ESTATUS SOCIAL Y PATRONES DE PATOLOGÍA ORAL EN PESCADORES-AGRICULTORES TARDÍOS DEL CEMENTERIO LOS PINOS (COSTA CENTRAL DEL PERÚ)

Abstract

In this paper we examine dietary contrasts associated with differences in status within hierarchical communities using oral pa- thology markers. In the Central Andes, despite the demonstrated existence of deep social divisions, ethno-history suggests few differences in diet between groups during later prehistoric periods, but this claim has little bioarchaeological support. A sample of 145 individuals from the cemetery of Los Pinos of the Huaura Valley, in the central Peruvian coast (ca. 1200-1300 AD), was classified into three groups according to social status, number of offerings and wealth of burials. Then we registered 14 markers of oral pathology. The results show that all individuals in Los Pinos, regardless of their social status group, were exposed to a significant cariogenic diet and exhibited a common pattern of lesions: occlusal caries, high proportion of cervical caries (which appears to be closely associated to consumption of maize beer), gross caries and root remains and high frequencies of ante mor- tem tooth loss (with higher tendency in females). Oral pathology data suggests that social status did not produce differentiated consumption of carbohydrates and confirms the widespread coca leaf chewing habit in all groups, with a slight predominance in male individuals of higher status.