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Physical Violence and Social Tension in the Atacama Desert: Osteobiography of a Woman from the Tarapacá 40 Formative Period Cemetery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2023

María José Herrera-Soto*
Affiliation:
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Andrea González-Ramírez
Affiliation:
Escuela de Arqueología, Universidad Austral, Puerto Montt, Chile
Pablo Díaz
Affiliation:
OsTeam Ltda., Santiago, Chile
Aryel Pacheco
Affiliation:
Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Chile, Santiago
Rodrigo Retamal
Affiliation:
Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Chile, Santiago
Arturo Sáez
Affiliation:
Escuela de Arqueología, Universidad Austral, Puerto Montt, Chile
Francisca Santana-Sagredo
Affiliation:
Escuela de Antropología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Mauricio Uribe
Affiliation:
Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Chile, Santiago
*
Corresponding author: María José Herrera‐Soto. Email: mariajose.herrera@uba.ar

Abstract

Physical violence and social conflict have been widely studied in the ancient societies of the Andes. However, studies about violence are scarce for the Formative period of northern Chile (1000 BC–AD 900). Evidence from these investigations is generally interpreted as interpersonal violence, whose protagonists are mostly men. Here, we present the case of an adult female recovered from the Tarapacá 40 cemetery (Tarapacá region, Chile) displaying lesions suggestive of trauma. We reconstruct her life and death in the context of this era's social and political conditions. Results of our bioanthropological characterization, cranial trauma analysis, carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, and recording of the funerary offerings suggest she was a local member of the Formative community buried in the Tarapacá 40 cemetery and that she suffered intentional lethal lesions. Her death is unusual because there are no previous bioarchaeological records of lethal violence against women in the Tarapacá region. The osteobiography of this woman reflects a context characterized by an increase in inequality and social complexity, whereby physical violence could be used as a mechanism of internal regulation and exercise of power during the Formative period.

Resumen

Resumen

La violencia ha sido una temática ampliamente estudiada en las sociedades andinas. Sin embargo, las investigaciones acerca de la violencia son escasas para el periodo Formativo del norte de Chile (1000 aC-900 dC). Las evidencias provenientes de estos estudios generalmente se atribuyen a conflictos entre grupos, donde los protagonistas son, usualmente, hombres. Aquí presentamos el caso de un adulto femenino con evidencia de fracturas, inhumado en el cementerio Tarapacá 40 (región de Tarapacá, Chile). Reconstruimos su vida y muerte considerando las condiciones sociales y políticas de su entramado histórico. Realizamos una caracterización bioantropológica, un análisis de los traumas craneales, de isótopos estables, y un registro de las ofrendas contenidas en la tumba. Los resultados sugieren que la mujer fue un miembro más de la comunidad, sepultada en el cementerio Tarapacá 40 y que su muerte estuvo relacionada con las lesiones en su cabeza. Este tipo de muerte es inusual en los registros bioarqueológicos previos de violencia letal en la región de Tarapacá. Esta osteobiografía, por lo tanto, se constituye en evidencia de una época caracterizada por un incremento de la complejidad y desigualdad social, donde la violencia física pudo ser un mecanismo de regulación interna y de ejercicio del poder.

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Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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