I spent the summer of 2001 in Chile and managed, with the help of my loving husband, to collect data on over 400 crania from 6 sites. I spent the first month in Santiago working with Dr. Sylvia Quevedo and looking at Pisagua and Punta Teatinos. Very different sites. Punta Teatinos, an archaic site in Chile's semi - arid north, showed no evidence of deliberate cranial vault modification but many skulls did have a flattening of the occipital that could be attributed to cradling practices. I have an inkling that there is an interesting distribution of cranial trauma at this site - we'll see what the data show. Pisagua was a collection that spanned 4 periods and showed a great deal of modification, seemingly increasing in presence and variety over time.
I spent another big chunk of time in San Pedro de Atacama with Maria Antonietta Costa and examined remains from 4 areas (including the first cemetery excavated by the museum). The big news came out of here (at least for me!). I gave a paper at the 71st Annual Meeting of the AAPA in Buffalo (April 2002) that discussed the relationship between these four contemporary sites. (see below)
AAPA Abstract, 2002 Meeting, Buffalo, NY
Skeletal and Mortuary Evidence for Cultural Diversity in the Late Intermediate Period Chilean Atacama
The
Andean Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (AD 1000-1450) was a time
of regional developments during which no pan-Andean culture existed.
Some archaeologists have argued that in the Atacama Desert of
north Chile two separate cultures existed where there had previously
been cultural homogeneity. A series of 256 crania from four LIP
sites were analyzed in order to investigate this hypothesis. One
site, Caspana (n=58) is from the Loa River area, while the other
three are from the San Pedro de Atacama oases located slightly
to the south (Coyo 3, n=33; Quitor 6, n=21; Yaye, n=144). The
skulls were examined for cranial vault modification, which is
an indication of cultural affiliation. Additionally, discrete
trait observations and mortuary practices were studied in light
of the possibility of the existence of two distinct ethnic groups.
These results
suggest that the LIP population of the Loa River differs markedly
from the neighboring San Pedro populations. This is particularly
evident in cranial vault modification. The Caspana series overwhelmingly
displays annular forms (84%) while throughout time tabular forms
of deformation characterized the San Pedro population. This evidence
of a cultural difference is consistent with the occasional appearance
of chullpas or burial towers instead of simple burial pits
in the Loa River area. This supports the hypothesis that two distinct
populations occupied the Chilean Atacama during the LIP. One is
represented by the San Pedro oasis cemeteries, which were contemporary
and culturally homogenous. The occupation of the Loa region, in
contrast, may reflect influences from the Bolivian Altiplano.
This is a very interesting time period to work in and I am planning on expanding my analysis with future work to include health and violence in north Chile during the Late Intermediate Period since it is considered a time of serious disruptions.
All in all an interesting set of data for my thesis...