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Introduction

Burials containing human remains and accompanying grave goods provide exciting insights into the past. The bioarchaeological and mortuary data obtained from pre-Hispanic cemeteries can help reconstruct and interpret interactions between the various groups of an ancient society, such as distin-guishing and understanding the difference between the ‘commoners’ and the ‘elite.’1 Such a data set provides details about sex, age-at-death, health- status and so on. This, along with the results of more advanced studies such as biochemical analyses (stable isotopes or palaeogenetic analysis), helps reconstruct not only the structure of an ancient society, but also provides the possibility to reconstruct their diet, origins and possible migration routes.2 These studies are possible due to the implementation of very rigorous field methods, advanced documentation techniques, and the incorporation of bioarchaeological analysis into standard archaeological methodologies.

The intact and well-preserved mortuary context discovered in 2012-13 at the Castillo de Huarmey archaeological site provides a unique opportunity not only to apply various bioarchaeological methods, but also to test them against archaeological data. A synthetic approach to Wari burial traditions was proposed by Isbell,3 but it concerns only the data known from the core territory of this culture in the Ayacucho region, and is based mostly, if not solely, on architectural and sparse archaeological remains. Not one of the burials analysed was preserved intact. It must be noted here that the Wari era left very few known intact burials, since most of them were looted not only by modern huaqueros, but also most probably in antiquity. Despite the many years of interest in the Wari culture, and the many studies of its archaeological remains (architecture, settlement patterns, and material culture), until recently little had been done to incorporate bioarchaeology into the research. We do have, however, some essential works, like Tung’s4 extensive study of the effects Wari imperialism had on the biological conditions of the affected populations, and her publications regarding this issue in the Central Andes and in the Arequipa region. There is also some smaller-scale research mostly concerning sites in the Wari heartland or their southern outlying areas (again mostly from the Arequipa region).5 Hence an elite burial far removed from both of the aforementioned territories and yet bearing all possible signs of the Wari culture provides an opportunity not just to test the proposed organisation of Wari burials, it also greatly expands our understanding of Middle Horizon mortuary practices.6

The details of the architectural and archaeological aspects of the whole context are discussed at length elsewhere in this volume. This article will just describe the bioarchaeological research undertaken during the 2012 and 2013 field seasons and after. It presents preliminary results because much of the analysis—including stable isotope ratio analysis as well as palaeo-genetic research—has just begun. These results will be available in future.

Bioarchaeology:Mortuary Practices, Social Status, and Human Sacrifices

Wieslaw WieckowskiWarsaw University

In this context the tomb at San José de Moro, which lay isolated in the middle of a Moche cemetery, is a particular case: Castillo B., Luis Jaime. “La Presencia de Wari en San José de Moro,” Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 4: 143-179, 2000; Castillo B., Luis Jaime, Julio Rucabado Y., Martín del Carpio P., Katiusha Bernuy Q., Karim Ruiz R., Carlos Rengifo Ch., Gabriel Prieto B., and Carole Fraresso. “Ideología y poder en la consolidación, colapso y reconstitución del estado Mochica del Jequetepeque. El Proyecto Arqueológico San José de Moro (1991-2006),” Ñawpa Pacha 29: 1-86, 2009.The recently-found chamber at La Real, with multiple burials that were probably deposited sequentially, is another particular case: Yépez Álvarez, Willy J., and Justin J. Jennings (Eds.). ¿Wari en Arequipa? Análisis de los contextos funerarios de La Real. Arequipa: Museo Arqueológico José María Morante, Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, 2012. In many cases the exact context of the find is unknown, e.g.: Chávez, Sergio J. “Funerary offerings from a Middle Horizon Context in Pomacanchi, Cuzco,” Ñawpa Pacha 22-23: 1-48, 1984-85; Donnan, Christopher. “An association of Middle Horizon Epoch 2A Specimens of the Chicama Valley,” Ñawpa Pacha 6: 15-18, 1968.

