Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Daily Life and the Development of the State in the Moche Valley of North Coastal Peru

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Under the direction of Dr. Brian Billman, Ms. Celeste Gagnon will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct an analysis of skeletal remains of approximately 900 individuals recovered from the site of Cerro Oreja, located on the north coast of Peru. Isotopic determinations will also be made. Cerro Oreja documents the development of the Moche state and provides insight into the emergence of a society which incorporated large numbers of people under centralized control. This process took place independently in many parts of the world and thus forms an important topic for anthropological research. Ms. Gagnon wishes to understand the effect of political centralization on individual health and nutrition and hypothesizes that positive benefits result. Because the occupation of Cerro Oreja spans almost 2000 years - from 1500 BC to AD 400 it will be possible to correlate social and biological change. Bioarchaeological data to be collected include frequencies of dental caries, periodontal disease, dental abscesses and antemortum tooth loss. In addition, measures of stable isotopes, rates and types of dental wear and identifications of microplant remains from dental calculus will be analyzed. The bioarchaeological data will also address issues of class, gender and age and the effects these had on access to specific foods. This research is important because it will provide insight into the relationship between social and biological change and assist in training a promising young scientist.