Journal articles by Sara K. Becker
American Anthropologist, 2020
American Anthropologist, 2020
International Journal of Paleopathology, 2019
Akin to approaches encouraged by Verano (1997) in the Andes, and Ortner (2011, 2012) for general ... more Akin to approaches encouraged by Verano (1997) in the Andes, and Ortner (2011, 2012) for general paleopathological studies, this article focuses on accurate descriptions and definitions of osteoarthritis, entheses, and long bone cross-sectional geometry. By evaluating these conditions as part of biological responses to abnormal skeletal changes and biomechanical stress, this research discusses each condition’s pathogenesis. Further, this article emphasizes a “small data” approach to evaluating these conditions in ancient culturally and biologically related human populations, where the study samples must have good skeletal preservation, where estimates of age and sex need to be included as major factors, and where abnormalities need to be described and evaluated. This article also discusses global clinical and osteological research on ways scholars are currently trying to establish industry-wide methods to evaluate osteoarthritis, entheses, and long bone cross-sectional geometry. Recent studies have focused on rigorous evaluation of methodological techniques, recording protocols, and interand intra-observer error problems. Additionally, scholars have focused on physical intensity of movement using biomechanics, evaluated burials of known occupation, and used complex statistical methods to help interpret skeletal changes associated with these conditions. This article also narrows to focus on these conditions within thematic “small data” areas throughout the Andes. This research concludes with describing future directions to understand skeletal changes, such as more multidisciplinary studies between osteologists and pathologists, collaborations with living people to collect CT, x-rays, or computer-aided motion capture, and a stronger focus on how these conditions correlate with intense biomechanical changes in younger individuals.
Historical Archaeology, 2020
The experiences of Susquehannock Indians during the early period of European colonialism (1575–1... more The experiences of Susquehannock Indians during the early period of European colonialism (1575–1675) included changes in subsistence, health, and violence, creating stressors that affected their lived experience. To begin to understand the embodied effects of these pressures, the skeletal remains of a number of Susquehannocks,
recovered from sites in Pennsylvania and Maryland, were examined for evidence of oral health (dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, and dental
abscess), skeletal trauma, growth disruption, and anemia. Our approach, informed by the “Osteological Paradox,” finds a trend of improvement in
Susquehannock living conditions during that period that correlates well with the signing of a “Treaty of Friendship” with the colonial Maryland government in 1652. The treaty created an alliance and a southern “safe zone” for food procurement, and helped limit warfare to one front with the Iroquois to the north. This reprieve was short lived, as colonial relationships deteriorated by 1675, and Susquehannocks fled after the siege of their fort, which helped to trigger Bacon’s Rebellion in colonial Virginia.
Bioarchaeology International, 2019
Within the prehistoric Tiwanaku state (A.D. 500–1100) of Bolivia and Peru, labor was divided by e... more Within the prehistoric Tiwanaku state (A.D. 500–1100) of Bolivia and Peru, labor was divided by elevation, environment, and local identity across its colonies and heartland, and especially within Tiwanaku City’s multiethnic neighborhoods. Constructed spaces of human activity and the individuals who embody the labors within these spaces can be described as agents who perform tasks within a taskscape (Ingold 1993, 2000). While this taskscape approach has been used in archaeological research, it has not been widely applied to describe the skeletal remains of the actual people who performed these vocations and labors. Evaluating taskscapes from a
multi-scalar bioarchaeological perspective, this article discusses physical changes from osteoarthritis embodied in the wrists, hands, ankles, feet, and spines of Tiwanaku people associated with varied task-and subsistence-based lifeways. While it is not possible to link specific activities with each individual, locating occupational or gendered spaces is conceivable. Many osteoarthritis variances found in this study can be explained as tasks performed differently between these various groupings. In addition, a lack of significant task and taskscape differences within heartland populations may also suggest evidence of reciprocal and heterarchical labor when a wider context is applied. By using the bodies and bones of ancient laborers, this article goes beyond archaeological understandings of taskscape, making members of the Tiwanaku state active agents in understanding prehistoric labor.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2019
Objectives: Studies of osteoarthritis (OA) in human skeletal remains can come with scalar problem... more Objectives: Studies of osteoarthritis (OA) in human skeletal remains can come with scalar problems. If OA measurement is noted as present or absent in one joint, like the elbow, results may not identify specific articular pathology data and the sample size may be insufficient to address research questions. If calculated on a per data point basis (i.e., each articular surface within a joint), results may prove too data heavy to comprehensively understand arthritic changes, or one individual with multiple positive scores may skew results and violate the data independence required for statistical tests. The objective of this article is to show that the statistical methodology Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) can solve scalar issues in bioarchaeological studies.
