Bioarchaeological Insights on Dental Health and Diet After the Fall of the Wari Empire in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

This research project looked at the dental health of Late Intermediate Period skeletons from the Wari capital to assess their consumption patterns. A high rate of dental disease coupled with carious lesions indicative of coca chewing supports the hypothesis that post-Wari populations maintained many of the agricultural practices and trade networks of the former state, including consumption of large quantities of maize and frequent coca chewing.