(49) Benavides, Mario. “Notas sobre excavaciones en Cheqo Wasi,” Investiga-ciones 2: 9-26, 1979; Pérez, Ismael. “Estructuras megalíticas funerarias en el complejo Huari,” Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 4: 505-548, 2000; Isbell and Korpisaari. “Burial in the Wari and the Tiwanaku heartlands.”

(50) For instance, the burial of a male individual recently discovered at Espíritu Pampa (Vilcabamba) is cist-shaped: Fonseca Santa Cruz, Javier. “El rostro oculto de Espíritu Pampa, Vilcabamba, Cusco,” Arqueología Iberoamericana 10: 3-7, 2011. This find became famous because it has some associated silver objects such as a mask and a chestpiece, as well as fine pottery which has close parallels with Castillo de Huarmey.

(51) Pérez. “Estructuras megalíticas funerarias.”

(52) Isbell. “Repensando el Horizonte Medio;” Cook “Wari Art and Society,” Fig. 8.3; Tung, Tiffiny A. Violence, Ritual and the Wari Empire. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.

(53) Kaulicke, Peter. Contextos funerarios de Ancón. Esbozo de una síntesis analítica. Lima: Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 1997.

(54) The best studied case is that of obsidian. Even so, in a recent congress that discussed this issue, students agreed upon the large differences found between the developed market system of Mexico and Mesoamerica, and the Andean system based on barter, gift-giving and redistri-bution carried out by State officials: Hirth, Kenneth G., and Joanne Pillsbury, (Eds.). Merchants, Markets and Exchange in the Pre-Columbian World. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2013.

(55) See the essay by Milosz Giersz in this volume.

(56) See the essay by Patrycja Przadka Giersz in this volume.

(57) See the essays by Milosz Giersz and Wieslaw Wieckowski in this volume.

(58) Chapdelaine, Claude, and Víctor Pimentel. “Personaje de alto rango en San Juanito, valle de Santa,” in Makowski, Krzysztof (Comp.), Señores de los Reinos de la Luna, pp. 248-253. This is the tomb of an old lady buried in the atrium of the temple with abundant grave goods. The associations suggest that she was both the shaman and the religious leader of her community. On the other hand the social role of a female individual, also senile like the previous one, who was likewise buried in a terrace in the temple of Kuntur Wasi, but surrounded by very high-status male individuals, is not alto-gether clear: Onuki and Inokuchi. Gemelos prístinos, pp. 105-107 (A-TM4 context).

(59) Castillo, Luis Jaime, and Carlos E. Rengifo. “El género y el poder: San José de Moro,” in Makowski (Comp.), Señores de los Reinos de la Luna, pp. 165-182.

(60) Franco, Régulo. “La Señora de Cao,” in Makowski (Comp.), Señores de los Reinos de la Luna, pp. 280-287; Mujica Barreda, Elías, (Ed.). El Brujo: Huaca Cao, Centro Ceremonial Moche en el Valle de Chicama/El Brujo: Huaca Cao, A Moche Ceremonial Center in the Chicama Valley. Lima: Fundación Wiese, 2007, pp. 209-245.

(61) Castro de la Mata, Pamela, and María Inés Velarde. “La tumba de una mujer de elite Recuay,” in Makowski, Krzysztof (Comp.), Señores de los Imperios de la Luna. Lima: Banco de Crédito del Perú, 2008, pp. 262-265.

(62) Carlos Wester La Torre. Sacerdotisa de Chornancap. Misterio e Historia. Lima: Ministerio de Cultura, 2012.

(63) Makowski. “Animales en la ‘heráldica’.”

(64) Makowski. “Vestido, arquitectura y mecanismos del poder.”

