Mortuary Practices Amid Sociopolitical Changes: Interpreting a Large Communal Ossuary at Las Huacas, Chincha Valley
2021; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 42; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00776297.2021.1995121
ISSN2051-6207
AutoresJordan A. Dalton, Colleen O’Shea, Juliana Gómez Mejía, Noemi Oncebay Pizarro,
Tópico(s)Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
ResumoAncient Andean mortuary practices were dynamic events where individual and group identities were displayed and negotiated during Inca imperial expansion (AD 1400–1532) and the Colonial period (AD 1532–1824). This article explores the significance of a large communal ossuary found at the site of Las Huacas in the Chincha Valley through analyzing the context, material culture, and human remains. The feature is a secondary interment of at least 42 individuals that incorporates broad local trends and integrates some Late Horizon innovations, including the manipulation of vertebrae on a reed post. If the feature was deposited during the Late Horizon, the burial event was likely embedded within sociopolitical strategies under Inca-Chincha joint rule. If deposited during the colonial period, it could represent an offering made in response to a drastic decrease in population. Regardless, the feature demonstrates how local Chincha material culture and mortuary practices persisted and changed after Inca expansion.
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