Abstract

Excavations at Patapatane Cave in the Arica highlands, in the South Central Andes, exposed a burial dated at B.P. 5,910±90 years, corresponding to the Late Archaic Period (ca. B.P. 6,000-3,500). The individual, a 20-23 year-old female, shows signs of perimortem bone modification before inhumation. Can this be interpreted as the consequence of cultural action or the effect of post-depositional alteration by human or natural events? In this paper, we postulate that the Patapatane burial belongs to an early and widely distributed cultural tradition. They share as a common trait, the drastic manipulation of the corpses as part of a mortuary ritual prior to inhumation. The Patapatane burial, as in many South American burials, does not seem to be the result of simple post-depositional alteration.© 2007 Universidad de Tarapacá.