Differential Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in a LIP and Late Horizon Skeletal Sample of Southern Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Exploring Culture Contact and Diversity in Southern Peru" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Moquegua Valley of southern Peru is known for multiple studies regarding the presence, origin, and evolution of tuberculosis in the pre-contact Americas. These studies have primarily focused on tuberculosis in Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate Period contexts and the continued presence and evolution of the disease during the end of the Late Intermediate Period and Late Horizon has yet to be examined. Initial differential diagnoses of vertebral lesions identified during analysis of a skeletal collection excavated as a rescue project during the construction of a new bus station in Moquegua, Peru is presented here. Tombs at this site contain decorated ceramic styles consistent with the later part of the Late Intermediate Period and the Inka defined Late Horizon. A skeletal sample containing 250 individuals was analysed during 2018, with ten individuals exhibiting vertebral lesions possibly consistent with tuberculosis. Here we present differential diagnoses of these individuals, four of whom possess lesions most resembling tuberculosis. Since this sample from the Terminal Terrestre dates largely to the latter half of the LIP and Late Horizon, the presence of TB in this sample shows that this disease continued to be present in the Moquegua valley during these time periods.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Exploring Culture Contact and Diversity in Southern Peru

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25318