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What do mummies eat?

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While Peru inevitably evokes images of Machu Picchu and the Inca empire, the country is also riddled with archaeological sites which are a legacy of even more ancient times, when great civilizations bequeathed a legacy of their art, customs and rituals, their wisdom and skills.The Inca empire was a recent arrival during the process of cultural development in the Andes during the pre-Hispanic era, and the history of the Incas barely accounts for a century within the 20,000 years of human occupation of Peruvian territory. Much earlier than the Incas and while civilizations like the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese (3000 and 2000 B.C.) flourished, the city of Caral, located north of the city of Lima, was built; this was the first American expression of a Pre-Ceramic urban settlement with monumental architecture in an area greater than 10 hectares. Later, in the northern highlands, the Chavin (800 - 200 B.C.) achieved significant advances in architecture, engineering, and agriculture.The ChavÃn civilization (1500-400 BC) achieved considerable prowess in architecture, engineering and agriculture in the northern highlands. Along the north coast, the Moche civilization (200 BC-700 AD) is famous for its realistic pottery (portraits carved into pots and gourds) and its pyramid-shaped temples. The same area was later controlled by the ChimÃº kingdom (900-1450 AD), who built Chan Chan, an immense mud-brick citadel featuring 12-meter-high walls and superb architectural work.To the south, the Nazca people (200 BC-900 AD) etched an impressive series of figures etched into the desert floor known as the Nazca Lines, while graves belonging to the Paracas culture (800 BC-600 AD) have unearthed superb weavings which point to the magical and religious vision that governed the lives of this ancient civilization.Centuries later, the Incas (1300-1500 AD) were to make Cuzco the center of their empire, building major constructions such as Sacsayhuaman, Pisac and Koricancha. It is here that myth and history merge, where the Inca roads, the towns, people and traditions are a living example of the Andean spirit, sacred and monumental.Travel information on Peru http://www.peru.info/perueng.asp

Trent University anthropologist reveals lifestyle clues of the ancient Inca of Peru

Nov 06, 2007 - 08:41 AM

Research undertaken by Trent University assistant anthropology professor Jocelyn Williams into the diets of recently unearthed mummies has revealed fascinating insights into the lives of the ancient Inca of Peru.An ancient cemetery containing the remains of 500-year old mummies was discovered underneath the coastal town of Tupac Amaru, located near Lima, Peru. Due to the extreme dryness of this coastal desert, the people buried there were exceptionally well preserved and many still retained their skin, hair, fingernails, eyelashes, and even tattoos.Prof. Williams sampled different tissues from the mummies, such as bone, skin, hair, nail, tendon and muscle to test for chemical signatures left behind by the various foods consumed by these people. "Because bone develops very slowly, it records diets for the past 15 years, and hair, which grows at a rate of one centimetre per month, records diets in the weeks before death," explained Prof. Williams.By comparing the short- and long-term diets of these Inca remains, Prof. Williams was able to determine the types of foods that were eaten and how this impacted the overall health of the community. Based on carbon isotope data, she noted seasonal fluctuations in diet with corn consumed primarily in the summer and tubers (like potatoes) consumed primarily in the winter. This was somewhat surprising because the Inca were known for their ability to supply their populations with provisions from food stores, however this study demonstrated that people in this valley relied primarily on cultivated foods.These data enabled Prof. Williams to conclude that the overall health of this population was precarious since they did not have access to stored food in any quantity food, an important means of surviving crop failures. Her research also revealed that more people died in the summer than the winter. "This was unexpected because we usually see more deaths during the winter when conditions are harsher and there is greater chance of respiratory disease," she said. "Through this research we were able to determine that there were fewer dietary choices during the summer which compromised nutrition and likely made this population more susceptible to summertime diseases."

Prof. Williams presented this paper in February 2007 as part of the sixth Mummy Congress that took place in Teguise, Canary Islands.

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