Endemic violence in a pre‐Hispanic Andean community: A bioarchaeological study of cranial trauma from the Majes Valley, Peru

Abstract

The rate, intensity, and locational patterns of cranial trauma suggests the community was engaged in raids and/or war with enemy groups, some of which may have increased physical violence between community members. Engaging in violence was likely a prerequisite for burial in the elite sector and was bound up with the generation and maintenance of social status differences linked to male social life.