Doctorial Dissertation: Cranial Variation in South Central Andean Populations: A Descriptive and Comparative Assessment of Morphology

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

To understand how prehistoric South American Andean human groups were related, the following research questions will be asked: do "cultures" constructed from artifact patterns defined by archaeologists correspond to the categories established from the human skeleton defined by biological anthropologists? How does biological variation between and within the groups correspond to geography and time; and how do trends in cranial morphology reflect models of inter-regional exchange shown in the archaeological record? This project will investigate the range of biological variation within a collection of human skulls from prehistoric Bolivian populations. The skulls, collected from archaeological sites in the South-Central Andes Mountains, are currently housed at the Museo Arqueologico de la Universidad de San Simon in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The collection will be measured and scored. The data will be subjected to statistical analyses. The biological distances (reflecting isolation of groups from one another) generated from these procedures will help to cluster the groups "genetically". These biological clusters will then be compared to aggregates that archaeologists have created from artifactual evidence found at the same sites where the skulls were uncovered. Information from such comparisons will help determine whether the biological and cultural units of prehistory correspond, for a given geographic context and time period. This research is designed to illuminate explanations of the past that treat human cultures as basic units in prehistory, and to explore culture contact through three archaeological models: vertical ecological complementarity, trade caravans, or migration/colonization. It is expected that the results from this study will be most consistent with the trade caravan model, where trends in cranial morphology coincide with patterns in the archaeological record for the same geographic area. Where there is evidence that biology does not mirror culture in the past, then many of the methods and assumptions employed by archaeologists will have to be reevaluated. This project will complement current studies of biological distance among South American populations. The data collected will also contribute to the disciplines of biological anthropology and archaeology by providing information on a unique skeletal collection which documents an exciting and understudied area of prehistoric South America.