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Trauma in the preceramic coastal populations of northern Chile: Violence or occupational hazards?
Author(s) -
Standen Vivien G.,
Arriaza Bernardo T.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(2000)112:2<239::aid-ajpa9>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - interpersonal violence , trunk , skull , population , osteology , demography , poison control , injury prevention , medicine , geography , anatomy , medical emergency , biology , sociology , ecology
One hundred and forty‐four Chinchorro skeletons, stored at the Museo Arqueológico San Miguel de Azapa in Arica, Chile, were examined to test the following alternative hypotheses concerning skeletal trauma: either observed trauma was a consequence of interpersonal violence, or was the result of work‐related accidents. Trauma found in subadults was rare, with 1.8% (1/55) contrasted with 30% (27/89) in the adult population. The location of most adult trauma was the skull with 24.6% (17/69), followed by the upper extremities with 8.7% (7/80), the trunk with 2.9% (2/68), and the lower extremities with the least trauma at 1.1% (1/89). Skull trauma corresponded to well‐healed, semicircular fractures, with males being three times more affected than females at 34.2% (13/38) and 12.9% (4/31), respectively. Most fractures were nonlethal, appearing to have been caused by impacts from stones, suggesting interpersonal violence rather than accidents. This study indicates that the egalitarian, maritime, hunter‐gatherer Chinchorro culture (circa 4000 years B.P.) may not have lived as peacefully as once thought. Am J Phys Anthropol 112:239–249, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.