The Osmore Project focusing on Estuquina, a Late Intermediate Period site near Moqueuqua, Peru is providing significant new information about prehistoric Andean cultures. In this project the student will study the mortuary component of the project focusing on the human remains. Specifically she will look at intrasite variation in spatial and biological patterning. This project will provide important new information on the demographic aspects of prehistoric Andean society. It will increase our knowledge of health and disease, especially tuberculosis, cranial deformation and inherited morphology. These data will be compared with cultural variables to see if there is evidence of increases in population stress in the society over time. This study is one of the few to emphasize a population approach to a prehistoric society, focusing on an entire cemetery rather than single graves. It will provide accurate reconstruction of the human population at Estuquina with regard to the interaction of culture and human biology and will be an important addition to bioanthropology.
