Radiometric evaluation of the prehistoric mortuary practices of the Chinchorro culture in northern Chile

The Chinchorros were the aboriginal, pre-ceramic peoples of the northern Chilean and southern Peruvian coastline. The Chinchorro culture used four types of mummification techniques (red, black, natural and mud-coated). Each of these types may be distinct to the chronological time period in which it was used and, therefore, the typology would be used to define the Chinchorro chronology. Also, if the mummification styles are unique to a particular time period it would support the idea that this was an egalitarian group that did not recognize individual social rank in mortuary practices. To test these hypotheses 16 samples from 15 Chinchorro mummies of the Arica, Chile area were 14C dated. These figures were then compared to 23 previously published dates. Results demonstrated that the classification scheme proposed by Arriaza (1995a, 1995b) is supported with one exception. The exception, in which natural mummies are dated within the periods of other techniques, may demonstrate the use of a social ranking within the Chinchorro culture. Another conclusion the dating gives support to the idea that Chinchorro cemeteries have been in constant re-use.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology and Ethnic Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2001

Author dc:creator

• Doubrava, Matthew Ray

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bernardo T. Arriaza

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1282

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2281