Symbolic bones and interethnic violence in a frontier zone, northwest , ca. 500–900 C.E.

Ben A. Nelsona,1 and Debra L. Martinb

aSchool of Human Evolution and Social Change, State University, Tempe, AZ 85284-2402; and bDepartment of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-5003

Edited by Linda R. Manzanilla, Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México, Mexico D.F., Mexico, and approved April 10, 2015 (received for review November 21, 2014) Although extensive deposits of disarticulated, commingled human Mortuary patterns similar to those of La Quemada occur at bones are common in the prehispanic Northern Frontier of Meso- other contemporaneous regional centers, although detailed dis- america, detailed bioarchaeological analyses of them are not. To our cussions of taphonomy are lacking for most (24). At Alta Vista, knowledge, this article provides the first such analysis of bone from a masses of disarticulated bone rested in several structures (25), full residential-ceremonial complex and evaluates multiple hypothe- and groups of skulls and long bones hung in the Temple of the ses about its significance, concluding that the bones actively repre- Skulls (26). At Cerro del Huistle, skulls hung outdoors on racks sented interethnic violence as well as other relationships among in the main plaza (27). Mortuary practices at La Quemada dif- persons living and dead. Description of these practices is important to fered from those at smaller surrounding sites, where most burials the discussion of multiethnic societies because the frontier was a were subfloor inhumations in articulated position. context where urbanism and complexity were emerging and groups La Quemada was the centerpiece of a landscape made up of with the potential to form multiethnic societies were interacting, roads, villages, hamlets, shrines, irrigation canals, agricultural possibly in the same ways that groups did before the formation of terraces, and natural landforms. Based on analogies with the larger multiethnic city-statesinthecoreofMesoamerica. Wixárika (Huichol), architecture and landforms were scenes of pilgrimages, dances, and processions that focused on ancestor interethnic conflict | social violence | human bone taphonomy | veneration (28, 29), practices in which we suggest human bone archaeology | Mesoamerica played an active role. he Epiclassic period (600–900 C.E.) was a time of rapid social In and Out of Doors Tand demographic change throughout Mesoamerica that be- Terrace 18 (Fig. 2) was a temple location, residential complex, gan with the collapse of the massive city of Teotihuacan (1–3). and outdoor arena. Activities would have approximated those in Styles of architecture, costume, and iconography merged across the modern Wixárika tukipa, a term that encompasses a temple, old boundaries. New, smaller-scale polities formed in an expanding houses, and shrines surrounding a patio (30). Wixárika cere- Northern Frontier (Fig. 1), including La Quemada (4). Whether or monial officials and their families stay in the houses during feast not the legendary migrants of the Teotihuacan diaspora actually periods. Terrace 18 had five houses, surrounding Patios B, C, D, reached the Northern Frontier (5), the character of this region E, and F. Tukipas also include small house-like shrines that were changed dramatically during the Epiclassic. paralleled by small structures on Platforms 1–4. Two formal Sixteenth century accounts characterize the Northern Frontier tombs were found, in Patio Groups B and D. Outdoor spaces region as multiethnic (6). These ethnic divisions must be very included the causeway, patios and walkways, and middens. old; historical linguists date language fission at approximately 4,500–6,000 y B.P. (7, 8). The regions’ peoples spoke ∼30 languages Significance (9); the relation between any pair of regional centers probably was interethnic. The formation of the Purépecha (Tarascan) state ∼1300 C.E. involved numerous instances of interethnic conflict and the Persistent interethnic violence has affected some global re- suppression of former ethnic identities (10). That state, centered on gions for centuries. Recent research reveals that major out- Tzintzuntzan, was three- to seven-times larger than La Quemada breaks are often prevented or limited by creative social action. – In the prehispanic Northern Frontier of Mesoamerica, approx- (11 13). Still, such smaller polities could not have avoided in- – terethnic external relations. imately 500 900 C.E., people of different ethnic backgrounds Two prominent characteristics of La Quemada suggest social struggled for standing in a shifting sociopolitical landscape. violence: defensible architecture and extensive deposits of hu- Evidence is consistent with long-term social violence, but also with the use of the dead to communicate a range of symbolic man skeletal material. The builders augmented natural cliffs with messages. Complex arrays of human skeletal material com- thick enclosing walls; they placed buildings on terraces with steep memorated past physical conflicts, possibly discouraging their walls and narrow access from below, disadvantaging attackers. repetition, while also connecting the living symbolically with a Cross-culturally, such architecture may defend ritually important metaphysical realm inhabited by ancestors and deities. This places as well as residents (14). article highlights the postmortem agency of the dead and il- Human bone is a powerful material that the living manipulate lustrates their roles in structuring social relations. in many ways (15, 16). Previously described human remains at