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Material and State of Preservation

The intact archaeological context unearthed at Castillo de Huarmey contained a large mortuary complex with three separate sets of burials. The first one consisted of the main chamber and was further subdivided inside into at least four, relatively independent funerary contexts where sixty-four individuals in all were buried (Fig. 168). The second one was the antechamber with a set of small niches holding ritual offerings in the form of ceramic containers, along with two individuals buried in a shallow depression that seems to have been partially hewn out of the bedrock. The third burial set contained a group of four small square chambers which contained secondary depositions of human bones (the incomplete remains of at least five individuals) and animal bones along with other material culture remains (Fig. 169).The skeletons unearthed in the main chamber and antechamber were mostly articulated and fairly well preserved. Some degree of disarticulation was present only in the eastern part of the main chamber, along the edge of the bedrock floor. The difference between the levels in the bedrock and the weight of the original fill sealing the tomb caused some dislocation and disarticulation. Some skeletons were also in a worse state of preservation because of their location—the highest parts of the bedrock floor suffered more from the weight of the seal. The spatial patterning indicates that the chamber was used to place the corpses for a finite although probably rather long period, during which time it was either completely open or only partially protected by some perishable structure. The presence of fly pupae, as well as the remains of snakes and their eggs, clearly shows that the remains were exposed to the elements for some time. Once all of the fifty-eight bodies were in place, six additional individuals were almost certainly sacrificed and thrown on top of them, and then the whole chamber was filled up with sand, mud bricks and finally with a thick layer of gravel in order to prepare the platform for other activities, thus forming a massive mud brick mausoleum.The fifty-eight individuals mentioned above were originally seated or laid down in a tightly flexed position. The post-depositional processes, however, caused their collapse and partial dislocation. It seems though that most, if not all, were originally deposited in one layer. Only the six additional individuals formed the “second layer” of deposition. This suggests a carefully planned and subsequently implemented process of deposition and filling of the chamber leading to the architectural activities afterwards.The two bodies in the antechamber were buried in seated position, one facing northwards and the other one to the south. They were articulated, well-preserved and associated with some grave goods, but these were of much lower quality and number than those found in the main chamber. Both bodies were missing the left foot, most probably due to some pathological condition or to an amputation. The remains from the chambers west of the main chamber, however, lacked any articulation, and not all of the bones were present. Clearly these remains were moved from their original location and deposited here in their secondary location. They were associated with some textiles and other artefacts.

Burial Patterns and their Interpretation

Unlike coastal traditions, for instance in the Moche culture,7 the deceased were originally laid down in a flexed and seated position, with their arms around or alongside the legs, and were then placed in the chamber. They also showed traces of the textile wrappings they had originally been bundled with. This pattern of body placement is well-known and documented in highland regions as well as in the Wari heartland; multi-individual burials were also common there.8 Only six individuals did not follow this pattern: their remains were deposited in an extended position, either lying on one side, face down or up, and with the limbs pointing in different directions, sometimes lying against or over the walls. Their position clearly indicated they had not been peacefully placed like the other individuals, and had instead been cast into the grave. This suggests they might have been sacrificed right before the sealing of the context, although at present no evident cause of their death has been identified. They lacked textile wrappings and were not associated with any grave goods.The main burial room was rectangular and had been partially hewn out of the bedrock and partly built with mud bricks. Along the eastern part of the

northern wall some additional subdivisions were made—three rather small sub-chambers—that indicated the clearly different status of the dead buried therein. Four individuals were placed here—two in the northeast sub-chamber, one in the middle chamber, and one in the westernmost sub-chamber. The other individuals were placed rather unevenly in the main area. Most of the individuals were placed along the walls of the sub-chambers and the western wall; this also included all of the individuals believed to have been sacrificed.The individuals in the sub-chambers were clearly of a higher social status than the rest of the dead (Fig. 170 a-c). This conclusion is based on the following criteria: the burial area was set apart from the rest with adobe brick subdivi-sions, and it included a larger number of grave goods of overall higher quality. Their skeletons were well preserved and all of the bones were present. The bodies were seated and wrapped with textiles. The individuals in the main chamber should be considered of similar status, with the exception of the six sacrificed individuals in the top layer. Some of their grave goods were not distinguishable in quality from those of the individuals who had been set aside, but only two can be considered to have been of slightly higher status. Both were placed in the deepest part of a depression in the bedrock, by the sub-chambers’ wall, and were separated from each other by a one mud brick-high wall stub.The two skeletons in the antechamber, placed in two different depressions in the bedrock just east from what is believed to have been the original entrance to the main burial chamber, should be considered the tomb guardians (Fig. 171). The northern skeleton was seated facing to the northeast and the southern one faced to the southwest. Both lacked the left foot. In both cases it is clear that the foot was lost due to severe pathological conditions rather than to any kind of amputation. The surface of articulation of both lower leg bones, the tibia and the fibula, was preserved although pathologically changed (Fig. 172 a-b). No trace was found that established whether these individuals had been sacrificed or not, and their bodies had been carefully arranged with their hands around their lower legs.The remains of the ossuary came from four separate and sealed rectangular chambers. Unlike the previously mentioned individuals, these were clearly in a secondary context because they were completely disarticulated, and apparently had been quite randomly collected from the first place of deposition. Chambers A and C contained the most complete remains, whilst B and D consisted of a quite random collection of bones from different body parts.

