Books by Sara L Juengst
Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association (AP3A), Volume 28, 2017
Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association (AP3A), 2017
In this chapter, we introduce our volume and focus on defining the various ways in which the term... more In this chapter, we introduce our volume and focus on defining the various ways in which the term community is used by bioarchaeologists in this volume, especially with respect to the theoretical ideas within the emerging social and theoretical bioarchaeology. We also provide an initial summary concerning each of the chapters and how each author, or set of authors, focuses on community within their research. Our goals are: (1) to discuss the possibilities and limitations of identifying different types of past community or communities; (2) to expand on methods in bioarchaeology that can be used to identify community; and (3) to develop theoretically based bioarchaeological research on community in order to elucidate meaningful relationships that structured past people's lives.
Publications by Sara L Juengst
American Anthropologist, 2020
Bioarchaeology International, 2018
Past and present Andean feasts regularly involve the consumption of chicha de maíz (corn beer). A... more Past and present Andean feasts regularly involve the consumption of chicha de maíz (corn beer). Archaeologically, the presence and distribution of brewing and drinking vessels, iconographic representations, and paleoethnobotanical remains have been used to identify the preparation and consumption of chicha at the site level. However, these data cannot tell us if everyone imbibed. Given the social and political importance of chicha, gender, age, status, ethnicity, or other social distinctions in consumption were likely important in the construction of networks and the practices of power. In this article, we theorize a model for investigating chicha consumption at the individual level using a suite of bioarchaeological methods. We suggest that data generated using this model and analyzed in conjunction with traditional archaeological data can help us better understand the social, political, and economic role of chicha. The “chicha signature” we propose includes co-patterning of oral health indicators, isotopic signatures, and the presence of diagnostic microfossils in dental calculus. The intent of this article is to call bioarchaeologists working throughout the Andes and in other regions where beer was culturally important to collect these data with the explicit goal of testing this approach.
The Central Andes of South America boasts a rich history of complex societies and sophisticated e... more The Central Andes of South America boasts a rich history of complex societies and sophisticated economic networks. Reconstructing patterns of diet across time is important to understanding the relationships between subsistence and food preparation and their roles in mediating consumption and hegemony through time. The region surrounding the city of Cusco in the southern Peruvian highlands is best known as the heartland of the Inca Empire (520-418 BP); however, it has a long history of social complexity and regional exchange, including colonization by the highland Wari Empire (1350-950 BP) and in situ development in earlier periods. Elucidating subsistence and mobility over time in the Cusco region is therefore essential for reconstructing the evolution of complex Andean polities and their effects on local communities. This study presents carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic data from human bone and tooth enamel at four Cusco-region sites: the hunter-gatherer site of Kasapata (6350-4150 BP, N = 8); the village site of Yuthu (2350-2050 BP, N = 22); the Wari colony of Hatun Cotuyoc (1350-950 BP, N = 9) and the contemporaneous village site of Ak'awillay (N = 22). Key aims are to estimate diachronic shifts in foodways and nutrition, and those related to Wari control. Results indicate nearly-identical isotope values at Kasapata and Yuthu trending toward lower-trophic level C 3 proteins and C 3 energy sources, while values indicate mixed C 3 /C 4 diets at Ak'awillay and diets dominated by terrestrial meat and C 4 foods at Hatun Cotuyoc. Interestingly, oxygen isotope values suggest water source variation consistent with minimal mobility at Kasapata and regional mobility at Yuthu, but possibly with overlapping but divergent foodways at Ak'awillay and Hatun Cotuyoc resulting in differential evaporative pressures on consumed water rather than increased mobility.
Objectives: This study investigates the biological impacts of sedentism and agriculture on humans... more Objectives: This study investigates the biological impacts of sedentism and agriculture on humans living in the high altitude landscape of the Titicaca Basin between 800 BCE and CE 200. The transition to agriculture in other global areas resulted in increases in disease and malnutrition; the high altitude of the Titicaca Basin could have exacerbated this. Our objective is to test whether the high altitude of the Titicaca Basin created a marginal environment for early agriculturalists living there, reflected through elevated rates of malnutrition and/or disease. Methods: To test this, we analyzed human remains excavated from seven archaeological sites on the Copacabana Peninsula for markers of diet and disease. These markers included dental caries, dental abscesses, cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, periosteal reactions, osteomyelitis, and linear enamel hypoplasia. Results: Results showed that markers of diet did not support malnutrition or micro-nutrient deficiencies but instead, indicated a relatively diverse diet for all individuals. Markers of disease also did not vary significantly but were common, indicating circulation of pathogens or chronic bodily stress. Conclusions: We interpret these results as an indication that while diets remained nutritious, investment in the landscape exposed populations to issues of sanitation and disease. The high-altitude of the Titicaca Basin did not exacerbate the biological impacts of agriculture in terms of increased malnutrition. Additionally, disease load was likely related to problems faced by many sedentary groups as opposed to unique challenges posed by high altitude. In sum, despite the high elevation, the Titicaca Basin is not truly a marginal environment for humans.
