Childhood in the Wari World: A Bioarchaeological Investigation of Dietary Patterns in a Middle Horizon (600–1000 CE) Community

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Marking and Making of Social Persons: Embodied Understandings in the Archaeologies of Childhood and Adolescence" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper uses an anthropological bioarchaeological approach to examine stable isotope data to reconstruct juvenile diet and migration. Through the analysis of stable carbon and oxygen isotope data from dental enamel carbonates, this study builds a preliminary understanding of the process of childhood-making and enculturation of individuals from the site of Auquimarca, which was affiliated with the Wari Empire (600–1000 CE) in the pre-Hispanic Andes. The site, located in the department of Junín, is composed of residential structures and 126 tombs. This study analyzes 339 enamel carbonate samples, which represent 80 individuals. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data from enamel carbonates allow for a reconstruction of diet and migration from infancy to adolescence, as dental isotopic signatures offer a retrospective glance into an individual’s childhood. Results show a mean of -5.39‰ (SD=1.7) for δ13C in enamel and -9.46‰ (SD=1.0) for δ18O in enamel. Preliminary results suggest that the community heavily subsisted on C4 plants, such as maize. Additionally, five individuals in the community spent their childhood, or part of their childhood, in a non-local region. These data are considered alongside stable isotope data from other Wari era sites and other sites in the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Marking and Making of Social Persons: Embodied Understandings in the Archaeologies of Childhood and Adolescence   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40207.0