Date of Award
8-9-2022
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Bethany Turner-Livermore
Second Advisor
Dr. Nicola Sharratt
Third Advisor
Dr. Haagen Klaus
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Frank Williams
Abstract
Early life stress impacts frailty and is important for understanding mortality in ancient populations. Utilizing Wilson bands (WB) from enamel thin-sections, this thesis explores displays of phenotypic plasticity, early life stress between pre-Hispanic and Colonial samples, and osteobiographical accounts of individuals associated with the Formative (3200-200BCE, n=2), Late Moche (550-800CE, n=11) and Late Sicán (1100-1375CE, n=1) periods from the Ventarrón archaeological complex in northern coastal Peru. Late Moche individuals had high prevalences of WB, potentially linking low socioeconomic status to acute, episodic early childhood stress. Pre-Hispanic individuals with WB displayed greater frailty and earlier mortality than those without, indicated by lower average ages at death. Differences in WB prevalence between these Ventarrón cohorts compared to previously studied Colonial cohorts by Garland et al. (2016) showcase the importance of not treating pre-Hispanic cultures as an unchanging monolith. Future studies expanding this database will provide a more nuanced understanding of these patterns.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/30564890
Recommended Citation
Batchelder, Chelsea B., "Pre-Hispanic Frailty and Mortality in the Lambayeque Valley: Wilson Bands as Evidence of Early Life Stress." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2022.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/30564890
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