A Case of Foot Amputation from the Wari Imperial Tomb at Castillo de Huarmey, Peru

Abstract

AbstractEvidence of surgical interventions leaving traces on bones is quite abundant in archaeological material all over the world and is found frequently in the Andes. Among them, trepanations are most common, while amputations represent a relatively small part of the material. These have been reported from a few sites on the Peruvian north coast and archaeologically associated with the Moche culture. In 2013, two new cases from this area were found in situ within the Wari imperial mausoleum excavated at Castillo de Huarmey. Two individuals, one man and one woman, were found in the antechamber, serving as guards for the occupants of the main burial chamber. Their left feet were amputated, disarticulated at the ankle joints, a long time before they died. The article presents this find and discusses the form of amputation and the possible reasons why it was performed. As the context of both individuals possessed the same specifics, suggesting that they performed similar tasks related to religion and ritual, this article also presents a cultural interpretation of these finds, using other artefacts—ceremonial beakers in the form of the left human foot—known from Wari and Tiwanaku cultures. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.