Incidence and distribution of postcranial fractures in the prehistoric population of San Pedro de Atacama, northern Chile

Trauma incidence analysis in skeletal populations has been very popular amo ng skeletal biologists during the last two decades, In this context, the wo rk of Lovejoy and Heiple ([1981] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 55:529-541) has be en quoted as a landmark because their analysis rested on a populational app roach, avoiding simple assumptions about cause and etiology. In this study, we apply to the prehistoric population of San Pedro de Atacama, northern C hile, an approach similar to that carried out by Lovejoy and Heiple (1981). The results obtained point to a peak of risk of fractures among old people , estimated age around 45 years. The distribution of fractures by sex and a ge suggests that the prevailing etiology is related to accidents and not vi olence. When the frequencies of fractures are compared, the Libben populati on shows a much higher incidence than the Atacamenean population It is sugg ested that this difference can be explained by peculiarities of the subsist ence economies of the two populations. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.