Beyond the Big Picture: An integrative Paleogenomic study to address regional dynamics and political organization in the Peruvian Moche Culture

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The genomic revolution opened up new dimensions for paleogenomic research, inconceivable only a decade ago. However, with a primary focus on big-picture population genetics like large-scale migration events, paleogenetics also became somewhat removed from problem-based archaeological research questions with a regional focus, addressing issues such as kinship, genealogy, and political organization. With new methods on hand, and sufficient population genomic data frameworks established, it is now possible to re-focus big picture data, and foster fruitful collaboration with archaeologists who are equally interested in smaller-scale population dynamics. As an example we present our study on social and political dynamics of the Moche Culture along the Peruvian North Coast, one of the earliest (ca. 300—850 C.E.) complex societies in South America. We obtained genome wide data from the iconic Señora de Cao, and 15 other high status Moche burials from the Huaca de Cao to examine marriage patterns and family relations. The genome wide data, contextualized with the rich archaeological record, along with new isotopic data, allow us to not only address the reconstruction of genetic genealogies of past Moche royal families, but to understand the population history of the Moche, and the evolution of political systems in ancient Peru.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24431