Incan Bones

In June, I will examine water quality in a glacial melt stream and a non-glacial melt stream that converge to feed the Rio Santos, Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Dr. Bryan Mark has already examined the oxygen isotopic signal of these streams and found that during the summer melt season ~ 40% of the Rio Santos is glacial melt. The long term hydrograph suggests these contributions shift in response to climate, I hope to understand how the water quality shifts....compounding the issue, there is a nearby gold mine that may release metals into the stream(s)....this takes my hypothesizing back to Incan times when people were forced into hard labor in mines to meet the empires growing lust for silver. Did some of the Incans allegedly killed by old world disease actually die of metal poisoning?... not just those working in the mines, but those living downstream of deadly tailings...

I just need some Incan bones...