Abstract

A recently discovered set of historical documents related to the cemetery in Chuquicamata's abandoned camp provides novel data regarding 2,353 cases of the local population's causes of death. We quantitatively and qualitatively analyze and characterize the mortality of the Chuquicamata copper mine and of the company town's population between 1915 and 1923, a period corresponding to the Guggenheim family administration. Furthermore, we show the correlation between the causes of death, their time frame, gender distinctions, and the working and environmental conditions within the mine and the camp. Under Guggenheim's administration, Chuquicamata's production increased, becoming the world's largest copper mine. This economic expansion was made possible by the implantation of new technological and technical systems that modified the environment and the local mining society's social relations. In addition, the camp workers and inhabitants subsidized the foreign mining project with their bodies.