Conflict and Ethnic Identity among the Post-Collapse Chanka of Andahuaylas, Peru (ca. AD 900-1250) Danielle S. Kurin, Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University

Acknowledgments This research was supported by a Fulbright-Hays DDRF, award # P022A090074. Special thanks to Enmanuel Gomez Choque, and the

entire Proyecto Bioarqueologico Andahuaylas crew. The Peruvian Ministry of Culture for granting research permits.

801h Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists April 12, 2012 Portland, OR

References Cited Buikstra, JE and DH Ubelaker. 1994. Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains: Proceedings of a Seminar at the Field Museum of Natural History. Research series No. 44. Fayetteville: Arkansas Archeological Survey. Lovell, N. 1997. Trauma Analysis in Paleopathology. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 40:139-170. McAnany, PA and N Yoffee, eds. 2009. Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire. Cambridge: Campridge University Press. Poma de Ayala, FG. [c. 1616]. Nueva Coronica y Buen Gobierno. Accessed: http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/poma/info/en/frontpage.htm Schwartz, GM and JJ Nichols, eds. 2010. After Collapse: the Regeneration of Complex Societies. Tucson: U of Arizona Press. Sen, A. 2008. Violence in Identity. In: Values and Violence, eds. IA Karawan, W McCormack, SE Reynolds. New York: Sringer. Pp. 3-14. Torres-Rouff, C. 2008. Cranial Vault Modification and Ethnicity in Middle Horizon San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Current Anthropology. 43(1):163-171. Ta’ala, SC, GE Berg and K Haden. 2008. A Khmer Rouge Execution Method: Evidence from Choeung Ek. In: Skeletal Trauma: Identification of Injuries Resulting From Human Rights Abuses and Armed Conflict. EH Kimmerle and JP Baraybar, eds. Pp 196-200. Tung, TA. 2009. Violence after Imperial Collapse: a Study of Cranial Trauma among Late Intermediate Period burials from the former Wari capital, Ayacucho, Peru. Nawpa Pacha. 29:1-17. Tung TA. Trauma and Violence in the Wari Empire of the Peruvian Andes: Warfare, Raids, and Ritual Fights. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 133:941-956. United Nations General Assembly. 1948. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Adopted December 9. Walker, PL. 2001. A Bioarchaeological Perspective on the History of Violence. Annual Review of Anthropology. 30:357-596.

Modified with Trauma: 58% (87/150)

Unmodified with Trauma: 32% (21/66)

Modified adults have significantly more trauma than

unmodified individuals (χ2=11.542; p=0.0007; N=216;

d.f. =1)

All 10/58 sub-adults with blunt force trauma also have cranial

modification

Males with Trauma: 54% (68/125)

Females with Trauma: 58% (62/107)

Modified crania have significantly more sub-lethal (ante-mortem) injuries than

unmodified crania (Fisher’s exact, p=0.0147;

N=227; d.f. =1)

Cal AD

850

90

0

950

1000

10

50

1

100

1150

12

00

1

250

130

0

Wari Collapse

Drought

Middle Horizon

Late Intermediate

Period

Results

Trauma after Wari Collapse

Cranial Vault Modification and Ethnogenesis

Trepanation as Innovation to Cope with Violence

Males with Trauma: 7% (2/37)

Females with Trauma: 0% (0/37)

Trauma and Cranial Modification: Indicators of Ethnocide

Ethnogenesis and Ethnocide in the Aftermath of Imperial Collapse

Materials and Methods

The Bioarchaeology of Wari Collapse A View from the Near-Hinterlands

Conclusion

Frequency

Lethality

Fig. 12: Khmer Rouge Killing Fields, Cambodia

Location Fig. 11: Modified Cranium,

Andahuaylas

Only modified crania demonstrate evidence of ring fractures on the basilar portion of the cranium. This type of wound has been observed in forensic remains from Cambodia (Ta’ala et. al. 2008); in that case, victims were incapacitated, with their heads bowed, when they were struck with lethal blunt force trauma

Imperial Wari Era Trauma Rate: 2/28 (7%)

Post-Imperial Chanka Trauma Rate: 131/267 (49%)

There is significantly more trauma following Wari imperial collapse, and

trauma is significantly more lethal (χ2=16.335; p<0.0001; N=295; d.f. =1). Apurimac

Ayacucho

Cuzco

Arequipa

Pampachiri

Cuzco

Ayacucho

Abancay

Vilcashuaman

Chicha-S

oras

600000 700000 800000

8500

00

8400

00

Peru N

0 30 60 km

STUDY AREA

Andahuaylas

Adapted from : Ta’ala et. al. 2008

Trauma during the Wari Empire

Post-imperial males and females have similar trauma rates, lethality,

and distribution. This congruent injury pattern is distinct from models of traditional warfare,

where males tend to demonstrate a higher frequency of injuries than

females (See Tung 2007).

Trepanation (cranial surgery) only appears in Andahuaylas after Wari imperial collapse. In some cases, trepanations are unambiguously associated with healed

and unhealed linear fractures.