Materials and Methods: Using GEE, a population-averaged statistical model, 1,195 adults from the core and one colony of the prehistoric Tiwanaku state (AD 500-1100) were evaluated bilaterally for OA on the seven articular surfaces of the elbow joint.
Results: GEE linked the articular surfaces within each individual specimen, permitting the largest possible unbiased dataset, and showed significant differences between core and colony Tiwanaku peoples in the overall elbow joint, while also pinpointing specific articular surfaces with OA. Data groupings by sex and age at death also demonstrated significant variation. A pattern of elbow rotation noted for core Tiwanaku people may indicate a specific pattern of movement.
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
The Tiwanaku (AD 500-1100) colonized ecologically diverse, lower elevation areas to produce goods... more The Tiwanaku (AD 500-1100) colonized ecologically diverse, lower elevation areas to produce goods not easily grown in the high altitude heartland (3800 m a.s.l.). One colony near presentday Moquegua, Peru (900-1500 m a.s.l.) was comprised of multiple Tiwanaku settlements. Colonists farmed products like maize and coca, and transported goods via llama caravan between the colony and heartland. Two subsistence groups emerged in terms of settlement, those of “Chen Chen-style” affiliation associated with an agrarian lifestyle, and those of “Omo-style” representing more of a pastoralist lifeway. Considering Tiwanaku people likely began light chores around 5 years of age (e.g., babysitting siblings), with heavier labor beginning at
approximately 8 years, we questioned if these social and occupational differences translated into skeletal changes associated with osteoarthritis (i.e., porosity, lipping, osteophyte formation, and/or eburnation). Individuals from five sites, two which represent the Omo-style (M16 and M70) and three which are in the Chen Chen-style (M1, M10, and M43) were evaluated for osteoarthritis while controlling for age-at-death and sex using 25 total joint surfaces in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle and sacroiliac. Overall, our comparisons show no combined significant differences between the Omo-style and Chen Chen-style groups. Instead, distinctions in osteoarthritis evidence by age-at-death and sex emerged, reflecting the likelihood of specific age or sex-related tasks. Arthropathy evidence among children in elbow and ankle joints also supported the cultural legacy in the Andes that work begins at a relatively young age and would show up in patterns of adult osteoarthritis.
The Tiwanaku culture in the Bolivian highlands was comprised of neighborhoods home to various gro... more The Tiwanaku culture in the Bolivian highlands was comprised of neighborhoods home to various groups laboring
at differing jobs. Ch'iji Jawira, one sitewithin this community, is described archaeologically as containing both
a manufacturing center for pottery and a residential area home to these ceramic manufacturers. Prior
bioarchaeological research has also noted that the people buried at the Ch'iji Jawira site show statistically significant
differences in labor and activity from others who lived in the Tiwanaku capital. Using a life-history approach,
this study explores the idea that Ch'iji Jawira was home to ceramic specialists by describing one
individual from this community, a 30–39 year old female (CJ-35250). This person has evidence of degeneration
associated with osteoarthritis in her arms,wrists, hands, fingers, lumbar spine, sacroiliac, hip, and feet. The bones
of her wrists, hands, fingers, and feet also have extensive skeletal changes at tendon and muscle attachment
areas. The pattern on her bones suggests she worked at crafting, especially tasks involving repetitive joint movement
and heavy use of arm, hand, and foot musculature. Fromher burial location and grave goods, it may be that
CJ-35250 was one of the earliest potters at this site.
