Linear Enamel Hypoplasia: An Analysis of Health Disparities Between the Early Intermediate Period and Middle Horizon of Nasca, Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

There has been an abundance of research on the Nasca culture and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) separately. However, there is no literature specifically on Nasca and LEH analysis comparing the Early Intermediate Period (EIP) and the Middle Horizon period (MH). The research detailed here shows there are evident disparities in LEH between Nasca individuals correlating to status, cranial vault modification (CVM), and trophy heads, between the EIP and MH. On the other hand,

fluctuations in LEH severity are similar between sexes due to shared experiences of stress linked to changes in environmental conditions and in socio-political organization. I utilized macroscopic observations of LEH on 47 Nasca individuals from the Kroeber collection from the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Through this project, I found statistical significance between sex and trophy heads, cranial modification and LEH presence, and LEH between Early and Late Nasca periods. I conclude that while not significant, but approaching significance, females tend to be more negatively impacted than males from similar

stressors. Overall, health status deteriorated over time showing environmental changes and socio-political changes leading up to and during Wari imperial occupation had a negative effect on Nasca individuals, despite/regardless of status or sex.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38806.0