Sexuality in Indigenous societies of the Americas, prior to colonization by European powers, was characterized by an interplay between heterosexual reproductive sexuality (especially valued in hierarchical states) and forms of desire that extended beyond heterosexuality. Visual representations of sexual bodies from pre-colonial societies demonstrate that sexuality was emergent with age, with sexual difference most marked in young adulthood. Some representations suggest sexual relations between people occupying the same sexual status, or with people who may have been recognized as non-binary, third genders comparable to contemporary two-spirits. Diversity in sexual practices was rooted in ontologies that in well-studied cases converge on understandings of sexuality as non-binary, fluid, and emergent in practice. Previous understanding of visual sources that illustrate sex acts initially characterized as non-reproductive, such as anal penetration and oral sex, have changed as a result. Now scholars suggest a division between reproductive and non-reproductive sex ignores ontologies in which intergenerational reproduction was promoted by the circulation of bodily substances through sexuality not limited to heterosexual penetration. Critique of early colonial texts which imposed gender normativity on these societies and condemned actions that scholars can now see were acceptable has resulted from such new analyses.

When we consider intestinal parasites, early societies to the east of the Andes were mainly infected by hookworm, whipworm, and to a lesser degree roundworm, thorny-headed worm, and Echinostoma. In contrast, to the west of the Andes fish tapeworm and pinworm were the dominant intestinal parasites, with lower levels of hookworm, dwarf tapeworm, and roundworm. This variation between cultures on either side of the Andes may indicate different approaches to sanitation, as well as the contrasting climate with high rainfall in the east and arid climate to the west. Head lice were found in 60–80% of mummies from Pacific coast societies such as the Chinchorro. Chagas’ disease, spread by the bite of bed bugs, affected 40–50% of Pacific coast civilizations including the Chiribaya and Inca. This causes a slow death from heart failure and intestinal failure. Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis spread by sandfly bites was also endemic in civilizations along the Pacific coast, causing ulcerating destruction of the face.

Less glamorous than pottery or architecture, adobe bricks belong to that “Cinderella” class of material culture which archaeologists often ignore. Bricks and their makers’ marks deserve more attention as they can give us invaluable information on the organization and administration of labor. This chapter examines adobe construction and makers’ marks in the Andes, with examples from the ethnographic present and the archaeological past. The author's research on adobe bricks and makers’ marks allows for a theoretical foray into the co-development of labor administration, accounting, and evasion. The chapter argues that the growth of bureaucratic and accounting technology can be modeled as an escalating arms race between tribute payers, local leaders, mid- to high-level administrators, and the uppermost echelon of the state, the royal house. Tracking the evolution of makers’ marks and state accounting unfolds the longue durée of cat-and-mouse mind games played by those who want to capture labor versus those who wish to contribute as little public work as possible.