Latin American Antiquity, 2015
This study focuses on trophy head taking during the transition between the Late Formative period ... more This study focuses on trophy head taking during the transition between the Late Formative period and Tiwanaku period (A.D. 200–800) based on evidence from a dedicatory offering found at the site of Wata Wata, east of the Titicaca Basin. Although trophy-head taking was common in other precontact Andean cultures, evidence of the practice among cultures from this region is usually present only in iconography and not in actual physical remains. We explore the nature of this find and its placement within the trade and ceremonial center of Wata Wata. The three individuals included in the offering underwent various levels of violence at or around the time of death, including beheading, cranial and facial fracturing, defleshing, jaw removal, and possible eye extraction. Such violence makes it unlikely that the heads were offered as part of a cult to revere ancestors. We argue that these heads, entombed in a ritual cache and sealed with a capstone, embody a strategic metaphor to remove authority and influence from the individuals, because skulls can be Andean symbols of power in life and the afterlife. The violent acts carried out on these crania may also have been a way to advertise broader changes during this transitional period in the Kallawaya region, a strategic exchange corridor between ecological zones in the Central Andes.
Spanish
Esta investigación se enfoca en entender las prácticas de decapitación durante la transición Formativo Tardío a Tiwanaku (200–800 d.C.), sobre la base del estudio de una ofrenda con tres cráneos humanos encontrados en el sitio de Wata Wata. El mismo se ubica en los valles del territorio Kallawaya, al oriente de la cuenca del Titicaca. Aunque el uso de cabezas trofeo es común en las culturas Andinas durante el periodo pre-Colombino, en Tiwanaku dicho uso se restringe a su iconografía. La evidencia física sobre esta práctica es muy escasa. En este contexto, en este trabajo exploramos la naturaleza de esta ofrenda en el centro ceremonial y de intercambio de Wata Wata. Este estudio muestra los altos niveles de violencia a la que fueron sujetos los individuos alrededor o justo al momento de su muerte, incluyendo decapitación, fracturas craneales y faciales, descarne, remoción de las mandíbulas y posiblemente extracción ocular. Por tanto, estos marcados niveles de violencia hacen inviable que esta práctica haya estado asociada a un culto de reverencia a los ancestros. Más bien, consideramos que estos cráneos enterrados en una ofrenda ritual que posteriormente fuera sellada, fueron parte de una metáfora ritual destinada a quitar autoridad e influencia política. Al respecto, en los Andes, los cráneos son considerados potentes símbolos de poder tanto en esta vida como en el más allá. Por tanto, los niveles de violencia infringidos a estos cráneos, pudieron haber servido de propaganda durante esta crítica transición Formativo Tardío-Tiwanaku en la región Kallawaya, un estratégico corredor de intercambio inter-ecológico en los Andes Centrales.
International Journal of Historical Archaeology 17(4):713-730, Dec 2013
This study examined the skeletal remains of two different native groups, the Piscataway (Algonqui... more This study examined the skeletal remains of two different native groups, the Piscataway (Algonquian) and the Susquehannock (Iroquoian), who resided in close geographic proximity in the Tidewater-Potomac region of Maryland in order to understand their health during the 1,600 s CE. Both groups had differing interactions with colonial settlers and numerous historic accounts of violence. The results show some evidence of infectious disease and no types of interpersonal violence on the skeletal remains of either group. Other health disparities found were associated more with cultural and behavioral differences between these two ethnic groups than with direct colonial involvement.
Paleopathology Newsletter 115:9-11, 2001
Books by Sara K. Becker
Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association (AP3A), Volume 28, 2017
Book Chapters by Sara K. Becker
Understanding how work was managed and who participated in state-level societies can help elucida... more Understanding how work was managed and who participated in state-level societies can help elucidate daily activities as well as community development within an emerging complex society. Tiwanaku, with multiethnic neighborhoods in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia and colonies near present-day Moquegua, Peru, provides a comparison of labor between groups. Specific skeletal evidence of activity (i.e., musculoskeletal stress markers and osteoarthritis) was evaluated to infer how habitual activity varied within this state. Labor rates show that laborers did not work at the behest of elites and results suggest instead, that people worked as reciprocal laborers in a guild-like system.
Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association (AP3A), 2017
In this chapter, we introduce our volume and focus on defining the various ways in which the term... more In this chapter, we introduce our volume and focus on defining the various ways in which the term community is used by bioarchaeologists in this volume, especially with respect to the theoretical ideas within the emerging social and theoretical bioarchaeology. We also provide an initial summary concerning each of the chapters and how each author, or set of authors, focuses on community within their research. Our goals are: (1) to discuss the possibilities and limitations of identifying different types of past community or communities; (2) to expand on methods in bioarchaeology that can be used to identify community; and (3) to develop theoretically based bioarchaeological research on community in order to elucidate meaningful relationships that structured past people's lives.
Social Skins of the Head: Beliefs and Ritual in Ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes, 2018
Dissertation & Thesis by Sara K. Becker
SARA KATHRYN BECKER: Labor and the Rise of the Tiwanaku State (AD 500-1100): A Bioarchaeological ... more SARA KATHRYN BECKER: Labor and the Rise of the Tiwanaku State (AD 500-1100): A Bioarchaeological Study of Activity Patterns (Under the direction of Dale Hutchinson) This dissertation focused on understanding labor during the development of Tiwanaku (AD 500-1100), one of the earliest Andean states. Prior archaeological
Conference Presentations by Sara K. Becker
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Journal articles by Sara K. Becker
recovered from sites in Pennsylvania and Maryland, were examined for evidence of oral health (dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, and dental
abscess), skeletal trauma, growth disruption, and anemia. Our approach, informed by the “Osteological Paradox,” finds a trend of improvement in
Susquehannock living conditions during that period that correlates well with the signing of a “Treaty of Friendship” with the colonial Maryland government in 1652. The treaty created an alliance and a southern “safe zone” for food procurement, and helped limit warfare to one front with the Iroquois to the north. This reprieve was short lived, as colonial relationships deteriorated by 1675, and Susquehannocks fled after the siege of their fort, which helped to trigger Bacon’s Rebellion in colonial Virginia.
multi-scalar bioarchaeological perspective, this article discusses physical changes from osteoarthritis embodied in the wrists, hands, ankles, feet, and spines of Tiwanaku people associated with varied task-and subsistence-based lifeways. While it is not possible to link specific activities with each individual, locating occupational or gendered spaces is conceivable. Many osteoarthritis variances found in this study can be explained as tasks performed differently between these various groupings. In addition, a lack of significant task and taskscape differences within heartland populations may also suggest evidence of reciprocal and heterarchical labor when a wider context is applied. By using the bodies and bones of ancient laborers, this article goes beyond archaeological understandings of taskscape, making members of the Tiwanaku state active agents in understanding prehistoric labor.
Materials and Methods: Using GEE, a population-averaged statistical model, 1,195 adults from the core and one colony of the prehistoric Tiwanaku state (AD 500-1100) were evaluated bilaterally for OA on the seven articular surfaces of the elbow joint.
Results: GEE linked the articular surfaces within each individual specimen, permitting the largest possible unbiased dataset, and showed significant differences between core and colony Tiwanaku peoples in the overall elbow joint, while also pinpointing specific articular surfaces with OA. Data groupings by sex and age at death also demonstrated significant variation. A pattern of elbow rotation noted for core Tiwanaku people may indicate a specific pattern of movement.
approximately 8 years, we questioned if these social and occupational differences translated into skeletal changes associated with osteoarthritis (i.e., porosity, lipping, osteophyte formation, and/or eburnation). Individuals from five sites, two which represent the Omo-style (M16 and M70) and three which are in the Chen Chen-style (M1, M10, and M43) were evaluated for osteoarthritis while controlling for age-at-death and sex using 25 total joint surfaces in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle and sacroiliac. Overall, our comparisons show no combined significant differences between the Omo-style and Chen Chen-style groups. Instead, distinctions in osteoarthritis evidence by age-at-death and sex emerged, reflecting the likelihood of specific age or sex-related tasks. Arthropathy evidence among children in elbow and ankle joints also supported the cultural legacy in the Andes that work begins at a relatively young age and would show up in patterns of adult osteoarthritis.
at differing jobs. Ch'iji Jawira, one sitewithin this community, is described archaeologically as containing both
a manufacturing center for pottery and a residential area home to these ceramic manufacturers. Prior
bioarchaeological research has also noted that the people buried at the Ch'iji Jawira site show statistically significant
differences in labor and activity from others who lived in the Tiwanaku capital. Using a life-history approach,
this study explores the idea that Ch'iji Jawira was home to ceramic specialists by describing one
individual from this community, a 30–39 year old female (CJ-35250). This person has evidence of degeneration
associated with osteoarthritis in her arms,wrists, hands, fingers, lumbar spine, sacroiliac, hip, and feet. The bones
of her wrists, hands, fingers, and feet also have extensive skeletal changes at tendon and muscle attachment
areas. The pattern on her bones suggests she worked at crafting, especially tasks involving repetitive joint movement
and heavy use of arm, hand, and foot musculature. Fromher burial location and grave goods, it may be that
CJ-35250 was one of the earliest potters at this site.
Spanish
Esta investigación se enfoca en entender las prácticas de decapitación durante la transición Formativo Tardío a Tiwanaku (200–800 d.C.), sobre la base del estudio de una ofrenda con tres cráneos humanos encontrados en el sitio de Wata Wata. El mismo se ubica en los valles del territorio Kallawaya, al oriente de la cuenca del Titicaca. Aunque el uso de cabezas trofeo es común en las culturas Andinas durante el periodo pre-Colombino, en Tiwanaku dicho uso se restringe a su iconografía. La evidencia física sobre esta práctica es muy escasa. En este contexto, en este trabajo exploramos la naturaleza de esta ofrenda en el centro ceremonial y de intercambio de Wata Wata. Este estudio muestra los altos niveles de violencia a la que fueron sujetos los individuos alrededor o justo al momento de su muerte, incluyendo decapitación, fracturas craneales y faciales, descarne, remoción de las mandíbulas y posiblemente extracción ocular. Por tanto, estos marcados niveles de violencia hacen inviable que esta práctica haya estado asociada a un culto de reverencia a los ancestros. Más bien, consideramos que estos cráneos enterrados en una ofrenda ritual que posteriormente fuera sellada, fueron parte de una metáfora ritual destinada a quitar autoridad e influencia política. Al respecto, en los Andes, los cráneos son considerados potentes símbolos de poder tanto en esta vida como en el más allá. Por tanto, los niveles de violencia infringidos a estos cráneos, pudieron haber servido de propaganda durante esta crítica transición Formativo Tardío-Tiwanaku en la región Kallawaya, un estratégico corredor de intercambio inter-ecológico en los Andes Centrales.
Books by Sara K. Becker
Book Chapters by Sara K. Becker
Dissertation & Thesis by Sara K. Becker
Conference Presentations by Sara K. Becker
recovered from sites in Pennsylvania and Maryland, were examined for evidence of oral health (dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, and dental
abscess), skeletal trauma, growth disruption, and anemia. Our approach, informed by the “Osteological Paradox,” finds a trend of improvement in
Susquehannock living conditions during that period that correlates well with the signing of a “Treaty of Friendship” with the colonial Maryland government in 1652. The treaty created an alliance and a southern “safe zone” for food procurement, and helped limit warfare to one front with the Iroquois to the north. This reprieve was short lived, as colonial relationships deteriorated by 1675, and Susquehannocks fled after the siege of their fort, which helped to trigger Bacon’s Rebellion in colonial Virginia.
multi-scalar bioarchaeological perspective, this article discusses physical changes from osteoarthritis embodied in the wrists, hands, ankles, feet, and spines of Tiwanaku people associated with varied task-and subsistence-based lifeways. While it is not possible to link specific activities with each individual, locating occupational or gendered spaces is conceivable. Many osteoarthritis variances found in this study can be explained as tasks performed differently between these various groupings. In addition, a lack of significant task and taskscape differences within heartland populations may also suggest evidence of reciprocal and heterarchical labor when a wider context is applied. By using the bodies and bones of ancient laborers, this article goes beyond archaeological understandings of taskscape, making members of the Tiwanaku state active agents in understanding prehistoric labor.
