Trauma in the preceramic coastal populations of northern Chile: violence or occupational hazards?

Abstract

One hundred and forty-four Chinchorro skeletons, stored at the Museo Arqueol¿ogico San Miguel de Azapa in Arica, Chile, were examined to test the following alternative hypotheses concerning skeletal trauma: either observed trauma was a consequence of interpersonal violence, or was the result of work-related accidents. Trauma found in subadults was rare, with 1.8% (1/55) contrasted with 30% (27/89) in the adult population. The location of most adult trauma was the skull with 24.6% (17/69), followed by the upper extremities with 8. 7% (7/80), the trunk with 2.9% (2/68), and the lower extremities with the least trauma at 1.1% (1/89). Skull trauma corresponded to well-healed, semicircular fractures, with males being three times more affected than females at 34.2% (13/38) and 12.9% (4/31), respectively. Most fractures were nonlethal, appearing to have been caused by impacts from stones, suggesting interpersonal violence rather than accidents. This study indicates that the egalitarian, maritime, hunter-gatherer Chinchorro culture (circa 4000 years B.P.) may not have lived as peacefully as once thought.