Preliminary Analyses of Materials from the Terminal Terrestre, Moquegua, 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.

Archaeological investigations in Moquegua indicate that this valley has been the site of multi-ethnic imperial processes since the Middle Horizon. Large cemetery sites in Moquegua have largely dated to the Middle Horizon Period, however, and thus little work has focused on the transition between the Late Intermediate Period and Inka occupation. Rescue excavations conducted in 2010 from a large cemetery site under the bus station have the potential to address important questions regarding Late Intermediate Period multi-ethnic processes and responses to the Inka Empire. This poster presents preliminary analyses of skeletal and ceramic specimens conducted during the summer of 2018. Assessment of ceramic vessels indicates that this site was used primary during the Late Intermediate Period, and contains ceramics associated with Cabuza, Tumilaca, Chiribaya, Estuquiña, Gentilar, and San Miguel styles. This site also contains ceramic vessels associated with the Inka Empire, reflecting continued use of the cemetery during the Late Horizon. Skeletal analyses reveal multiple styles of cranial modification, antemortem cranial trauma, and vertebral lesions consistent with tuberculosis. Thus, materials from the terminal terrestre rescue excavations have the potential to address multi-ethnic processes in the Moquegua Valley during the Late Intermediate Period and responses from contact with the Inka Empire.

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): 24832