Date of Award
Summer 2014
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Kevin Vaughn
Committee Member 1
Michelle Buzon
Committee Member 2
Richard Sutter
Abstract
This thesis evaluates how environmental stressors affected three groups (Nasca, Loro, and Chakipampa) that lived in Nasca during the Early Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1-750) and the Middle Horizon (ca. A.D. 750-1000). Using fluctuating asymmetry analysis as a proxy for developmental instability, biological evidence is assessed for differential stress levels incurred by groups occupying the Peruvian south coast. This study found high levels of stress in the Middle Horizon, supporting the hypothesis that populations living in Nasca were unfavorably affected by Wari colonizers. However, stress was found to be highest among the Chakipampa. This is attributed to Wari imperialistic occupation and extraction of resources. Conversely, the contemporaneous Loro affiliated population, who presumably avoided Wari influence, experienced the lowest levels of stress among the samples. This research reveals a large distinction between the effects of environmental stressors on the two Middle Horizon groups.
Recommended Citation
Follis, Shawna L., "Dental Fluctuating Asymmetry as a Measure of Environmental Stress in Nasca" (2014). Open Access Theses. 423.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/423