Rinconada Alta: Biological anthropology of Inca imperialism in the Rimac Valley, Peru

From AD 1438 until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in AD 1532, the Inca carried out a large scale territorial expansion that made their Empire the largest Pre-Columbian civilization in native America. At its zenith, the Inca territory stretched over more than 4300 km from southern Colombia to northern Chile and had a population of about 12 million people. This expansion required the cooperation and conquest of many different ethnic groups. Inca systems of governance were intended to provide political stability while maximizing economic output. These systems affected the daily life of the Inca subjects through the taxation of labor, controlled access to resources, and forced relocation.;This study examines the human remains from an Inca Period cemetery (AD 1470--1532) on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, in order to assess the effects of Inca imperialism in this region. Data from human skeletal remains are used to investigate the lifeways at the site of Rinconada Alta. Paleopathological analyses provide evidence of nutrition, diet, disease, physical activity (labor), and interpersonal violence. Biological distance analyses of cranial metric and discrete traits are used to determine the heterogeneity of the population.;The results of this study show that the population at Rinconada Alta had higher levels of non-specific infection and nutritional stress as well as increased levels of arthritis compared with populations at political or ceremonial centers. These findings correspond with the archaeological evidence that this site was a community of skilled artisans of commoner status. The trauma observed in the skeletons indicates a low level of interpersonal violence, especially warfare, in the community, suggesting that the inhabitants were peacefully incorporated into the empire. Finally, biological evidence does not confirm the presence of a multi-ethnic society; furthermore, the community appears to have coastal origins. Thus, while the archaeological evidence suggests that Rinconada Alta was a center for craft production founded by the Inca, skeletal evidence demonstrates that the artisans were not relocated from distant regions of the empire.