Violence in the Puna: trauma perimortem cranial on the site Punta de la Peña 9.I, Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca, Argentina.

LUCIA GONZALEZ BARONI; CLAUDIA ARANDA; LEANDRO LUNA

Buenos Aires

Congreso; VI Paleopathological Association Meeting in South America (PAMinSA); 2015

contextexcavated in the area I of Punta de la Peña 9 site (Antofagasta de la Sierra,Catamarca, Argentina) are discussed in this presentation. Information onburial inhumation forms, demographic data of the sample (sex, age-at-deathand Minimum Number of Individuals) and trauma evidence is given. The mainrelevance of the study is that it is the first multiple secondary burial with evidenceof intentional trauma known for agro-pastoral societies ca. 1300-1380years BP.Sex determination and age estimation were performed by analyzing skullsand coxae following standard procedures (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994; Brickleyand McKinley 2004). Types of trauma were determined after discriminatingtaphonomic bone changes from intentionally lesions (Mann and Murphy1990; Lovell 2008; Stodder 2008). The characterization of each type of woundwas fulfilled after Lovell (2008) and Etxeberria et al. (2005), along with accuratemacroscopic descriptions and radiographic and photographic documentalsupport.The results indicate that at least seven individuals (two females, two probablyfemales, two males and one indeterminate) were buried. Two are 0-2 and10-12 years old non adults, four are young adults aged 19-24 years, being theseventh a medium adult of 35-39 years old (González Baroni 2013, 2014). Fourof them show signs of perimortem trauma (three young adults and one nonadult). These marks consist of linear, scalp and blunt lesions located on thefrontal, lateral and posterior regions of the skull.These traumas, when analyzed in association with scenes of interpersonalviolence identified in rock art sites, spatially and chronologically related to theburial studied, offer the first direct evidence to support hypothesis about socialfriction situations. The multiple evidence of trauma shown and burial characteristicsallow proposing alternative interpretations that do not discard theinterpersonal violence factor, but also suggest considering existence of somekind of ritual violence.