Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: A Genetic Study of Prehistoric Chen Chen - Implications for the Genetic Relationships of Tiwanaku Peoples and the Peopling of South America

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed research will use ancient DNA and mortuary data to examine the social organization, biological heritage, and cultural composition of the archaeological site of Chen Chen to determine whether the inhabitants of Chen Chen represent more than one distinct ethnic group and to compared Chen Chen to other modern and ancient Native American populations in order evaluate the population history of South America. The potential biological relationships between the Chen Chen population and the people of the Andean highlands, the Peruvian coast, or other valleys has been an important topic in regional archaeological research, and although cultural and skeletal investigations have made important contributions, there are still several unresolved issues. Molecular genetic data can provide a fresh look at the ongoing study of the Tiwanaku expansion and the biological composition and structuring of Tiwanaku colonies. The data from the proposed research will provide the first large number of genetic sequences (=50) for the Osmore drainage and the Tiwanaku population in general. Furthermore, these data, in combination with spatial and mortuary data, are an effective means of evaluating the hypothesis that the Tiwanaku polity was a multi-ethnic society. On a larger scale, these data will represent an ancient sample that can be compared to data from other native groups to make inferences regarding the time and nature of the peopling of the Americas in general and South America specifically. Ancient genetic data are particularly helpful in these studies because they provide information about the genetic composition for an indigenous population prior to Western influence. This is especially beneficial for the western coast of South America where direct colonization by Europeans, catalyzed by the rich geological and marine resources and arable land, had strong effects on the demography of native populations. An additional benefit of this research will be understanding the connection between prehistoric and modern American Indians. The focus of this study is to illuminate the biological connections of Chen Chen peoples, both to their time frame and society, as well as to modern Native populations throughout the Americas. Studies of DNA diversity from ancient and modern Native Americans have determined a degree of continuity both temporally and spatially for some regions. Yet, the occurrence of continuity is not universal. By comparing modern native DNA sequences to those of prehistory, we gain better understanding of the degree of genetic continuity over time as well as a temporal framework for population events. In conjunction with this research, a collaborative project between the Laboratorio Genetica at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and the Stone Laboratory at the University of New Mexico has been formed to collection additional data on modern Native American populations throughout Peru so as to compare them with Chen Chen and other American Populations.