Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 4.1.6
Results of protein radioimmuno assay (pRIA) analysis on calcined cranial vault fragment recovered from
the Tschudi burn, Chan Chan, northern Peru. (A) pRIA results; (B) percent correlations. Original field
number for calcined fragment from the Tschudi burn is B0502, MicroAnalytica lab number is MA-1929;
analysis by MicroAnalytica, LLC, Miami, Florida.
Analysis of bone fragment sample MA-1929
A
Comparison of sera standards
Human
Bison
Dog
Rat
Sample MA-1929
Human
27
1
3
9
5
Bison
7
21
3
21
0
Dog
3
1
26
1
0
Rat
19
3
4
45
1
B
Correlation coefficients
Human
Bison
Dog
Rat
Human
Bison
-
22
Dog
22
2
Rat
-
61
-
63
-
29
MA-1929
76
-
48
-
40
-
16
Note
: The high value of 5 for sample MA-1929 in part A of the table and the 76% correlation coefficient in part B indicate a human origin.
A 1 g sample of the bone fragment was submitted for pRIA and details of the analysis are shown in Table 4.1.6.
This technique is based on protein extraction from small skeletal fragments and has been used to distinguish human
from nonhuman samples in forensic studies (Ubelaker et al., 2004). To determine human/nonhuman origin, the
sample was tested using antisera standards of human, bison, dog, and rat. In Table 4.1.6, part A, the highest value
for the sample from the Tschudi burn indicates
“
human origin
”
and in part B, the correlation coefficient is 76%,
confirming the human origin of the bone fragment.
The gray-brown color of the bone fragment indicated that it had been heated to temperatures in the range of
440
525°C (Mays, 2003, pp. 207, 217). Previous studies by Shipman et al. (1982, p. 319) showed that the
temperatures of cremated bone could be more precisely determined from X-ray diffraction patterns. Therefore, a
cremated human bone standard and a fragment of the bone recovered from the Tschudi burn were analyzed
(Figure 4.1.4) by X-ray diffraction. Based on comparison with X-ray diffraction data on cremated bone standards
in Shipman et al. (1982, p. 319), it was inferred that the bone fragment from the Tschudi burn had been heated
to 525°C.
-
Discussion
A
lgorrobo charcoal is the acknowledged fuel for metallurgy in northern Peru, but the world-wide, centuries-old use
of coal, its regional availability, and its use for jewelry and mirrors in ancient Peru suggest that it may have been
used for other purposes, such as for an energy fuel, in the archaeological record of Latin America.
The use of only one fuel is probably rare and other materials, such as grass, wood, bone, or dung, may have also
been used at different times in multiuse fires. Non fuel materials such as broken ceramics, bits of food, or cloth may
have been disposed of in a multiuse fire. The Tschudi burn, however, was an exceptionally large, single-use fire,
apparently for a specific purpose or ritual, and the fuel for this event was possibly chosen for a specific
characteristic such as its property as a burning rock or its sulfurous, brimstone smell. Underground coal fires,
such as those in China, Colombia, Peru, or Paso Diablo, Venezuela, may have been interpreted by ancient people as
fiery, sulfurous, smoldering gateways to the underworld. Therefore, perhaps this burning rock with a strong smell
was a highly regarded resource that was to be used carefully which might explain the absence of unburned coal at
the site.
