Post by Admin on Aug 12, 2023 19:08:02 GMT
Implications for daily life at Machu Picchu
Osteological analyses (20) indicate that the yanacona and former aclla of Machu Picchu led relatively comfortable lives. They were not involved in heavy agricultural labor or construction projects. None of them showed head wounds or other pathologies frequently produced by warfare, nor do they display growth disruptions resulting from childhood illnesses or food shortages (20). Notably, many of them (n = 67) survived to maturity (15 to 49 years), and a substantial number (n = 14) reached old age (over 50). As noted, their varied ethnic backgrounds were suggested by the frequent presence of exotic ceramics and metal tools in the graves (21). The large number of vessels that showed evidence of repairs implies that these foreign objects, perhaps from their homelands, continued to have special meaning for the yanacona and former aclla.
A previous study established that all four cemeteries of Machu Picchu were used over the duration of the site’s occupation, with multiple interments in the same caves made over several decades (25). Our analyses show that individuals of differing genetic ancestry were buried in the same cemeteries and, in some cases, in the same burial cave, as in Burial Caves 4 and 42 (Figs. 1 and 4). When testing for biological relatedness, we found only one pair of first-degree relatives, most likely a mother-daughter pair, in a single cave (MP4b and MP4f, r/k0 ratio: 2.88; table S8). Both nuclear DNA and mtDNA indicate that the other individuals investigated here—even those buried together in the same location—shared no closer familial relationship (table S8). Our observations suggest that neither genetic ancestry nor ancestral ethnicity of the retainers was a major factor in structuring mortuary patterns, a conclusion consistent with an earlier observation that a single set of shared burial practices was practiced at Machu Picchu (4, 21). Moreover, these findings further support the conclusion that people arrived at Machu Picchu as individuals rather than communities or extended families, a pattern predicted for yanacona and former aclla based on historic accounts (11, 13, 45).
The genomic histories of the retainers at Machu Picchu further suggest that ancestry or ethnicity did not constrain their daily life and reproductive choices. Several of the retainers displayed an admixture of genetic ancestries associated with diverse geographies. While in some cases, such admixture patterns might reflect ancestries of currently unsampled regional groups (30, 33, 34), other cases seem to be the result of mating between individuals of different ancestries that comprised the community at Machu Picchu (e.g., MP48b, MP50a, MP51, and MP77; Fig. 4 and table S6). We further observe that the geographic regions associated with the cultural, genomic, and geochemical signatures do not align for some individuals (Fig. 5 and Supplementary Text). The complexity of individual life histories is, for example, suggested by the isotopic analyses and the current interpretations of their significance (Fig. 5 and table S1). In the case of the mother-daughter pair MP4b-MP4f, both of Amazonian ancestry (Fig. 4), the putative parent (MP4b) exhibits a nonlocal strontium 87Sr/86Sr signature associated with the Amazonian lowlands, which matches their genetic ancestry. However, the daughter (MP4f) exhibits a signature that matches broader highland or coastal Andean regions (12, 53). Other individuals of nonlocal, nonhighland ancestries or admixed ancestries exhibit 87Sr/86Sr ratios, indicating that those individuals may have spent their younger ages during which the investigated teeth formed and erupted (~7 to 17 years) in the highlands (e.g., MP3a, MP5b, and MP61; Fig. 4) before coming to Machu Picchu.
Osteological analyses (20) indicate that the yanacona and former aclla of Machu Picchu led relatively comfortable lives. They were not involved in heavy agricultural labor or construction projects. None of them showed head wounds or other pathologies frequently produced by warfare, nor do they display growth disruptions resulting from childhood illnesses or food shortages (20). Notably, many of them (n = 67) survived to maturity (15 to 49 years), and a substantial number (n = 14) reached old age (over 50). As noted, their varied ethnic backgrounds were suggested by the frequent presence of exotic ceramics and metal tools in the graves (21). The large number of vessels that showed evidence of repairs implies that these foreign objects, perhaps from their homelands, continued to have special meaning for the yanacona and former aclla.
A previous study established that all four cemeteries of Machu Picchu were used over the duration of the site’s occupation, with multiple interments in the same caves made over several decades (25). Our analyses show that individuals of differing genetic ancestry were buried in the same cemeteries and, in some cases, in the same burial cave, as in Burial Caves 4 and 42 (Figs. 1 and 4). When testing for biological relatedness, we found only one pair of first-degree relatives, most likely a mother-daughter pair, in a single cave (MP4b and MP4f, r/k0 ratio: 2.88; table S8). Both nuclear DNA and mtDNA indicate that the other individuals investigated here—even those buried together in the same location—shared no closer familial relationship (table S8). Our observations suggest that neither genetic ancestry nor ancestral ethnicity of the retainers was a major factor in structuring mortuary patterns, a conclusion consistent with an earlier observation that a single set of shared burial practices was practiced at Machu Picchu (4, 21). Moreover, these findings further support the conclusion that people arrived at Machu Picchu as individuals rather than communities or extended families, a pattern predicted for yanacona and former aclla based on historic accounts (11, 13, 45).
The genomic histories of the retainers at Machu Picchu further suggest that ancestry or ethnicity did not constrain their daily life and reproductive choices. Several of the retainers displayed an admixture of genetic ancestries associated with diverse geographies. While in some cases, such admixture patterns might reflect ancestries of currently unsampled regional groups (30, 33, 34), other cases seem to be the result of mating between individuals of different ancestries that comprised the community at Machu Picchu (e.g., MP48b, MP50a, MP51, and MP77; Fig. 4 and table S6). We further observe that the geographic regions associated with the cultural, genomic, and geochemical signatures do not align for some individuals (Fig. 5 and Supplementary Text). The complexity of individual life histories is, for example, suggested by the isotopic analyses and the current interpretations of their significance (Fig. 5 and table S1). In the case of the mother-daughter pair MP4b-MP4f, both of Amazonian ancestry (Fig. 4), the putative parent (MP4b) exhibits a nonlocal strontium 87Sr/86Sr signature associated with the Amazonian lowlands, which matches their genetic ancestry. However, the daughter (MP4f) exhibits a signature that matches broader highland or coastal Andean regions (12, 53). Other individuals of nonlocal, nonhighland ancestries or admixed ancestries exhibit 87Sr/86Sr ratios, indicating that those individuals may have spent their younger ages during which the investigated teeth formed and erupted (~7 to 17 years) in the highlands (e.g., MP3a, MP5b, and MP61; Fig. 4) before coming to Machu Picchu.