Human skeletal pathology in pre-Columbian 

 populations of northern Chile 



Juan R. Munizaga 



Pre-Columbian populations on the arid coast of northern 

 Chile succeeded in surviving during thousands of years in a 

 very inhospitable environment and under strong selection 

 pressures. Since diseases are one of the forces through which 

 such pressures act, we may be able to detect them by the 

 analysis of injurious effects left in the human skeletal re- 

 mains. 



However, two great difficulties arise when studying the 

 bone pathology of former populations of the Chilean arid 

 coast. On the one hand, we know that those populations were 

 never numerous and that most of their cemeteries have been 

 disturbed. For these reasons it may be difficult to obtain an 

 adequate sample. On the other hand, the bone reaction to 

 disease is limited in variability and the types of injurious 

 effects we found may not be identifiable with respect to 

 etiology. Therefore, the knowledge we have of diseases in 

 such populations is likely to remain incomplete for some 

 time. 



One way to overcome these difficulties consists in analyz- 

 ing the human skeletal remains available using an ecological 

 approach, in which we try to establish the reactive patterns of 

 bone caused directly by environmental stimuli. For the popu- 

 lation under study, the health level will be primarily defined 

 on the basis of the potential bone deterioration caused by 

 those kinds of stimuli and the age attained by the individuals 

 surviving in that environment. From this point of view, we 

 tried to assess the health level of populations that lived on the 

 arid coast of Chile and from which we have only a small 

 number of skeletal remains. 



The sample and its ecological background 



The specimens used in this study constitute a sample of hu- 

 man skeletal remains from populations which lived in a frag- 

 ile, ecological balance on the arid coast of northern Chile. 

 They were collected by L. Nunez ( 1971 ) during his excava- 

 tions at the mouth of the Loa River and neighboring coves. 

 The sample is made up of at least 50 individuals represented 

 by skulls and a lesser number of bones from the remaining 

 part of the skeleton, all of which are in different degrees of 



/4igrrb Paieopatbohgy Symp. 1988 



conservation. Most of them belong to immediately pre- 

 Spanish periods. A very small number come from periods of 

 about 2000 years ago. 



From a morphological point of view, the population corre- 

 sponds to a Mongoloid population living on such a coast 

 during several thousands of years, which occasionally re- 

 ceived small migrations or visits from individuals coming 

 from inland regions from both the Andean range of moun- 

 tains and the Amazonian jungle. 



Two components of the physical environment must be 

 distinguished. On the one hand, a narrow, coastal band, 

 bounded inland by a chain of steep but low hills and the vast 

 Atacama Desert that isolated it, is characterized by its ex- 

 treme aridity (less than 5 mm of rainfall per year) and lack of 

 vegetation. Its climate is humid due to "evaporation from the 

 sea blown inland by the prevailing coast winds which is 

 turned into mist by condensation when passing over the cold 

 Humboldt current. In winter, this mist is left on the coastline 

 hills, thus keeping a high degree of humidity in the atmo- 

 sphere" (Weiss 1951:151). Water for drinking comes from 

 highly brackish springs or "aguadas," whose solid concentra- 

 tion ranges between 8.3 and 16.0 g/1 versus drinking water 

 where the maximum is 0.5 g/1 (Lagos 1980:40). On the other 

 hand, an offshore sea current is full of fish, shellfish, and 

 mammals which, considered as food resources, are enough 

 to support a great number of individuals. 



During several thousands of years, these populations kept 

 on improving their cultural adaptation in such a way that in 

 the late period, from which come most of the human skeletal 

 remains here analyzed, they had attained an efficient naviga- 

 tional expertise. Moreover, they mastered swimming and 

 diving. This, added to their fishing or hunting food collection 

 and preservation techniques, enhanced the groups" survival. 



In spite of that, evidence in the archeological, ethnograph- 

 ic, and historical data as well as chroniclers' and travelers' 

 statements suggest that the ecological balance was unfavor- 

 able for the pre-Columbian people who lived in small num- 

 bers in that coastal area. During the time of the Spanish 

 contact, various epidemic diseases affected their popula- 

 tions, which in time disappeared. 



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