Pacopampa: Early evidence of violence at a ceremonial site in the northern Peruvian highlands.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Pacopampa, a ceremonial complex in Peru's northern highlands, reveals early evidence of trauma in the Middle to Late Formative Period coinciding with the emergence of social stratification in the area. We examine the prevalence of trauma in human remains found at the site and present evidence of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of individuals who lived during the early stages of Andean civilization.

Materials and methods

The materials are the remains of 104 individuals (38 non-adult and 66 adult) from the Middle to Late Formative Periods. We explored trauma macroscopically and recorded patterns based on skeletons' locations, age at death, sex, social class, and chronology.

Results

We detected trauma in remains over the Middle to Late Formative Perio

SUBMITTER: Nagaoka T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5619763 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature