Social Transition at Tumilaca la Chimba: A Bioarchaeological Analysis of Terminal Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate Period Mortuary Contexts

Summary

The centuries following Tiwanaku state decline circa AD 1000 were characterized by political fragmentation and social flux. In the Moquegua Valley, Peru, the first 250 years following the state’s demise are referred to as the terminal Middle Horizon (AD 1000-1250), a period during which considerable cultural continuity with Tiwanaku is evident despite political collapse. The following Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (AD 1250-1450) is marked by major changes in material culture, domestic architecture, and ceremonial practices as the valley likely underwent a process of population replacement. Drawing on skeletal data from one site (Tumilaca la Chimba) with both terminal Middle Horizon and LIP occupations, this poster examines stress and health across this turbulent transition. An osteological analysis of 20 individuals from the terminal Middle Horizon cemeteries and 23 individuals from the LIP period cemetery reveals significant differences in age and sex distributions and in differences in dental and skeletal pathologies between the two periods. These results provide insights into nutritional stress and disease exposure between these two occupations and underscore the importance of a bioarchaeological perspective in understanding the impacts of major social and political transition in the Andes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17376