Abstract
Sociocultural concepts associated with sickness can profoundly influence social processes and individual experiences of disease. Here, we consider the role of sociocultural beliefs concerning sickness in the construction of individuals' social identities in the pre-Columbian Andes. Paleopathological analyses reveal evidence of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, a facially disfiguring infectious disease endemic to tropical lowland rainforests, in the skeletal remains of six females buried at Coyo Oriental and Tchecar Túmulo Sur, two Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) cemeteries in the highland desert of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. We use pre-Columbian Andean sickness ideology reconstructed from ethnography and ethnohistory as an interpretative framework for data from these individuals' mortuary contexts and isotopic analyses used to infer residential mobility. Our study demonstrates that consideration of sickness ideology in conjunction with multiple lines of bioarchaeological and archaeological evidence increases understanding of the social experience of disease at San Pedro during the Middle Horizon.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 24-34 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | International Journal of Paleopathology |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2011 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Mobility
- Mortuary archaeology
- Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis
- Radiogenic strontium isotopes
- Social identity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Archaeology
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Cite this
Pre-Columbian Andean sickness ideology and the social experience of leishmaniasis : A contextualized analysis of bioarchaeological and paleopathological data from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. / Marsteller, Sara J.; Torres-Rouff, Christina; Knudson, Kelly.
In: International Journal of Paleopathology, Vol. 1, No. 1, 03.2011, p. 24-34.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Pre-Columbian Andean sickness ideology and the social experience of leishmaniasis
T2 - A contextualized analysis of bioarchaeological and paleopathological data from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
AU - Marsteller, Sara J.
AU - Torres-Rouff, Christina
AU - Knudson, Kelly
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - Sociocultural concepts associated with sickness can profoundly influence social processes and individual experiences of disease. Here, we consider the role of sociocultural beliefs concerning sickness in the construction of individuals' social identities in the pre-Columbian Andes. Paleopathological analyses reveal evidence of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, a facially disfiguring infectious disease endemic to tropical lowland rainforests, in the skeletal remains of six females buried at Coyo Oriental and Tchecar Túmulo Sur, two Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) cemeteries in the highland desert of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. We use pre-Columbian Andean sickness ideology reconstructed from ethnography and ethnohistory as an interpretative framework for data from these individuals' mortuary contexts and isotopic analyses used to infer residential mobility. Our study demonstrates that consideration of sickness ideology in conjunction with multiple lines of bioarchaeological and archaeological evidence increases understanding of the social experience of disease at San Pedro during the Middle Horizon.
AB - Sociocultural concepts associated with sickness can profoundly influence social processes and individual experiences of disease. Here, we consider the role of sociocultural beliefs concerning sickness in the construction of individuals' social identities in the pre-Columbian Andes. Paleopathological analyses reveal evidence of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, a facially disfiguring infectious disease endemic to tropical lowland rainforests, in the skeletal remains of six females buried at Coyo Oriental and Tchecar Túmulo Sur, two Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) cemeteries in the highland desert of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. We use pre-Columbian Andean sickness ideology reconstructed from ethnography and ethnohistory as an interpretative framework for data from these individuals' mortuary contexts and isotopic analyses used to infer residential mobility. Our study demonstrates that consideration of sickness ideology in conjunction with multiple lines of bioarchaeological and archaeological evidence increases understanding of the social experience of disease at San Pedro during the Middle Horizon.
KW - Mobility
KW - Mortuary archaeology
KW - Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis
KW - Radiogenic strontium isotopes
KW - Social identity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80052980538&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80052980538&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpp.2011.02.001
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpp.2011.02.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80052980538
VL - 1
SP - 24
EP - 34
JO - International Journal of Paleopathology
JF - International Journal of Paleopathology
SN - 1879-9817
IS - 1
ER -