Health and cultural alterations during the inca age: an approach through the work of Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala

Abstract

The objective of the research was to identify the references and illus trations of the diseases or bodily morphological alterations present during the Inca era described in the work of First New Chronicle and Good Government by Guamán Poma de Ayala. For this, only the first part (Nueva Corónica) was reviewed, which corresponds to the Andean past before the arrival of the Spanish. The document analyzed was the edition published by the Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho in 1980 and edited by Franklin Pease. Product of the analysis that was prepared to establish that, associated with health, there are once ailments: dwarfs, hunched over, four fingers and toes, cleft nose and mouth, skin diseases, white eyes, broken ears, obesity, cripple, mute, one-armed and lame. In the same way, with respect to cultural alterations, three types were identified: one-eyed and blind, intentional cephalic modeling and bone modification due to occupational activity. The registered cases were associated with genetic causes, interpersonal violence, cultural patterns and environmental factors.