Good, Bad, or Indifferent?

Abstract

Non-normative burials are comparatively understudied for the Andean area as a whole and are almost completely unknown for the Bolivian Formative period (1300 BC–AD 200). The current research discusses a unique case from the site of Aranjuez-Santa Lucía, where an adolescent was recovered with their finger inserted anally/vaginally, in a highly ambiguous archaeological context comprised of industrial waste, yet also containing other, conventional burials and pars pro toto offerings of considerable value. It is therefore impossible to assume the burial’s somewhat unorthodox position to be purely a sign of social censure for the deceased’s modus vivendi or moriendi. Various hypotheses and comparatives are offered, with particular emphasis on demographic factors. This case study complements others in the current volume in emphasizing the depth and complexity of lifeways and deathways, and further underscores the fact that a solely negative sense of “deviant” burial must necessarily be a simplistic one.