The Titicaca Basin of Peru and Bolivia has been occupied by humans for millennia and was home to ... more The Titicaca Basin of Peru and Bolivia has been occupied by humans for millennia and was home to one of the first major state societies in the Andes. Many foundations of state power, however, developed much earlier, during the Late Preceramic/Terminal Archaic Period (3000 – 1500 BC), when people initially began herding, marking territories, and creating new metallurgy technology. We present a skeletal analysis of 14 individuals dating between 3000 and 1500 BC from Muruqullu, an archaeological site on the Copacabana Peninsula of Bolivia. These are the first Preceramic burials documented for the peninsula and contribute to the relatively small sample of Preceramic bodies from the Andean highlands more broadly. From this sample, we suggest that highland foragers and early herders suffered little nutritional stress and had limited violent interactions, perhaps related to a relatively mobile lifestyle and utilisation of lake resources.
The Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (AD 1000 – 1450) in the Andes was a time of turbulent politica... more The Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (AD 1000 – 1450) in the Andes was a time of turbulent political and social change as two major states, Wari and Tiwanaku, lost power. Increased rates of skeletal trauma in parts of Peru and Chile for this time period have been interpreted as increased interpersonal violence, perhaps as a result of the political vacuum left in the wake of state collapse. In the Titicaca Basin, people increasingly built defensive architecture on the northern lake shore; however, in the southern lake basin, people did not. Few skeletal remains have been excavated in the lake basin overall to corroborate an increase in violent activity or measure if violent activity was increasing for all populations. This paper reports the skeletal trauma for nine LIP individuals excavated from a common tomb on the Copacabana Peninsula in the southern Titicaca basin. This small sample is important for several reasons: (1) they are the only skeletal remains from the Copacabana Peninsula during the LIP; (2) 100% of the sample population experienced traumatic injury, possibly due to interpersonal violence; and (3) trauma was often survived. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This paper presents three trepanned skulls from the Copacabana Peninsula in the Titicaca Basin, d... more This paper presents three trepanned skulls from the Copacabana Peninsula in the Titicaca Basin, dating from 800 BC to AD 1000. Trepanation has been practiced for two millennia in the Andes, with the earliest specimens coming from the coastal Paracas culture (circa 400 BC). Trepanned skulls have been found throughout the Andes, displaying a variety of techniques. This modification was practiced as surgical intervention after injury and treatment for headaches and other ailments, among other reasons (Verano, 2003: 234). With the exception of four examples from the Island of the Sun, few early cases of trepanation have been found in the Titicaca Basin of Peru and Bolivia. The three skulls presented here are important for several reasons: (1) they originate from a region under-represented in the literature on Andean trepanation, (2) they represent a variety of trepanation techniques, and (3) they confirm the practice of trepanation in the lake basin during the Early Horizon.
by Monica Barnes, Dan Sandweiss, Ruth Anne Phillips, Catherine M. Bencic, Sara L Juengst, Camille Weinberg, Benjamin Nigra, Maria Cecilia Lozada Cerna, Jacob Bongers, Alejandro Chu, Simón Urbina, Leonor Adán Alfaro, Estefanía Vidal Montero, and Alina Alvarez Larrain This volume of Andean Past contains the following articles, research reports, and obituaries: "Ed... more This volume of Andean Past contains the following articles, research reports, and obituaries: "Editor's Preface" by Monica Barnes; "Donald Frederick Sola" by Monica Barnes; Paulina Mercedes Ledergerber-Crespo" by A. Jorge Arellano-Lopez; "Death Notices (Robert Ascher, Bernd Lambert, Daniel W. Gade, and George Bankes) by Monica Barnes and Bill Sillar; "Obsidian Procurement and Cosmopolitanism at the Middle Horizon Settlement of Conchopata, Peru" by Richard L. Burger, Catherine M. Bencic, and Michael D. Glascock; "Characteristics and Significance of Tapia Walls and the Mochica Presence at Santa Rosa de Pucala in the Mid-Lambayeque Valley" by Edgar Bracamonte; "Health at the Edge of the Wari Empire: An Analysis of Skeletal Remains from Hatun Cotuyoc, Huaro, Peru" by Sara L. Juengst and Maeve Skidmore; "Demographic Analysis of a Looted Late Intermediate Period Tomb, Chincha Valley, Peru" by Camille Weinberg, Benjamin T. Nigra, Maria Cecilia Lozada, Charles Stanish, Henry Tantalean, Jacob Bongers, and Terrah Jones; "Macrobotanical Remains from the 2009 Season at Caylan: Preliminary Insights into Early Horizon Plant Use in the Nepena Valley, North-Central Coast of Peru" by David Chicoine, Beverly Clement, and Kyle Stich; "Obsidian Technology at the Wari Site of Conchopata in Ayacucho, Peru" by Catherine M. Bencic; "Incahuasi, Canete" by Alejandro Chu; "Luis Barreda Murillo's Excavations at Huanuco Pampa, 1965" Monica Barnes; "Early Village Formation in Desert Areas of Tarapaca, Northern Chile (Eleventh Century B.C.--Thirteenth Century A.D.)" by Simon Urbina, Leonor Adan, Constanza Pellegrino, and Estefania Vidal; and "Don Mateo-El Cerro, a Newly Rediscovered Late Period Settlement in Yocavil (Catamarca, Argentina) by Alina Alvarez Larrain.
