Human skeletal remains from the Pacopampa site in the northern highlands of Peru

The Pacopampa site, located in the northern highlands of Peru, is an archeological site belonging to the Formative Period (2500 BC–0 AD). The purposes of this study are to observe and describe the human skeletal remains from the Pacopampa site, to estimate the sex and age-at-death of each individual, and finally to diagnose morphological traits and skeletal disorders. The materials used here are 498 human skeleton parts. The sample comprises at least 18 individuals: eight subadult skeletons, eight adult skeletons, one skeleton aged 10–39 years, and one of unknown age. The age distribution (six of eight subadults were less than one year) suggests a high proportion of infants in the population. The sexual ratio of three adult males to four adult females indicates a skeletal population with hardly any sexual bias. A paleopathological examination revealed that the percentage of permanent teeth affected by dental caries was 9% (18/192). Two elderly females exhibit periodontal disease in both the maxillae and mandibles. This is the first study to examine the lives and deaths of a Formative Period population from the perspective of bioarcheology.