Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Habitual Subsistence Practices among Prehistoric Andean Populations: Fishers and Farmers

University Of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia MO

Investigators

Abstract

Currently there is debate in the scientific community regarding the behavior of bone under stress. In particular, do observed bony modifications result largely from innate genetic influences or are they physical reactions linked to the extent stress is applied over time. Adopting the second position, this research seeks to test the hypothesis that muscle marking patterning (bone response to activity) can accurately distinguish archaeologically delimited fishing and farming populations. In the field of Andean archaeology one hypothesis suggests Peruvian civilization developed from populations based on maritime rather than agricultural resources. Prehistoric sites tend to cluster along coastal deltas and adjacent river valleys, areas optimal for the development of both fishing and farming economies, making it difficult to differentiate subsistence by site location alone. The exceptional skeletal preservation offered by the region's arid climate provides an alternative avenue of research, predictable bone response to activity associated with subsistence. Specifically, available clinical data suggests that strenuous or repetitive activity triggers bony responses. Bone adapts through the combined action of two processes: modeling and remodeling. Modeling acts primarily during growth and development to create adult bone size and shape, while remodeling acts primarily during adulthood to repair naturally occurring bone damage. Physical movement is accomplished through muscle action. Muscles attach to bones at areas known as entheses. Strenuous activities significantly load entheses and overuse may result in irritation and/or injury. Bony responses produced as a result of overuse are perceptible as rugosities, crests, tuberosities, pits, grooves, or spurs at entheses. Variation in the patterning of these reactions within and between populations permits the development of activity-based interpretations. Broader Impacts: This research provides a novel method to test the viability of the hypothesis that bone reacts physically to applied stress by testing whether observable muscle marking variation can differentiate archaeologically defined populations. If confirmed, this and other muscle marking studies will serve as critical independent tests of hypotheses concerning prehistoric lifeways developed from archaeological, stable isotope, trace element, paleoethnobotanical, and zooarchaeological data focusing on a range of topics from subsistence and occupation to gender and class differences. Additionally, valuable new data will be generated for the scientific community using a series of skeletal collections which have not previously been systematically studied for muscle marking variation. Further, reference casts created during data collection from a series of key muscle markers will be of use to both bioarchaeological and sports medicine specialists seeking to expand their understanding of human variation. The project will also allow for the generation of new contacts with Peruvian and Chilean museum and university specialists, which will facilitate future opportunities in Peru and Chile for American researchers and students. Ultimately any significant results obtained through this project will be rapidly disseminated to the broader community through a variety of media including: publications, lectures, and web sites in both English and Spanish.