Bone abnormalities are common in theropod dinosaur skeletons, but before now no specimen was know... more Bone abnormalities are common in theropod dinosaur skeletons, but before now no specimen was known with more than four afflicted bones of the pectoral girdle and/or forelimb. Here we describe the pathology of a specimen of the theropod dinosaur Dilophosaurus wetherilli with eight afflicted bones of the pectoral girdle and forelimb. On its left side the animal has a fractured scapula and radius and large fibriscesses in the ulna and the proximal thumb phalanx. On its right side the animal has abnormal torsion of the humeral shaft, bony tumors on the radius, a truncated distal articular surface of metacarpal III, and angular deformities of the first phalanx of the third finger. Healing and remodeling indicates that the animal survived for months and possibly years after its ailments began, but its right third finger was permanently deformed and lacked the capability of flexion. The deformities of the humerus and the right third finger may be due to developmental osteodysplasia, a condition known in extant birds but unreported in non-avian dinosaurs before now.
Book Reviews by Sara L Juengst
Body and Religion, 2020
Researchers have long recognized the symbolic and spiritual significance of the human head across... more Researchers have long recognized the symbolic and spiritual significance of the human head across time and space. Archaeological and bio-archaeological works often show that the head in the Americas was considered to be a locus of personhood and the soul, an embodied site of ancestral identity, and a potent symbol of human and earthen fertility, in both living and deceased persons. This edited volume tackles the use (and reuse) of human heads and head imagery in Mesoamerica and the Andes, looking at common themes and distinct uses over time in these regions. Heads are both biologically vital and individually recognizable, making them potent symbols of identity of both the living and the dead. Furthermore , once removed from a human body, a head can be easily manipulated as a cultural artifact. Thus, heads have often been used as mortuary offerings, war trophies, representations of individuals, and indicators of collective identity. In the Andes and Mesoamerica, heads of the living and deceased were regularly manipulated to convey messages of belonging , status, ethnicity, fertility, dominance, and control. Modified crania, face-painting, and hairstyles gave symbolic power to and identified living individuals, with varying degrees of permanence. In mortuary contexts, isolated crania played many roles, from demonstrating military and physical Affiliation
Published in Journal of Conflict Archaeology, Vol. 6 No. 3, September 2011, 233–34
Teaching Documents by Sara L Juengst
This graduate seminar will focus on power in the field of (bio)archaeology, both in terms of iden... more This graduate seminar will focus on power in the field of (bio)archaeology, both in terms of identifying past marginalized peoples based on archaeological and skeletal indicators of power and through discussions of modern people marginalized by (bio)archaeologists (Native American and Indigenous peoples, African Americans, poor and institutionalized peoples). We will think about what power does, who wields it, who gets to tell stories about the past, and why this matters, using case studies from archaeology and bioarchaeology and modern commentary on the state of the discipline. In general, each week we will read ~3 (bio)archaeological/bioarchaeological case studies or theoretical articles and ~3 articles focused on modern issues of ethics and power in (bio)archaeology.
In this course, we will discuss the biological, ecological, political, and social spheres of food... more In this course, we will discuss the biological, ecological, political, and social spheres of food production and consumption. We will also discuss the processes of plant and animal domestication, the systems of trade involved with food, and the connections between food and health in the past and present. Going beyond the biological needs of the body, we will also address the important symbolism of food and the relationship between food, identity, and community.
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Books by Sara L Juengst
Publications by Sara L Juengst
Book Reviews by Sara L Juengst
Teaching Documents by Sara L Juengst
The Early Horizon (800 BC - AD 200) in the Titicaca Basin was a time of important social and economic changes, such as the establishment of sedentary settlements and long distance trade routes, increasing horticultural investment, and an emerging regional ritual tradition, Yaya-Mama. However, while archaeologists have documented and described these changes, less is understood about how they impacted local communities. In particular, Yaya-Mama has been interpreted in a variety of ways: as a unifying lake basin identity, a social mediator, a cult of ancestor worship and the emergence of social stratification. To investigate this ritual tradition and its impact on the lake basin, this project uses human skeletal remains excavated from four temple and two non-temple sites. Specifically, I ask how people participating in Yaya-Mama ceremonies were related, both socially and genetically, to others in the lake basin and how they negotiated changing community boundaries and identities. In this paper, I will report dietary and disease lesion data and the results of biodistance and strontium isotope analyses in order to reconstruct who shared access to resources, who was considered acceptable reproductive partners, and if participants at temple rituals were local or foreign. I find that despite the emergence of complex socio-economic relationships, society was not structured by hierarchy. Instead, people seem to have been motivating communal labor through emphasis on ancestry and ritual.