Description
The Chumash are a Native American group who until a few hundred years ago were the exclusive occupants of the southern California coast between present day Point Conception and Malibu. The body of knowledge about the Chumash, although great, can be expanded through the bioarchaeological contributions of the study of skeletal tissue. The human skeleton is a malleable tissue, which often reacts to various stressors in a systematic and discernable way. By studying markers left in skeletal tissue, bioarchaeologists can postulate about the presence of violence, types of diet, lifespan, and the prevalence of chronic illness within a given population, which can in turn aid in deducing environmental conditions. This study has aimed to expand the body of knowledge that exists about the Chumash before Spanish contact through the skeletal analysis of prehistoric remains. To gain a more holistic understanding of how the Chumash lived, this project focused on the skeletal analysis of a group of individuals known as the Purisimeño, recovered seventy-five years ago at Point Sal California, an area now occupied by Vandenberg Air Force Base. By identifying skeletal anomalies such as certain pathologies this thesis was able to provide a better understanding in the overall population health and past environmental conditions of prehistoric Chumash.
