A single tomb represents this group: the one referred to as “Rasgo 4” by the project archaeologists (not to be confused with Feature 4 in Operation 4). This is the largest tomb found at Cerro Juan Díaz, and also by far the most complex. Udagawa, who was in charge of the excavation, estimated that 42 different events affected the feature’s depositional history. These events comprise primary and secondary burials, sedimentation sequences, and fills.
Entity Type: Feature Type
Mortuary
Note: The most important events are described below: 1. In the very bottom of the tomb, the frontal part of a possibly female human skull was found (Ind. 104) nestled within an elliptical dark-stained feature, which contained charcoal, burnt seeds (including maize kernels), and animal bones. Four nearby stones appeared to belong to a hearth. An incense-burner was associated with them. The impression is of a ritual that involved much burning (the dark stain may have been a mat). The fragment of cranium may or may not be part of the ritual. A neck-less polychrome globular vessel, painted in the late Macaracas style, seemed to form part of the same deposit, as did a monochrome plate. At the southern end of the tomb floor, Udagawa found a small hole, which contained a secondary “package” burial containing two individuals (Ind. 91 and Ind. 134). All that remained of Ind. 91, an aged adult male, was the skull. Ind. 134 was an adult female 20-24 yr. in age. 2. In the central sector of the feature before the bottom was reached, five individuals were found. Ind. 80 was an adult female with an estimated age of 35-40 yr. She was laid face-up in extended position. Udagawa proposed that she was the last individual to be deposited in the feature since her remains showed no signs of post-depositional disturbance. She presented pathologies in a toe bone, and also had dental cavities and abscesses. She possessed an “Inca bone”. One of her teeth gave a collagen date of 1100 ± 50 BP (815-840 & 855-1020 [970] cal CE; δ13C: -8.3; β-143060). Ind. 92 was an adult of indeterminate sex aligned with Ind. 80. Since it was disturbed by a later event, the pelvic bones and lower extremities were missing. Two metatarsals showed signs of periostitis. To the south-east and at a slightly lower depth were found the well-preserved remains of an infant (Ind. 93) with an estimated age of 7 ± 2 yr. Wormian bones survived. Tooth dentine protein from this individual produced a date of 960 ± 70 BP (990 [1060, 1080, 1130] 1260 cal CE; δ13C: -6; β-160224). The skeleton was later disarranged and the pelvic bones and lower extremities were lost. A fragmentary primary burial of an adult (Ind. 59) lying on top of Ind. 93 had only the lower right leg and feet remaining. Individual 91 was found immediately beneath Ind. 80. The skeleton was incomplete, lacking the skull, which seems to have been re-deposited on top of a burial packet in the northern sector of the feature floor. The remains are of a very old individual with no evident pathologies. About 0.5 m to the east of Ind. 80 at a slightly higher level, a large thick stone slab was found apparently laid intentionally in the feature. In association were two groups of beads: in one group were , four beads of marine shell and in the other, a single bead of greenstone (perhaps sericite) and two made of bone. 3. Four secondary deposits of human bones that were lying against the feature walls comprised at least 10 individuals. The first group to the east contained two female individuals: Ind.62 and Ind.135. Both were incomplete and jumbled. The second group to the south contained a 40-45 yr old adult female skull (Ind. 128, as well as a large number of lower and upper extremities. The third group found to the north-east consisted of a “packet” with two individuals placed one on top of the other: Ind.84 was an adult female aged 30-35 yr. whose skull was not found. One rib appeared to have been fractured. Individual 83 was an adult male in excess of 50 yr. He possessed the Inca bone and Wormian bones. The fourth and last group contained five skulls: 1) Ind.125, a complete but poorly preserved female 35-40 yr in age, 2) Ind.126, an incomplete and highly fragmented infant, 3) Ind.136, an incomplete and fragmented adult female, 4) Ind.137, the only male in the group, also incomplete and in poor condition, and 5) Ind. 138, likewise much deteriorated, whose sex could not be determined. 4. The latest use of the feature appears to correspond to the dispersed remains of two individuals which lay on top of a compacted layer of sediments accumulated over the principal interments, which began at a depth of 3.7 m from the edge of the feature: Ind. 56, an infant in very poor condition, and Ind.61 an adult whose lower extremities were the only body parts recovered. Next to this individual, was a pottery offering and a deposit of marine shell and ash. 5. In the center of “Rasgo 4” in between the later extended burials and above inds. 56 and 61 at 2.5 m depth, was an apparent offering consisting of a red-painted neckless jar and a ration of clams (Protothaca).