Preliminary Results of the Analysis

All of the human remains were carefully analysed both when they were excavated (documenting their position and relation with other skeletons and grave goods) as well as in the field laboratory. Standard bioarchaeological methods were employed (Fig. 173 a-b).9 Although more research is still required before final conclusions can be drawn, several very interesting and important results of the analysis can already be presented.The minimum number of individuals found in the whole funerary context is seventy-one. Sixty-four individuals were deposited in the main chamber, two in the antechamber, and at least five in the ossuary or reliquary in the first floor of the mausoleum. The latter remains, as stated above, were not articulated and consisted of quite randomly collected skeletal parts (Fig. 174 a-b).Fifty-five of all of the seventy-one individuals were identified as female (designated as either F—female or F?—probably female), two were diagnosed as male (M) and the rest remain unidentified either due to a young age-at-death or to their state of preservation. This sex structure does not, of course, reflect any normal population and implies a premeditated selection. Moreover, the only two male individuals were buried outside the main chamber—one in the eastern platform (the guardian) and one in chamber B in the western platform, so their importance, and hence their social status, differ from that of the individuals in the main chamber.Of the individuals in the main chamber, fifty-two were women and twelve were young individuals whose sex could not be ascertained.The age-at-death distribution does not reflect a typical population either. There were no children under the age of about ten years in the sample. Over 80% of the individuals were adults. The main chamber sample (all indi-viduals, N=64) consisted of:

