Tracking shifts in coca use in the Moche Valley: analysis of oral health indicators and dental calculus microfossils

Abstract

In this article we explore the use of coca in the Moche Valley of north costal Perú during the Early Intermediate Period. To do so we examined the dental remains of 173 residents of Cerro Oreja. These remains date to the Salinar and Gallinazo phases and thus provide us with a picture of coca use before the emergence of the Southern Moche state. We find that patterns of oral health and micro-plant remains recovered from dental calculus suggest shifting use of coca during this period. These data suggest that coca was an important resource in the emergence of social inequality in the Moche Valley.