Michelle E Young
Michelle E. Young currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University. She received her B.A. from the University of Virginia in the fields of Anthropology and History of Art and received her M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University. She has conducted archaeological field work, laboratory analyses, and collections-based research in the United States, Belize, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Madagascar, and she has held internships at the Museo Larco in Lima, Peru, and at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC.
Between 2014 and 2017, she directed the Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica Atalla, carrying out mapping, survey, excavation, sample collection, and laboratory analyses of materials from Atalla, Peru, in collaboration with Peruvian and international students and scholars and local workers. Her project also established a multi-year program of community outreach and education based in the town of Yauli. Her dissertation, titled The "Chavín Phenomenon" in Huancavelica, Peru: Interregional interaction, ritual practice and social transformations at Atalla", investigated the contexts in which new forms of social behavior – such as sedentary village life, long-distance exchange, superregional identity formation, and social inequality – emerged in the Andes during the early 1st millennium BC.
Since 2019 she has directed the Cinnabar Roads Project, an archaeological study of exchange routes between highland and littoral ecological zones in southern Peru. She is also currently the director of the Pre-Columbian Pigments Project, which she began at Yale and continued through a Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian from 2020-2021.
Her research has been supported by generous grant and fellowships through the National Science Foundation, Wenner Gren Foundation, Fulbright, Rust Family Foundation, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Supervisors: Richard Burger
Between 2014 and 2017, she directed the Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica Atalla, carrying out mapping, survey, excavation, sample collection, and laboratory analyses of materials from Atalla, Peru, in collaboration with Peruvian and international students and scholars and local workers. Her project also established a multi-year program of community outreach and education based in the town of Yauli. Her dissertation, titled The "Chavín Phenomenon" in Huancavelica, Peru: Interregional interaction, ritual practice and social transformations at Atalla", investigated the contexts in which new forms of social behavior – such as sedentary village life, long-distance exchange, superregional identity formation, and social inequality – emerged in the Andes during the early 1st millennium BC.
Since 2019 she has directed the Cinnabar Roads Project, an archaeological study of exchange routes between highland and littoral ecological zones in southern Peru. She is also currently the director of the Pre-Columbian Pigments Project, which she began at Yale and continued through a Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian from 2020-2021.
Her research has been supported by generous grant and fellowships through the National Science Foundation, Wenner Gren Foundation, Fulbright, Rust Family Foundation, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Supervisors: Richard Burger
less
Related Authors
InterestsView All (12)
Uploads
Papers by Michelle E Young
Al comparar mis interacciones dentro de múltiples realidades sociales en el Perú, busco demostrar cómo todas las categorías de diferencias sociales, incluyendo el género, son construidas socialmente y dependen de las circunstancias. Usando un marco teórico interseccional, comparo mi identidad social con la de las mujeres de la comunidad campesina de Villa Hermosa-Atalla y comparo como mi estatus de extranjera y el estatus de pobreza y ruralidad de las mujeres locales quechua hablantes impactaron en las interpretaciones de nuestra identidad de género de forma diferente dentro de contextos específicos. Concluyo que realmente las mujeres de Atalla y yo habitamos identidades de género diferentes, las cuales están acompañadas por conjuntos discretos de expectativas y limitaciones sociales.
Finalmente, relato mis observaciones etnográficas para expresar el determinismo biológico en la sociedad y en la política peruana. Así, exploro cómo las categorías de diferencias sociales, tales como el género, se naturalizan. Para concluir, argumento que los conocimientos de género, que están enraizados en el determinismo biológico, presentan uno de los retos actuales para la igualdad de género dentro tanto de la academia peruana como en la sociedad en general, y ofrezco algunas recomendaciones para el futuro.
certain styles and practices. This chapter investigates how the Indigenous tradition at Atalla articulates within a system of overlapping and nested exchange networks that incorporated both long-distance and regional spheres. I also introduce the concept of the Chavín International Style as a term that more accurately describes what have previously been referred to as “Chavín Horizon,” “Chavín,” “Chavínoid,” or “Janabarroide” ceramics. I argue that the Chavín International Style is a kind of visual vocabulary used in the production of specialized ceramic vessel forms used in Chavín ritual practices. This research provides a valuable perspective on how large-scale material patterns that have traditionally been understood as archaeological “horizons” are mediated through local and regional social processes.