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– 3 %: individuals about ten years old; – 17%: individuals ten to eighteen years old; – 80%: adult individuals (distributed as follows: 45 % young adults thirty years old and under, and slightly less than 10% of older adults fifty years and over). The age distribution is very similar when we consider the same sample but leave out the individuals who are believed to have been sacrifices, and who therefore originally probably were of different social status or even came from an ethnically different population. Of the six sacrificed indi-viduals three were under sixteen years of age and three were young adults, most probably females (the skeletons of all sacrifices are in a rather poor state of preservation).Of the four individuals believed to have had the highest status and who were buried in the three sub-chambers, two were mature females, one was an adult female, and one was an adolescent of uncertain sex. Of the remains outside the main chamber only one individual was young (around sixteen years old or less) and the rest were adults.The preliminary analysis also provided some insights regarding the health- status of the people buried at Castillo de Huarmey. The most frequent pathological conditions observable in the individuals in the main chamber was dental and periodontal diseases (Fig. 175 a-c). Close to 60% of the individuals in the chamber (N=64) had caries ranging from single cavities in a single tooth, to a nearly total erosion of the tooth. Another pathological condition that was quite frequent (62.5%; N=64) in this anatomical region was the exposure of the teeth roots, which suggests a periodontal disease. Nine individuals had severe tooth inflammation, with the damage to the tissue resulting in a fistula in the surrounding bone. The presence of tooth calculi was also quite frequent (53%; N=64).Other types of pathological changes commonly present in the group studied were joint diseases and metabolic disorders. Among the former palaeopa-thologies, osteoarthritic changes in both vertebral and limb joints were most frequent—almost 55% of the individuals (N=64) show changes in the articular surfaces due to osteoarthritis. The metabolic disorders are of a non-specific aetiology, presenting two most typical types of bone porosity: cribra orbitalia (25%; N=64) and porotic hyperostosis (51.5%; N=64). These changes are tradi-tionally ascribed to anaemia or other metabolic stress.An interesting observation in light of Tung’s10 work regarding the influence Wari imperial politics had on the bioarchaeological condition of human popu-lations, is that the sample from Castillo de Huarmey exhibits a very low frequency of trauma. Only eight individuals have clear, well-healed, traumata. One individual is most interesting in this respect: the skeleton belongs to an adult female about thirty-five years old, who suffered from severe multiple traumata on the right side of the body. Her right hip joint was severely damaged, with dislocation followed by the formation of a new joint surface that changed the original shape of the acetabulum and destroyed the femur head (Fig. 176). The result of the trauma was gait impairment, with probable pain during movement of the affected leg. The other trauma-related changes in this individual’s skeleton include: damage to the manubrium, one cervical and one thoracic vertebra, and the destruction of the calcaneus and talus bones in the right foot. The pattern of the traumatic changes suggests some accident like a fall or jump from a height, where all of the pressure was concentrated on the right side of the body. The changes had healed well, which not only implies that the trauma was experienced some time before death, but also that others helped and took care of the afflicted individual.The remaining traumata observed in other individuals were healed rib fracture, healed ulna fracture, and a dislocated ankle joint with changes in the surface of articulation of the tarsal bones. None of the observed traumata could have been directly associated with any war-related behaviour, but rather to accidents that can happen in everyday life.The individuals buried outside the main chamber exhibit different pathological changes. As has already been mentioned, both of the “guardians” lacked the left foot. The cortex of the lower leg bones—the tibia and the fibula—was thinned, suggesting that the leg was impaired a long time before death. The changes in the articulating surfaces of the ankle joint also support this hypoth-esis. Furthermore a female suffered from a severe abscess in the area of all four M1 - upper and lower teeth on both sides, rather severe caries and some osteoarthritic changes in the wrists, elbows, knees and vertebral column. The male’s pelvis had started to fuse in the area of the pubic symphysis, and there

was some healed damage on the left side of his frontal bone (the only poten-tial combat-related trauma in the sample). The incomplete remains of the individuals in the western platform suggest they suffered from osteoarthritis, some caries and tooth abscesses, and one had severe pathological changes in the fibula with an intense periosteal reaction—the development of patho-logical new bone on the surface of the cortex and probably also in the cloacae that run inside the bone to the marrow cavity (medullar cavity), suggest a severe infection of the bone and bone marrow called osteomyelitis.

Elites and High Social Status in Bioarchaeological Research

The women from Castillo de Huarmey were buried in very special conditions —under the well-designed and well-built mausoleum, in a very secure place beneath its floor, and covered with thick protective layers of gravel, sand and mud bricks. Their remains were carefully deposited in the burial chamber, and furnished with many high quality artefacts for the afterlife. The archaeological context and the number and quality of the grave goods clearly indicate their high social status. They may have belonged either to the highest elites of the Wari culture, and even to the imperial court. This is even more obvious when they are compared with the skeletons found in the same context but outside the main burial chamber, particularly with the two “guardians” characterised not just by the poorer quality of the grave goods associated with them, but also by the lack of the left foot—often a sign of a “chosen” person, especially selected to act as a grave guardian for all of eternity (just like in the case of the Lord of Sipán).11

The bioarchaeological research also supports this interpretation. First of all, the high frequency of caries and other tooth-related pathological changes most probably reflect a greater access to a valuable crop—maize. It is well known that high carbohydrate foods are extremely cariogenic, including those based on corn like chicha.12 Also, like the tombs in Conchopata, the skeletons from Castillo de Huarmey exhibit a high frequency of osteoarthritis in the spinal column and in the main joints, but show almost no signs of trauma that could be directly related to violence. Osteoarthritis, being a degenerative joint disease, is not unusual in elderly women. In the sample, however, it was not just the oldest individuals who suffered from this disease, but also rela-tively young ones. This suggests that these women were engaged in some rather strenuous and repetitive physical activity that triggered the patho-logical bone formation, or that they may have been genetically prone to osteo-arthritis, which would suggest they shared some genetic similarity (kinship?). We can perhaps explain this with the presence of artefacts associated not just with spinning, but more importantly with weaving. Producing large- sized textiles would certainly be a strenuous and repetitive activity.13 Besides, the fact that almost all of the pathological lesions indicating metabolic stress in the early childhood (like cribra orbitalia or porotic hyperosteosis) and subsequent major trauma were healed suggest a rapid recovery from these biological insults, and that they spent the rest of their life almost free of physiological stress, disease and trauma—also an indicator of the high social status of the women buried at the site of Castillo de Huarmey.

