Bioarchaeology & an Early Death Cult in the Bolivian Andes
Catherine Domanska · John W. Janusek
Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University
Data – the assemblage
Introduction
Khonkho Wankane lies in the Lake Titicaca Basin of the Bolivian Andes. Although the site has been known to archaeologists
since 1935, it was only through the ongoing research of Proyecto Jach’a Machaca that we understood that Khonkho was an early
ritual center (AD 1-500 BC) that pre-dated Tiwanaku culture (AD 500-1100). The focus of the center was a massive constructed
platform that housed a ceremonial complex.
In Structure 12-C9 of Compound 3, we located nearly 1,000 disarticulated and jumbled bones of approximately 25 adults and children. None of
these bones could reliably be associated with any other, and thus the number of individuals represented in this deposit could be much higher.
In general, the bones were in an excellent state of preservation due to the plaster compound that coated them and the dense nature of most of
the specimens.
Hand and foot bones were vastly overrepresented as well as patellae and sternums. Crania and long bones were virtually absent aside from
juvenile long bone epiphyses.
Discussion
The material remains of Structure 12-C9, Compound K3, appear to
represent the careful selection and curation of human bone relics. Each
bone was carefully chosen with respect to body part (no long bones or crania
are present) and the bones were then plastered (it appears likely they were to
be painted).
Evidence such as cutmarks made after the bones were coated in plaster, and
the presence of juvenile epiphyses which are attached to the long bone shaft
with strong muscle attachments, suggest that the bones were taken from
primary burials after decomposition.
Total # of specimens = 972
21.4% fragmented (208 fragments)
78.6% whole (764 whole bones)
Total MNI = 20 (based on cuneiform #1)
Adult MNI = 15
Juvenile MNI = 5
Every bone had a “token” or portable nature to it – the absence of larger, more
cumbersome, yet more characteristically “human” long bones and crania,
suggests that these bones were chosen for specific, as yet unknown reasons.
INSERT PICTURE OF BONES IN SITU
Gesso blocks excavated from Structure C3-17,
Compound 3 showing the plaster that was used to coat
the bones.
Possibilities include 1) a need to be portable – in order to carry many bones,
representing many individuals and/or for a long journey or 2) the need for the
deposit to remain small. Whatever the reason, the choice of small, dense
bones was deliberate.
Who were the deceased, and why were they chosen for such elaborate postmortem curation? A couple of hypotheses can be drawn:
•
•
Most recent work suggests that Khonkho was the focus of an early death cult. Evidence comes from two sources:
Nearby
such goals
as Tiwanaku,
where human
of only human
craniaatand
long bones
suggest:
Futuresites,
research
include determining
theburials
originsconsisting
of the individuals
represented
Khonkho
Wankane
through isotope analysis to
determine if they are more likely to have been brought from distant locales or they are local people.
1) Each of the bounded ceremonial spaces at the site featured one or more carved sandstone monoliths. The monoliths depict
single personages associated with a variety of zoomorphic images that herald earthly and aquatic forces, and symbolize
generative and reproductive powers. Serpentine neonate catfish and falling humans with exposed ribs, representing deceased
ancestors, narrate a story of life and death, and possibly, the creation of the focal ancestor embodied in the monolith.
2) The second line of evidence comes from a large, special-purpose structure (Structure 12-C9)
excavated in Khonkho’s Compound K3, a walled residential-ritual enclosure. Structures in the
vicinity of 12-C9 were producing a plaster substance, formed into blocks. 12-C9 contained 27 such
blocks and several camelid bones for removing the plaster, as well as several bowls containing
pigments. The structure also contained approximately 1,000 human bones and teeth, most of them
covered with the plaster.
The context (Structure 12-C9) is unique, and human remains of deceased kin (or others) were brought specifically to Khonkho Wankane
for curation, or;
The context (Structure 12-C9) is a specific instance of a common practice. Evidence for this possibility include human interments at
other sites containing only long bones and crania, precisely the bone types absent from Compound 3.
Results
Conclusion
CHILD
3-12
CHILD /
Y.TEEN
10-15
TEEN /
Y.ADULT
15-25
ADULT
25+
1 (based on molar)
3 (based on radii)
1
20
Age ranges slightly modified from Buikstra & Ubelaker’s guide (1994) due to the
imprecise nature of aging hand and foot bones and restrictions in the field.
** Sex is best determined through the analysis of multiple
characteristics – including cranial features and pelvic morphology –
which were not available for this assemblage. Therefore sex could
not be determined but the presence of a range of gracile and
robust bones within the adult age bracket suggests that both males
and females were present.**
Pathology: With an assemblage of mostly adult hand and foot bones and vertebrae one would expect to find many signs of trauma and
osteoarthritis. On the contrary, very few bones show signs of osteoarthritis, trauma or other pathologies aside from fractures and osteoarthritis of
distal foot phalanges. There was one example of a complete fusion of the first cervical vertebrae and axis probably due to a traumatic injury.
Fusion of cvert 1 and axis with no porosity,
a sign of recent healing.
The importance of this assemblage of human remains is not, primarily, in what we can learn about the
health status and demography of the population at hand, but what we can learn about past rituals
focused on death. Bioarchaeological methods are well suited for this assemblage because the
archaeological context and the osteological information cannot be separated – each only tells part of
the story. Both are necessary to tell us about the people who deposited and curated the human
bones in Structure 12-C9 of Compound K3 and the deceased whose bones were deposited.
While conclusions are preliminary, results to date are suggestive. It appears that part of Compound
K3 was dedicated to producing portable human relics. Tantalizing evidence at nearby sites (e.g.,
Tiwanaku) include burials that contained ONLY long bones, suggesting that this datum is a longmissing piece of a larger archaeological puzzle.
Producing human relics was part of an emergent cult that centered on local ancestors who embodied
the generative and animistic powers of the earth, and a religious ideology that presented seductive,
even redemptive ideas regarding seasonal change, worldly regeneration, and human life and death.
References
Tim White
Buikstra & Ubelaker
T-vert and hand phalange with cutmarks
and visible plaster compound.
Cutmarks are macroscopically visible on 14 bones. They are primarily present on hand and foot bones but there was also one example on
the anterio-lateral side of a thoracic vertebral body. They appear to have been made after the bones were coated in plaster.
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Maribel Perez Arias and Scott C. Smith, who excavated the context
Thanks to the national Science Foundation (BCS-051462), the National Geographic Society,
And Vanderbilt University