This study was undertaken to identify pathological conditions within the population living at Atalla (1000-500 BCE), an important early village site and ritual center located in Huancavelica, Peru.
Materials
Articulated burials (N = 3) and commingled human remains excavated during the 2015 and 2016 field seasons.
Methods
Osteological remains were analyzed for macroscopic evidence of pathological changes.
Results
A case of bilateral proximal radioulnar fusion was observed in an Early Horizon (ca. 800 BCE) subadult skeleton (Individual 1). A differential diagnosis of this pathology supports congenital radioulnar synostosis (CRUS), a rare developmental condition. Enamel hypoplasia was also identified in the same individual.
Conclusions
Burial treatment of Individual 1 does not provide any indication that CRUS was afforded an exceptional social significance.
Contribution to Paleopathology
This example of CRUS is notable as it represents the second published archaeological case of CRUS from Peru and the earliest reported case globally.
Limitations of this Study
The osteological sample currently available from this site is limited.
Suggestions for Future Research
Increased fieldwork in this region is recommended to further clarify the distribution and social significance of CRUS in the prehistoric Andes.
Resumen
Objetivo
Este estudio se llevó a cabo para identificar condiciones patológicas dentro de la población antigua de Atalla (1000-500 a.C.), un sitio importante de una aldea temprana y centro ritual ubicado en Huancavelica, Perú.
Materiales
Restos humanos articulados (N = 3) y mezclados excavados durante las temporadas de campo 2015 y 2016.
Métodos
Se analizaron los restos osteológicos en búsqueda de evidencia macroscópica de cambios patológicos.
Resultados
Se observó un caso de fusión radiocubital proximal bilateral en un esqueleto sub-adulto del Horizonte Temprano (ca. 800 a.C.). Un diagnóstico diferencial de esta patología respalda la sinostosis radiocubital congénita (CRUS), una condición de desarrollo rara. La hipoplasia del esmalte también se identificó en el mismo individuo.
Conclusiones
El tratamiento del entierro del Individuo 1 no proporciona indicación alguna de que CRUS haya tenido un relevancia social excepcional.
Importancia
Este ejemplo de CRUS es notable ya que representa el segundo caso arqueológico publicado de esta anomalía congénita registrada en todo el Perú y por ser el caso más temprano reportado a nivel mundial.
Limitaciones de este estudio
La muestra osteológica actualmente disponible en este sitio es limitada.
Sugerencias para futuras investigaciones
Se recomienda investigaciones adicionales en esta región para aclarar aún más la distribución y la importancia social de CRUS en los Andes prehistóricos.
FROM THE MOUNTAIN TO THE SEA: EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE SOUTH-CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND THE SOUTH COAST DURING THE EARLY HORIZON PERIOD
Abstract: This article reviews the evidence of the exchange of obsidian and cinnabar, highly coveted resources that traveled in prehistoric Peru from the south-central highlands to the Paracas culture area. The evidence for exchange of these materials is compared with evidence of cultural exchange between the coast and the south-central highlands, focusing on ceramic materials uncovered from excavations at the archaeological site Atalla, located in the region of Huancavelica, Peru. The article argues that the south-central highlands were integral to the obsidian and cinnabar exchange networks of the south coast. In particular, the site of Atalla, a regional ceremonial center connected to the Early Horizon interaction networks, was connected economically to the south coast and participated in the regional interaction sphere of the south-central highlands, but also maintained very strong cultural connections with the center of Chavín de Huántar. It is also suggested that the nature of the interactions between the Paracas society and those of the south-central highlands varied depending on the region; the interaction between Paracas and Atalla seems to have concentrated mainly on economic and non-cultural exchange, whereas sites such as Campanayuq Rumi from the Ayacucho region demonstrate evidence of Paracas cultural influence. Some possible mechanisms which might explain the observed variability in exchange patterns are explored.
Drafts by Michelle E Young