An Experimental Approach to Fracture Variation Attributed to Weapon Morphology Using Replica Chankan Maces

Summary

The use of stone weapons is prevalent throughout the history of the Chanka (C.E. 1050-1400), a civilization that inhabited the Apurímac region in Peru and once rivaled the great Incan Empire. Accordingly, the impact fractures such weapons create provide direct evidence to deciphering the deaths of these Andean warriors and their violent past. This project seeks to provide experimental evidence of fracture variation attributed to differences in weapon morphology, which can be compared to the blunt force trauma identified on recovered skulls. The study focuses on two distinct weapons frequently observed in the Chankan archaeological record: the star mace and the circular mace. The weapons were reconstructed in accurate weight and form from casts of authentic artifacts and will strike 10mm-thick casts of dental plaster, which mimic the frontal bone—a probable surface for impact damage in hand-to-hand combat. To achieve an accurate result, the experiment will consist of no less than 100 trials. Preliminary assessment suggests the star mace will result in the most fractures due to its several points, rolling across the frontal bone to create multiple areas of impact damage; however, the greater weight of the circular mace is expected to result in wounds of greater depth.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20481