Estado de conservación y contextualización cronológica de la Colección Osteológica "Gustavo Le Paige"

Abstract

Between the 1950s and 1970s Father Gustavo Le Paige excavated one of the largest osteological collections of Latin America, attracting the attention of numerous researchers over the past 40 years. In his field notes, Le Paige recorded the excavation of 5482 skulls and human bodies deposited in the Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Museo of the Universidad Católica del Norte (San Pedro de Atacama). However, cumulative processes of abandonment and the lack of preventive conservation resulted in the loss of context and a decrease in the quality of preservation of a significant portion of this skeletal collection. Here, we present the current state of preservation of this collection, and 50 new radiocarbon dates that helps the chronological contextualization of 21 of the larger and more representative cemeteries in the Le Paige collection. © 2013 Universidad Católica del Norte.