The Complex Relationship between Tiwanaku Mortuary Identity and Geographic Origin in the South Central Andes

Abstract

Political integration and expansion in archaeological states and empires uniquely affected incorporated peoples, who often created and manipulated social, political, and religious identities in response to interactions with larger and more powerful polities. Between AD 500 and 1000, the Tiwanaku polity exerted influence throughout the South Central Andes. This chapter utilizes multiple lines of evidence, including isotope and biodistance analyses, cranial modification, mortuary artifacts, and burial treatments to examine the relationships between the hinterland sites of Chen Chen and San Pedro de Atacama and Tiwanaku. While individuals buried at Chen Chen included immigrants from the Tiwanaku heartland, in San Pedro de Atacama local inhabitants consciously manipulated their social identities as they articulated with the distant Tiwanaku polity. This unique example of identity formation and manipulation in the archaeological record demonstrates the potential of multiple lines of bioarchaeological evidence to elucidate the complex relationships between material culture, geographic origin, and identity.