Violence and Selected Funerary Treatment: Insights from a Collective Open Tomb of the Upper Nepeña Drainage, Peru (AD 1300–1500)

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.

The recent PARAMa project undertook the excavation of several open sepulcher funerary contexts in the Upper Nepeña Drainage, among which two structures were thoroughly excavated. Their content, predominantly skeletonized and partially mummified human remains, were analyzed, representing the first systematic bioarchaeological study in the region. Here, the authors will discuss the results of this seminal study, focusing on the special case of Intirumi, a communal tomb of the machay (rock shelter) type. The context dates to the second part of the Late Intermediate period (AD 1300–1500). In addition to being characterized by a specific funerary selection, the commingled skeletal assemblage recovered shows an exceptionally high rate of lethal and sublethal cranial trauma (92.3%). The integration of archaeological (mortuary patterns), bioarchaeological (demographic profiles), and paleopathological lines of evidence enabled the authors to reconstruct and discuss the biocultural context associated with these traumatic injuries. In turn, it helps shed light on the lived experiences of the people deposited in this tomb, including the types and patterns of interpersonal violence and warfare in the Cordillera Negra region during this period. Finally, the remains highlight the overall significance of this particular open sepulcher context within the funerary landscape.

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): 39316.0