

elevation (Buzon 2006:692; Smith 2003). Due to the active, responsive nature of

ethnic identity, the use of bounded cultural assemblages to identify past groups and

their movements can be problematic (Chapman and Dolukhanov 1993; Emberling

1997; Singleton 1998:174).

Bioarchaeological methods offer promising approaches to some of these

problems. By focusing on skeletal remains and their associated artifacts, these studies

can reveal group affiliations through cultural practices and mortuary treatment

(Andresen 2000:554). Recent efforts towards the recognition of gro

Documents

Prehistorical Burials Form Cusco (Andrushko)