Isbell Under the direction of Dr. William Isbell, Mr. John Besom will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Early Spanish records describe cultural practices followed by the Inca empire in Peru, Chile and Argentina. They indicate that humans were sacrificed by the Incas for many different reasons and that in some cases victims were left above ground at high altitude sites. A number of such "burials" and accompanying grave goods have been discovered at both high and low altitude situations. Mr. Besom will study all of these remains and visit museums in the three relevant countries. His work will include examination not only of the bodies themselves, but also the clothing of the victim and the related grave goods. Mr. Besom's goal is to understand the strategies which were used by the Inca to establish an empire which extended across vast areas and encompassed many different linguistic and ethnic groups. The Inca empire stands as a monument to human organizational ability given the area involved, the difficulty of communication across it and the fact that the Incas lacked both written language and wheeled vehicles. Ethnographic and historic documents indicate that religion and the manipulation of religious beliefs provided an important method for political control and that the sacrifice of human victims constituted an important part of this system. Many types of sacrifice were noted - the function of each differed. Through a systematic and complete study of all known samples, Mr Besom hopes to gain insight into Inca social and political organization. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed new light on how large scale empires first arose and were maintained and it will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