Who Were the Women of Castillo de Huarmey?

It is obvious that the question regarding the identity of the deceased of Castillo will draw much attention. Clearly most of it is due to the fact that the fifty-eight deceased individuals were almost all, if not all, women buried together in the main burial chamber under the mausoleum. It can be safely assumed that they represented the highest echelons of Wari society, not just because of the rich grave goods, but also because of the location of their internment as well as their general health. One question, however, is still open and will most probably stay so without any hint of an answer—why are their women only buried here and why did most of them die at a relatively young age? There might be several answers to this question, each one more or less speculative. These women may have been part of the royal/imperial court, perhaps concubines or wives of the local Wari lord, or even someone more important. As no trace of the cause of their death has been thus far identified, it is not clear whether they died within a short span or whether they died over a much longer period of time instead and were successively buried in the chamber, which was prepared and remained open until the last one of them

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had died (or until the paramount individual died, and the need to construct the mausoleum arose). Of course, the fact that the tomb contains almost exclusively female remains suggests a premeditated selection of the dead, focused on those who were of high enough status to be interred here. These young women may have died giving birth, or were perhaps meant to accom-pany their lord in the afterlife. The older women, including two of the main individuals in the sub-chambers, most probably died of natural causes. All of them may have died due to some sort of deadly disease that does not leave any trace in the skeletal remains. Considerable more research is needed in order to unravel all of the mysteries of the women from Castillo de Huarmey.

(1) Tung, Tiffiny A., and Anita G. Cook. “Intermediate-Elite Agency in the Wari Empire. The Bioarchaeology and Mortuary Evidence,” in Elson, Christina M., and R. Alan Covey (Eds.), Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 2006, p. 68.

(2) See, for instance, Knudson, Kelly J., and Tiffiny A. Tung. “Investigating Regional Mobility in the Southern Hinterland of the Wari Empire: Biogeo-chemistry at the Site of Beringa, Peru,” American Journal of Physical Anthro-pology, 145(2): 299-310, 2011; Knudson, Kelly J., William J. Pestle, Christina Torres-Rouff, and Gonzalo Pimentel. “Assessing the Life History of an Andean Traveler through Biogeochemistry: Stable and Radiogenic Isotope Analyses of Archaeological Human Remains from Northern Chile,” International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 22(4): 435-51, 2012.

(3) Isbell, William H. “Mortuary prefer-ences: A Wari culture case study from Middle Horizon Peru,” Latin American Antiquity, 15: 3-32, 2004.

(4) Tung, Tiffiny A. Violence, Ritual, and the Wari Empire. A Social Bioarchaeology of Imperialism in the Ancient Andes. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.

(5) See e. g. Valdez, Lidio M., Jocelyn S. Williams, and Katrina J. Bettcher. “Prác-ticas mortuorias Wari en Marayniyoq, Valle de Ayacucho, Perú,” Chungará, Revista de Antropologia Chilena, 38 (1): 113-27, 2006.

(6) Although found intact at the site of Espiritu Pampa alongside many artifacts, the context known as the Lord of Vilca-bamba did not include human bones (Fonseca Santa Cruz, Javier. “El rostro oculto de Espíritu Pampa, Vilcabamba, Cusco,” Arqueología Iberoamericana 10: 5-7, 2011).

(7) Donnan, Christopher, and Luis Jaime Castillo B. “Excavaciones de tumbas de sacerdotes moche en San José de Moro, Jequetepeque,” in Uceda, Santiago, and Elías Mujica (Eds.), Moche. Propuestas y Perspectivas. Lima: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos, 1994, pp. 415-24; Donnan, Christopher. “Moche Funerary Practice,” in Dillehay, Tom (Ed.), Tombs for the Living: Andean Mortuary Practices. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1995, pp. 111-59.

