The Necropolis of Ancón
I spent two weeks working at the Field Museum in Chicago gathering data on the incredible site of Ancón. This cemetery had been excavated by George Dorsey in the mid 1890's for the World's Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago in 1895. The collection includes nearly two hundred individuals who were buried wrapped in textiles and cotton batting and buried in an elaborate fashion.
I was able to analyze 137 crania from the site. They struck me as being quite similar to the pattern I had seen at Pachacamac, another coastal Peruvian city. Almost everyone had the same form of deformation and the differences appeared to be more of degree than of type. Also, something that perhaps relates to the high status of the cemetery, there were few signs of disease and very low rates of trauma.
The artifact collection and the documentation of the excavation and all tomb contents really make this a phenomenal site, worthy of a deeper research project !!