Fishermen population structure of the Formative and Archaic periods of Arica

Abstract

Fishermen population structure of the Formative and Archaic periods of Arica. This work studies the evolution and participation of the archaic population from the northern coast of Chile, in the configuration of Formative Period groups. The sample is composed of 143 individuals corresponding to three coastal series, two Archaic (Morro-Uhle and Morro 1-1/6) and one Formative (Playa Miller-7 [Plm-7]) series. A total of 29 metric variables of the cranium was used. Biological variability was assessed using discriminant analysis and Mahalanobis' distance (D²). Population structure was inferred using a method based on quantitative genetic theory that predicts a lineal relationship between average within-group phenotypic variance and group distance to the population mean (centroid). The three samples studied pro ved to be different from a morphologic point of view. The greatest distance was observed between Plm-7 (coast Formative) and Morro-Uhle , the low between Morro-Uhle and Morro 1-1/6. Regarding the total population, the most divergent group was Plm- 7 and the least divergen! was Morro 1-1/6. A gradual biologic change is observed between Archaic (Morro Uhle and Morro 1-1/6) and coast Formative populations (Plm-7). Morro 1-1/6 and Morro Uhle are the most representative samples of the biologic variability of the total population. This evidence constitutes a relevant proof of the participation of Archaic fishermen in the origin of the Formative population of the northern coast of Chile, though such explanation does not disregard a genetic contribution from other regions of the Southern Central Area.