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Osteological Interpretations of Pre Columbian South America




Evidence for Foot Amputations by the Moche
 The Moche culture was situated along the coast of Northern Peru. They are well known for their artistic expressions through mediums such as ceramics and metalworks, since there is no written record among the Moche. These artworks depicted great legends as well as every day activities including weaving, metal working, war, sexual acts, and even human portraits. The pottery also depicts individuals with missing feet and one with a prosthetic cup. These images were based on real individuals who have had their foot/feet amputated.

Three cases of foot amputations were written about by [|J.W. Verano et al.] The remains in case were found in Mocollope and El Brujo which are in the valley of the Chicama River. Each of the three skeletal remains has evidence of at least one foot amputation. The absence of a foot affects the skeletal system in an identifiable way. After amputation, the lower limbs have an osseous reaction. The individual's ankle joints react to the pressure of body weight by creating more bone on the end of the tibia. A question can arise that perhaps the individuals were born without a foot as a form of a birth defect. However, there has never been any evidence of such a defect being inherited. If the individual //was// born with a defect, then the lower limbs, the tibia and fibia, would be apparently deformed. The skeletal remains do not exhibit unusual alterations and it was concluded that the individual was born with foot bones and later lost them via amputation.

The reason for amputating the feet forces us to reexamine the Moche pottery. In the art depicted with amputees, they are mostly males.This may suggest that perhaps only men received an amputation. However, one of the skeletal remains in the study by Verano is in fact a female. Thus, the Moche performed amputations on both sexes. The art also shows that those who received amputations were not of noble rank as they were not wearing any identifiers such as ear spools or ornate clothing. A hypothesis for amputation has been made that it is a form of ritual mutilation and that they individuals are sevants to higher ranking men.

This evidence indicates that the Moche were not only performing amputations of the feet, but they were surviving such dramatic surgery. Moche art also depicts upper limb amputation, but there has not been any evidence found as of yet. The amputation of feet seem like a mystery as they slowly disappeared. When the Spanish came to the Americas, they did not discuss any amputations and archaeologists have not found any skeletal remains with this evidence.

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