Bioarchaeology

1
Bioarchaeology an Early Death Cult in the
Bolivian Andes

• Catherine Domanska John W. Janusek
• Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University

Data the assemblage In Structure 12-C9 of
Compound 3, we located nearly 1,000
disarticulated and jumbled bones of approximately
25 adults and children. None of these bones
could reliably be associated with any other, and
thus the number of individuals represented in
this deposit could be much higher. In general,
the bones were in an excellent state of
preservation due to the plaster compound that
coated them and the dense nature of most of the
specimens. Hand and foot bones were vastly
overrepresented as well as patellae and sternums.
Crania and long bones were virtually absent
aside from juvenile long bone epiphyses.
Introduction Khonkho Wankane lies in the Lake
Titicaca Basin of the Bolivian Andes. Although
the site has been known to archaeologists since
1935, it was only through the ongoing research of
Proyecto Jacha Machaca that we understood that
Khonkho was an early ritual center (AD 1-500 BC)
that pre-dated Tiwanaku culture (AD 500-1100).
The focus of the center was a massive constructed
platform that housed a ceremonial complex.
Discussion The material remains of Structure
12-C9, Compound K3, appear to represent the
careful selection and curation of human bone
relics. Each bone was carefully chosen with
respect to body part (no long bones or crania are
present) and the bones were then plastered (it
appears likely they were to be painted).
Total of specimens 972 21.4 fragmented (208
fragments) 78.6 whole (764 whole bones) Total
MNI 20 (based on cuneiform 1) Adult MNI 15
Juvenile MNI 5
Evidence such as cutmarks made after the bones
were coated in plaster, and the presence of
juvenile epiphyses which are attached to the long
bone shaft with strong muscle attachments,
suggest that the bones were taken from primary
burials after decomposition. Every bone had a
token or portable nature to it the absence of
larger, more cumbersome, yet more
characteristically human long bones and crania,
suggests that these bones were chosen for
specific, as yet unknown reasons. Possibilities
include 1) a need to be portable in order to
carry many bones, representing many individuals
and/or for a long journey or 2) the need for the
deposit to remain small. Whatever the reason,
the choice of small, dense bones was deliberate.
Who were the deceased, and why were they chosen
for such elaborate post-mortem curation? A
couple of hypotheses can be drawn
Gesso blocks excavated from Structure C3-17,
Compound 3 showing the plaster that was used to
coat the bones.
INSERT PICTURE OF BONES IN SITU

• The context (Structure 12-C9) is unique, and
  human remains of deceased kin (or others) were
  brought specifically to Khonkho Wankane for
  curation, or
• The context (Structure 12-C9) is a specific
  instance of a common practice. Evidence for this
  possibility include human interments at other
  sites containing only long bones and crania,
  precisely the bone types absent from Compound 3.
  
• Future research goals include determining the
  origins of the individuals represented at Khonkho
  Wankane through isotope analysis to determine if
  they are more likely to have been brought from
  distant locales or they are local people.

• Most recent work suggests that Khonkho was the
  focus of an early death cult. Evidence comes
  from two sources
• Each of the bounded ceremonial spaces at the site
  featured one or more carved sandstone monoliths.
  The monoliths depict single personages associated
  with a variety of zoomorphic images that herald
  earthly and aquatic forces, and symbolize
  generative and reproductive powers. Serpentine
  neonate catfish and falling humans with exposed
  ribs, representing deceased ancestors, narrate a
  story of life and death, and possibly, the
  creation of the focal ancestor embodied in the
  monolith.

Nearby sites, such as Tiwanaku, where human
burials consisting of only human crania and long
bones suggest
Results
Conclusion The importance of this assemblage of
human remains is not, primarily, in what we can
learn about the health status and demography of
the population at hand, but what we can learn
about past rituals focused on death.
Bioarchaeological methods are well suited for
this assemblage because the archaeological
context and the osteological information cannot
be separated each only tells part of the story.
Both are necessary to tell us about the people
who deposited and curated the human bones in
Structure 12-C9 of Compound K3 and the deceased
whose bones were deposited. While conclusions
are preliminary, results to date are suggestive.
It appears that part of Compound K3 was dedicated
to producing portable human relics. Tantalizing
evidence at nearby sites (e.g., Tiwanaku) include
burials that contained ONLY long bones,
suggesting that this datum is a long-missing
piece of a larger archaeological puzzle.
Producing human relics was part of an emergent
cult that centered on local ancestors who
embodied the generative and animistic powers of
the earth, and a religious ideology that
presented seductive, even redemptive ideas
regarding seasonal change, worldly regeneration,
and human life and death.

1. The second line of evidence comes from a large,
   special-purpose structure (Structure 12-C9)
   excavated in Khonkhos Compound K3, a walled
   residential-ritual enclosure. Structures in the
   vicinity of 12-C9 were producing a plaster
   substance, formed into blocks. 12-C9 contained
   27 such blocks and several camelid bones for
   removing the plaster, as well as several bowls
   containing pigments. The structure also
   contained approximately 1,000 human bones and
   teeth, most of them covered with the plaster.

Sex is best determined through the analysis of
multiple characteristics including cranial
features and pelvic morphology which were not
available for this assemblage. Therefore sex
could not be determined but the presence of a
range of gracile and robust bones within the
adult age bracket suggests that both males and
females were present.
CHILD 3-12 CHILD / Y.TEEN 10-15 TEEN / Y.ADULT 15-25 ADULT 25
1 (based on molar) 3 (based on radii) 1 20
Age ranges slightly modified from Buikstra
Ubelakers guide (1994) due to the imprecise
nature of aging hand and foot bones and
restrictions in the field.
Pathology With an assemblage of mostly adult
hand and foot bones and vertebrae one would
expect to find many signs of trauma and
osteoarthritis. On the contrary, very few bones
show signs of osteoarthritis, trauma or other
pathologies aside from fractures and
osteoarthritis of distal foot phalanges. There
was one example of a complete fusion of the first
cervical vertebrae and axis probably due to a
traumatic injury.
Fusion of cvert 1 and axis with no porosity, a
sign of recent healing.
References Tim White Buikstra Ubelaker
T-vert and hand phalange with cutmarks and
visible plaster compound.
Acknowledgements Thanks to Maribel Perez Arias
and Scott C. Smith, who excavated the
context Thanks to the national Science Foundation
(BCS-051462), the National Geographic Society,
And Vanderbilt University
Cutmarks are macroscopically visible on 14 bones.
They are primarily present on hand and foot
bones but there was also one example on the
anterio-lateral side of a thoracic vertebral
body. They appear to have been made after the
bones were coated in plaster.