Only individuals with modified crania were the victims of lethal, excessive violence caused by repeated blunt force trauma which obliterated the identity of a victim

Modified crania have significantly more lethal wounds than unmodified individuals

(Fisher’s exact, p=0.0095; N=227; d.f. =1)

Post-Cranial Signatures of Violence

State collapse is a tumultuous event which can spur striking reformulations of group identity and also dramatically alter how people physically interact with one another (Sen 2008). Sometimes, in the wake of state fragmentation, physical interactions become violent. Cross-Cultural studies of post-imperial eras highlight common causal factors like resource stress and social and political instability (Torres-Rouff 2008; Tung 2009). However, violence may not be experienced equally by everyone; some groups may be more vulnerable than others. Importantly, while post-imperial eras may be characterized by deprivation and conflict, they are also times of resilience and innovation (McAnany and Yoffee 2009; Schwartz and Nichols 2010). New social boundaries emerge and are expressed corporally, while creative practices are formulated to cope with novel challenges, This study specifically examines how the collapse of the Wari empire of Peru restructured ethnic identities and spurred periods of ethnocide within an emergent post-collapse society, known as the Chanka (ca. AD 1000-1400).

Fig. 8: Post-imperial stone weaponry

Chronicles relate that the Chanka were most warlike group to emerge following Wari collapse. The Chanka migrated to Andahuaylas, where they conquered the existing Quichua group. Later, the Chanka attempted to conquer the Inca, but were defeated in an epic battle.

Excavation of burial caves (machays) @ 4 sites

1 Wari site: 1 circular tomb (N = 37)

3 Post-Imperial Sites: 15 burial caves (N = 301)

TOTAL CRANIAL MNI: 338

Wari Modification Rate = 0/36 (0%)

Post-Imperial Modification Rate = 205/273 (75%)

Lethal Sub-lethal

1. 32/281(11%) individuals (all adults) have trepanation 2. 28/32 (89%) trepanned individuals are male (Fisher’s exact, p<0.0001)

3. 32/43 (74%) of trepanations have some healing

1. During the Wari imperial era, violence low & non-lethal 2. Wari collapse spurs violence 3. Cranial Modification emerges following Wari collapse and signals cultural distinctions

(ethnogenesis) 4. People with modified crania are singled out for violent attacks (ethnocide) 5. Trepanation emerges as an innovative practice after collapse to cope with violence and

demonstrates novel understanding of how to intervene on an unwell body

1) Social transformations restructure ethnic boundaries 2) Restructuring alters intra- and inter-group interactions 3) Marked groups singled out for attacks; collective victimization

reinforces ethnic boundaries 4) Resilience and innovation is embraced by post-collapse

populations to cope with challenges 5) These processes can operate in the absence of empires and

prior to the formation of nation-states

Fig. 2: Evidence Wari imperial influence in Andahuaylas

Discussion

Fig. 6: Healed trauma in post-cranial elements. 8/309 (2.6%) radii have fractures; 4/313 (1.2%)

ulnae have fractures; 156/2273 (6.8%) ribs have at least one fracture.

Significant increase in modification from Imperial to Post-Imperial era Fisher’s Exact, p=0.0001; N=309; d.f. =1

New cultural distinctions delimited by corporeal boundary-markers Ethnogenesis

Cranial modification was likely used to mark kinship categories based on agnatic descent.

Modification would have identified members of a regionally legible supra-ayllu ethnic identity

The “Warlike” Chanka

Different ethnic groups were identified by the absence, presence, and style of cranial modification

Ethnocide = the targeted killing of men, women, and

sub-adults based on the recognition of

conspicuously-marked ethnic identity

(cf. United Nations 1948)

Physical conflict was inferred

through patterns of healed and

unhealed skull fractures

(Walker 1997; Lovell 1997)

Fig. 4: A bioarchaeological proxy for ethnicity, cranial modification was likely accompanied by

distinctive headdresses

Fig. 5: Documenting trauma as a proxy for violence

Ayllu & Ethnicity

4000 masl Tanquihua

Cachiyaurecc

Toctobamba Mina

Ojocho Toracca

Ccanccayllo

Mollepata

Ataccara

Kula

Ccapcca

Natividad

Chullizana

Cachi

Community/Ayllu Reducción/ Town Runa Road River

Huancaray

Turpo

Fig. 16: Prehispanic nested bipartite ayllu organization in western Andahuaylas, reconstructed from colonial documents

Thicker Pink Line = higher scalar level of ayllu

Figure 1. Map of the Study Region

Figure 3. Chronology of the Study Region derived from AMS dates recovered during excavations

“Collapse” = socio-political restructuring

caused by the fragmentation of

centralized administration &

attendant infrastructure

Fig. 7: Poma de Ayala’s (c. 1616) depiction of

Chanka warfare.

Fig. 9

Fig. 10

Fig. 13: Trauma and cranial modification in post-imperial Andahuaylas

Fig. 14: sub-lethal trauma

Fig. 15: excessive, lethal trauma

Fig. 17: Trepanation by circular grooving and cutting Fig. 18: Trepanation by scrapping

Fig. 19: Modified cranium with trauma (left); unmodified cranium without trauma (right)

Ethnogenesis = those invented, reformulated, or novel traditions which come to prominence as social boundary markers, integrated with those surviving or vestigial elements of past societies which become stitched together in

such a way that the boundaries between groups are radically redefined compared to

previous generations.

Laboratory Analysis: (See Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994 for methods)

Age & Sex Cranial Modification Trauma Trepanations