Paleopathology in Brazil and Argentina

MENDONÇA DE SOUZA S.M.F; GUICHON RICARDO ANIBAL

The History of Palaeopathology: Pioneers and Prospects

New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press (to be submitted for publication) Buikstra JE, Roberts CA, Schreiner SM. (eds.).

Lugar: New York; Año: 2012; p. 329 - 341

Argentina and Brazil share certain features relevant to the History of Paleopathology, such as the discontinuities introduced by 20th-century political circumstances that alternatively limited and encouraged academic development and anthropological investigations. Thus, our countries´ contributions to paleopathology have flourished only during the past four decades. On the other hand, as Politis (1995) has emphasized, the history of archaeology, of fundamental significance to paleopathology and paleopathologists, is very different for each South American country, and we are no exception. Paleopathology, as an interdisciplinary field composed by biomedical, historical and anthropological sciences, has thus been affected by different theoretical and methodological landmarks, and the interactions inside the discipline itself. The history of paleopathology in Argentina, as in Brazil, goes back to the 19th-century, when the first prehistoric human bones were found in archaeological context, attracting the attention of numerous scientists, including those from North America and Europe. At that time, physicians and naturalists concerned with emerging evolutionary queries were studying human bones. In spite of the development of paleopathology in the Northern hemisphere (Buikstra and Beck, 2006), here the focus was upon osteometrics and taxonomy. In Argentina, military expeditions that were ?building the Nation? crossed territories such as Patagonia followed by "la ciencia"(science).Brazil was already settled a s an Empire, and exploring the country was also a scientific priority. Brazil as Argentina considered the natives to be "objeto de análisis y observación, al mismo tiempo que su cultura material, sus cuerpos y sus restos óseos passaron a integrar aquello sobre lo que, a partir de ese momento, ejercía soberanía la nación"(Endere and Podgonry, 1997:56). The 19-century was also an era when museums were established, and many scientific institutions were founded in Argentina, as well as in Brazil. Any initial observations on past human health or disease occurred within this context with paleopathology taking more than a century to develop as a cohesive, scientific field of study.