Materials and Methods: Using GEE, a population-averaged statistical model, 1,195 adults from the core and one colony of the prehistoric Tiwanaku state (AD 500-1100) were evaluated bilaterally for OA on the seven articular surfaces of the elbow joint.
Results: GEE linked the articular surfaces within each individual specimen, permitting the largest possible unbiased dataset, and showed significant differences between core and colony Tiwanaku peoples in the overall elbow joint, while also pinpointing specific articular surfaces with OA. Data groupings by sex and age at death also demonstrated significant variation. A pattern of elbow rotation noted for core Tiwanaku people may indicate a specific pattern of movement.
approximately 8 years, we questioned if these social and occupational differences translated into skeletal changes associated with osteoarthritis (i.e., porosity, lipping, osteophyte formation, and/or eburnation). Individuals from five sites, two which represent the Omo-style (M16 and M70) and three which are in the Chen Chen-style (M1, M10, and M43) were evaluated for osteoarthritis while controlling for age-at-death and sex using 25 total joint surfaces in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle and sacroiliac. Overall, our comparisons show no combined significant differences between the Omo-style and Chen Chen-style groups. Instead, distinctions in osteoarthritis evidence by age-at-death and sex emerged, reflecting the likelihood of specific age or sex-related tasks. Arthropathy evidence among children in elbow and ankle joints also supported the cultural legacy in the Andes that work begins at a relatively young age and would show up in patterns of adult osteoarthritis.
at differing jobs. Ch'iji Jawira, one sitewithin this community, is described archaeologically as containing both
a manufacturing center for pottery and a residential area home to these ceramic manufacturers. Prior
bioarchaeological research has also noted that the people buried at the Ch'iji Jawira site show statistically significant
differences in labor and activity from others who lived in the Tiwanaku capital. Using a life-history approach,
this study explores the idea that Ch'iji Jawira was home to ceramic specialists by describing one
individual from this community, a 30–39 year old female (CJ-35250). This person has evidence of degeneration
associated with osteoarthritis in her arms,wrists, hands, fingers, lumbar spine, sacroiliac, hip, and feet. The bones
of her wrists, hands, fingers, and feet also have extensive skeletal changes at tendon and muscle attachment
areas. The pattern on her bones suggests she worked at crafting, especially tasks involving repetitive joint movement
and heavy use of arm, hand, and foot musculature. Fromher burial location and grave goods, it may be that
CJ-35250 was one of the earliest potters at this site.
Spanish
Esta investigación se enfoca en entender las prácticas de decapitación durante la transición Formativo Tardío a Tiwanaku (200–800 d.C.), sobre la base del estudio de una ofrenda con tres cráneos humanos encontrados en el sitio de Wata Wata. El mismo se ubica en los valles del territorio Kallawaya, al oriente de la cuenca del Titicaca. Aunque el uso de cabezas trofeo es común en las culturas Andinas durante el periodo pre-Colombino, en Tiwanaku dicho uso se restringe a su iconografía. La evidencia física sobre esta práctica es muy escasa. En este contexto, en este trabajo exploramos la naturaleza de esta ofrenda en el centro ceremonial y de intercambio de Wata Wata. Este estudio muestra los altos niveles de violencia a la que fueron sujetos los individuos alrededor o justo al momento de su muerte, incluyendo decapitación, fracturas craneales y faciales, descarne, remoción de las mandíbulas y posiblemente extracción ocular. Por tanto, estos marcados niveles de violencia hacen inviable que esta práctica haya estado asociada a un culto de reverencia a los ancestros. Más bien, consideramos que estos cráneos enterrados en una ofrenda ritual que posteriormente fuera sellada, fueron parte de una metáfora ritual destinada a quitar autoridad e influencia política. Al respecto, en los Andes, los cráneos son considerados potentes símbolos de poder tanto en esta vida como en el más allá. Por tanto, los niveles de violencia infringidos a estos cráneos, pudieron haber servido de propaganda durante esta crítica transición Formativo Tardío-Tiwanaku en la región Kallawaya, un estratégico corredor de intercambio inter-ecológico en los Andes Centrales.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0925866.