Chullpa Use in in the Ancash Region of Peru: Insights from the Discovery of Multiple Rare Developmental Conditions at Marcajirca (AD 1000–1650)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Situated on a steep-sided mountain slope on the eastern side of the Cordillera Blanca in the Ancash region of Peru, the Late Intermediate−Early Colonial period (AD 1000–1650) site of Marcajirca consists of residential, public, and funerary areas. Interment contexts include 35 aboveground walled tombs (chullpas). While it is logical to suggest these open sepulchers were used by kin groups, such suggestions of tomb use and prehistoric social structure tend to be based on colonial records and ethnographic analogy, and less frequently on the human remains themselves. Archaeological testing of eight tombs produced an MNI of 250 adults and 110 subadults. Among the remains, two rare heritable developmental conditions were observed among multiple individuals from different tombs: brachydactyly (MNI=3, 2 tombs) and Madelung’s deformity (MNI=2, 1 tomb). Given the rarity of each of these conditions, it is likely the individuals were related. This presentation will consider these findings in the context of understanding chullpa use. These cases offer insight into cultural practices, suggest the continued use of the site over time by an extended kin group, and underscore the importance of identifying rare developmental conditions in the archaeological record as their presence may indicate genetic relationships within or among archaeological cemeteries.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40082.0