Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5-24-2016 12:00 AM A History of Violence: 3000 Years of Interpersonal and Intergroup Conflicts from the Initial to the Early Colonial Periods in the Peruvian Central Coast. A Bioarchaeological Perspective María del Carmen Vega Dulanto The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Andrew Nelson The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Anthropology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © María del Carmen Vega Dulanto 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, and the Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Vega Dulanto, María del Carmen, "A History of Violence: 3000 Years of Interpersonal and Intergroup Conflicts from the Initial to the Early Colonial Periods in the Peruvian Central Coast. A Bioarchaeological Perspective" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3836. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3836 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract The purpose of this study is to test research questions about the development of violence on the Peruvian central coast during the pre-Hispanic and Early Colonial times. This is the first study to provide a diachronic analysis of violence on the central coast. One null hypothesis was tested and falsified: that there are no differences in the prevalence and pattern of trauma over time on the central coast of Peru. Two complementary questions were also addressed: 1) Is there a relation between sociopolitical changes, natural catastrophes, competition for resources and violence? and 2) How did violence affect specific segments of the population (males, females, subadults, and elite and non-elite persons)? More than 700 individuals from 14 different samples were analyzed, following classic bioarchaeological and forensic methods, and complemented with other variables such as cohort, most probable cause (malintent, accidental, occupational or unknown), lethality, minimum number of events, and social status. This research showed three factors that triggered violent episodes in the area: 1) the emergence of social inequalities/a warrior elite; 2) socio-political crises that were produced after the fall of a previous social order; and 3) the need to fight for resources, either during severe droughts or to control the resources of the middle valley region. Males (adults and adolescents), especially those dedicated to military activities or those from the lower status were more exposed to violence than the rest of the population. However, in times when violence rose, females were equally affected. The comparison of the findings from the central coast with other Andean regions showed that not all societies reacted in the same way when faced with similar socio-political /environmental challenges. The main contributions of this study are its long temporal perspective, and its emphasis on the importance of social complexity. These perspectives will enrich the anthropological debate around violence, providing a better understanding of the factors that can affect how violence can unfold in different situations and within different cultures. Keywords Violence, Peruvian central coast, Pre-Hispanic Andes, Early Colonial period, trauma, bioarchaeology, bio-cultural interactions i Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship program for sponsoring this research. I am eternally grateful to Andrew Nelson for all these years of constant support, advice, editing, and patience. Thank you for not throwing in the towel even when the stork visited me a third time (I bet you will not have another student like me any time soon!). I would like to thank my PhD Committee, Jean-François Millaire, El Molto, Alexis Dolphin, Marla Toyne, and Bertha García for their comments and suggestions. Special thanks also go to the Department of Anthropology for their amazing support. I also want to acknowledge all the institutions, including the Ministerio de Cultura del Perú, Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú (MNAAHP), Museo de Sitio de Ancón, and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, for giving me access to their collections and/or facilities. I am especially grateful to my second family, the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF), for granting me “refugee status” by giving a place to write this dissertation. I am deeply appreciative to all the persons who entrusted me with the analyses of the skeletal collections and provided me with the contextual information or their unpublished data: Krzysztof Makowski (Lomas de Lurín Archaeological Project), Jonathan Palacios, Elizabeth Enriquez, María (Tita) Kolp-Godoy, and Martha Palma (La Capitana Archaeological Project), Lucía Balbuena (Camisea Archaeological Project), Luis Felipe Villacorta and Martín Del Carpio (PERM-CTRA Archaeological Project), Martín Mac Kay, Carlos Rengifo, Gabriel Prieto, and Ana Cecilia Mauricio (Huaca 20 Archaeological Project), Víctor Falcón and Renzo Ventura (Copacabana Archaeological Project), Guillermo Cock, Mellisa Lund, Melissa Murphy, and Catherine Gaither (Puruchuco-Huaquerones Archaeological Project), Jalh Dulanto (Karwa Archaeological Project), Patricia Mayta (MNAAHP), Lucía Watson (Museo de Sitio de Ancón), Luisa Díaz (Armatambo-22 de Octubre Archaeological Project), Daniel Guerrero(†), Carlos Morales, and Moira Novoa (Armatambo-Qhapaq Ñan Archaeological Project), Micaela Álvarez (Catalina Huanca Archaeological Project), Juan ii Mogrovejo and Rafael Segura (Cajamarquilla Archaeological Project) and Walter Tosso (Las Shicras Archaeological Project). I am especially thankful for the help of Gonzalo Irureta, Lisseth Rojas, Vanessa Salomón, Kathya Valladares, and Fredy Zamora in the analysis of the samples from Armatambo, Cerro Culebra, and Tablada de Lurín. Thanks also go to Maureen Purcell for her aid in the analysis of the Ancón collection. I am indebted to Carito Tavera who helped me with the search of papers in diverse libraries and to Fiorella Rojas who produced some of the maps presented in the dissertation. I would like to thank Micheline Piskun for editing these acknowledgements (I am sure Evelyn will rock her Peruvian hats this winter!). I would also like to express my gratitude to Sergio Barraza, Sofia Chacaltana, Patricia Chirinos, and Rafael Vega-Centeno for their advice and for providing me with books and papers. Special thanks go out to my “super external advisors” Hugo Ikehara and Lucía Watson, who took the time to read the whole draft and sent me great feedback; and to José Pablo Baraybar and María Inés Barreto for their expert opinions on some cases of perimortem trauma. Thanks to all my friends and colleagues in Peru, Canada, and elsewhere whose kindness and messages of support gave me extra breath (and kept me sane!). It would have been virtually impossible for me to finish this dissertation without the constant support, love, and help of my family. Thank you so much Sergio for leaving everything behind to join me in this incredibly challenging journey (¡te adoro cielo!). Thank you Amparito and Arturito for all the days (and nights) you spent with my babies so that Sergio and I could have some rest. Thank you Kathy, Jenny, Mary and Rosita for taking good care of my babies during the hours I was writing this research. Thank you tía Tana for “baby- sitting” me in London last year. My mom wanted an entire paragraph dedicated to her, so here it goes: gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita, gracias mamita. Seriously, thank you mom, and thank you dad. Now that I have finished this dissertation, you can finally say that you have recovered your daughter. iii Finally, thank you Diego, Alonso, and Mateo. Your arrivals did not slow this research. You actually made it happen. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xv List of Appendices ........................................................................................................ xxxii Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Violence in Peru .....................................................................................................