(8) Tung. Violence, Ritual.

(9) Haas, Jonathan, Jane E. Buikstra, Douglas H. Ubelaker, and David Aftandilian. Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains: Proceed-ings of a Seminar at The Field Museum of Natural History organized by Jonathan Haas. Fayetteville, Ark.: Arkansas Archae-ological Survey Research Series No. 44, 1994.

(10) Tung. Op. cit.

(11) See Alva, Walter. Sipán. Discovery and Research. Lima: Q.W. Editores, 2009, pp. 24, 63.

(12) Larsen, Clark Spencer, Rebecca Shavit, and Mark C. Griffin. “Dental Caries Evidence for Dietary Change: An Archaeo-logical Context,” in Kelley, Mark A., and Clark Spencer Larsen (Eds.), Advances in dental anthropology. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1991, pp. 179-202.

(13) See Tung and Cook. “Intermediate-Elite Agency in the Wari Empire.”

Our knowledge of the metallurgy in the Central Andes during the Middle Horizon is still in its early stages. The lack of excavated contexts associated with the production or uses of metals, and the scant attention paid to the study of non-sumptuous metal objects, are two factors that have restricted our knowledge of this part of history. Even so, although the present study is a preliminary report, it is a significant contribution in both scenarios because it assesses both utilitarian and sumptuous pieces from a scientifically exca-vated Wari context. More than three hundred metal pieces have been recorded at Castillo de Huarmey, 22% of which are prestige objects made of gold, silver and copper, while the rest comprise implements and tools related to the manufacture of textiles which are made of copper or a copper alloy.

Unlike the grandiosity of the funerary goods of the Moche and Vicús elite graves in the Early Intermediate Period, and later on that of their Lambayeque and Chimú Late Intermediate Period counterparts, our knowledge of sump-tuous grave goods in the case of the Wari elite is limited, and even more so the presence of complex metal pieces associated with these contexts. Some scholars posit that the Middle Horizon saw some sort of decline in terms of the use of metal and of the techniques employed as major status markers, and the attendant rise of the textile and ceramic output.1 Personal ornaments predominate amongst the scant Wari prestige objects known, which include metal feathers, ear ornaments and funerary masks.2 In her article on Wari prestige objects, Bergh3 pointed out that a wide range of materials was used in preparing these pieces, particularly gold, silver, semiprecious stones, Spon-dylus shells, and pyrite, amongst others, and this gave the piece a colourful aspect thanks to the mosaic technique.

The study of metal pieces derived from scientific excavations laid down the foundations for the characterisation of Middle Horizon metallurgy as a time of consolidation and dissemination in the use of different copper alloys, used to make personal implements such as the tupus, as well as the implements and tools used in artisanal work, like needles, cutting tools and so on. Copper appears alloyed with tin, arsenic and nickel, thus forming complex binary and ternary systems that were intentionally produced in order to improve its mechanical and physical properties. According to Lechtman,4 three types of bronze were developed during the Middle Horizon, each of which was limited to a geographical region; to this model we must now add new data on the variability in the alloys found in a single place.5

It was in this scenario of scant evidence and big gaps in the information on Wari metallurgy, that the mausoleum at Castillo de Huarmey was devealed.6 This was an intact collective funerary structure that housed over sixty indi-viduals, who to judge by their abundant and complex grave goods belonged to the Wari elite; most of them were women and had artefacts mostly related with the textile craft. A large number of metal objects, both of an ornamental as well as a utilitarian nature, stand out among the burial offerings. The study of the metal pieces in this mortuary context is thus interesting for two main reasons: it is a context that was not desecrated by looters, and further-more it is related with the Wari elite, for which we have scant information regarding the metal artefacts associated with it.

Metal Objects of the Wari Mausoleum at Huarmey

María Inés Velarde Museo de Arte de Lima

Pamela Castro de la MataPontificia Universidad Católica del Perú