Investigations of human remains from the Inca cemetery
of
Puruchuco-Huaquerones have revealed evidence of coca leaf chewing and
the
presence of coca and coca paraphenalia. Research in biological
anthropology, paleopathology, archaeology, and ethnohistory has indicated
that coca chewing has a long tradition in the Andean region.
On the basis
of ethnohistorical documents and ceramic iconography, some scholars
argue
that coca leaf chewing was reserved for the Inca elite and for ritualistic
purposes. However, other Inca scholars counter that coca chewing
was not
restricted to the elites and that all of the inhabitants of the Inca
realm
had access to coca leaves. Dental evidence from this study indicates
that
not all of the inhabitants of Puruchuco-Huaquerones show evidence of
coca
leaf chewing. This evidence gives some credence to the limited
availability
of coca leaf chewing for residents of the central coast of Peru during
Inca
rule.
Melissa Murphy is currently writing her doctoral
dissertation in
biological anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.
She received
her B.A. from Haverford College. Her current research concentrates
on the
health, disease, and demography of the human remains from the cemetery
of
Puruchuco-Huaquerones and how the sociopolitical organization of the
Inca
may have impacted the health of subjects of the Inca Empire interred
at the
cemetery. She has also participated in field projects at Huaca
de la Luna,
El Brujo and Huaca Prieta in Peru and Paleolithic sites in Israel and
France.