Evidence of osteoarthritis in the Tiwanaku Colony, Moquegua, Peru (AD500-1100)

Bibliographic Data

ID4662425
AuthorsK Becker (0000-0002-6686-2039), Sara K Becker (0000-0002-3395-309X, Department of Anthropology University of California, Riverside Riverside CA USA, corresponding author), P S Goldstein (0000-0002-4431-6731, Department of Anthropology University of California, San Diego San Diego CA USA)
Year2018
Volume28
Issue1
Pages54-64
Publication date2018-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1047-482X • E-ISSN: 1099-1212
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/oa.2634
OpenAlexW2769178191
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited66

The Tiwanaku (AD500-1100) colonized ecologically diverse, lower elevation areas to produce goods not easily grown in the high altitude heartland (3,800 m a.s.l.). One colony near present-day Moquegua, Peru (900-1,500 m a.s.l.) was composed of multiple Tiwanaku settlements. Colonists farmed products like maize and coca and transported goods via llama caravan between the colony and heartland. Two subsistence groups emerged in terms of settlement, those of "Chen Chen-style" affiliation associated with an agrarian lifestyle and those of "Omo-style" representing more of a pastoralist lifeway. Considering Tiwanaku people likely began light chores around 5 years of age (e.g., babysitting siblings), with heavier labour beginning at approximately 8 years of age, we questioned if these social and occupational differences translated into skeletal changes associated with osteoarthritis (i.e., porosity, lipping, osteophyte formation, and/or eburnation). Individuals from 5 sites, 2 that represent the Omo-style (M16 and M70) and 3 that are in the Chen Chen-style (M1, M10, and M43), were evaluated for osteoarthritis while controlling for age-at-death and sex using 25 total joint surfaces in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle, and sacroiliac. Overall, our comparisons show no combined significant differences between the Omo-style and Chen Chen-style groups. Instead, distinctions in osteoarthritis evidence by age-at-death and sex emerged, reflecting the likelihood of specific age- or sex-related tasks. Arthropathy evidence among children in elbow and ankle joints also supported the cultural legacy in the Andes that work begins at a relatively young age and would show up in patterns of adult osteoarthritis

Ankle · Archaeology · Coca · Elbow · Geography · Osteoarthritis · Pastoralism · Pathology · Sociology · Demography · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Medicine · Musculoskeletal Disorders and Rehabilitation · Sports injuries and prevention · Surgery

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