Born This Way, Becoming That Way: Difference, Disability and Sickness in Inka Society

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Medicine and Healing in the Americas: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Perspectives" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Inkas’ social constructions of physical difference recognized ‘disability’ as a permanent state of being, one that Guaman Poma de Ayala suggested was considered a specific calle or passage of life. Unlike much of the contemporary Late Middle Ages of Christian Europe, such individuals were not socially induced into aspiring for miraculous divine healing to achieve some physical state of perceived ‘normalcy’—they were valued as an integral part of Inka society for their lived difference. Oppositely, illnesses were recognized as momentary transformations of health that could result in death and could only be counteracted through an act of healing. Many healers within Inka society were people who survived an illness themselves, being reflective of actual lived experiences they could guide others through. The vast majority of what is known about Inka notions of medical care and social welfare networks is derived from ethnohistory; however, bioarchaeological research has increasingly contributed to this. Primarily through a review of ethnohistoric sources, I will elaborate on Inka systems of medical care, perceptions of mental health, and social constructions of physical difference.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Medicine and Healing in the Americas: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Perspectives   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26076