La Quemada included an immense deposit of disarticulated Author contributions: B.A.N. and D.L.M. designed research, performed research, analyzed bone in the Hall of Columns (17) and another massive dis- data, and wrote the paper. articulated bone assemblage at the foot of a small pyramid (18, The authors declare no conflict of interest. 19). Individual inhumations were beneath the floor of the main This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. ball court (20) and in a pyramid (21). Previous analyses ques- Data deposition: The data reported in this paper have been deposited in the Digital tioned whether residents kept human bones in La Quemada’s Archaeological Record database, www.tdar.org (tDAR ID 1266). living spaces in veneration of ancestors, to represent violent 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]. encounters with enemies, or both (22, 23). The present study This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. resolves this question. 1073/pnas.1422337112/-/DCSupplemental.

9196–9201 | PNAS | July 28, 2015 | vol. 112 | no. 30 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1422337112 Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 SPECIAL FEATURE ANTHROPOLOGY

Fig. 1. Sites and areas mentioned in text. Shaded portion is Northern Frontier region. Sites: 1, La Quemada; 2, Teotihuacan; 3, Tzintzuntzan; 4, Alta Vista; 5, Cerro del Huistle; 6, Tingambato; 7, Cumupa. Areas: a, Atemajac Valley; b, Wixárika; c, Caxcan; d, Acaxee.

Passersby would have seen bone suspended in front of the to 14.6 mm. All of the cutmarks were V-shaped, and their direc- temple. Occupants probably used the main patio for dances, ball tion indicated that the goals were dismembering and defleshing. games, and human sacrifice. Trash Middens 1 and 7 were directly However, the shallowness of the cutmarks suggests that these associated with Terrace 18, and Midden 6 was nearby on a spur activities occurred after the bodies were already either desiccated of the causeway. After abandonment, decomposition of buildings or partially skeletonized (31). exposed the bones to puddling and erosion. In AU 43 the long bones were partially broken, but all in- Bones Indoors dications suggest that these bones were whole when placed in the temple. Most of the breakage on the bone ends was recent and The temple (Room 1) contained a cache of manos (grinding many of the bones had partial proximal or distal ends intact. stones), a large cooking pot, several mirror stones, and an in- Cutmarks on the cranial pieces were shallow and likely made cense burner that was suspended from the ceiling or in a wall with bifacially flaked stone tools or retouched opportunistic niche. Three bone concentrations rested directly on the floor and blades (31). AU 44 had the fewest bones, all from the upper evidently had been in bundles suspended from the ceiling, body, primarily arms. In AU 45, a larger cluster, all elements probably wrapped in organic material, and fell when the wrap- were represented except for hands, feet, and vertebrae. There ping or cord disintegrated. Two, analytical units (AUs) 43 and was a great deal of breakage, exfoliation, and water destruction 44, were intact and the other, AU 45, seemed to be rearranged of all bone surfaces. A few had perimortem spiral fractures. by water movement across the floor. The bone in the temple is described elsewhere (22), but new analysis of the breakage pat- Cutmarks near the proximal and distal ends of several of the long terns, cutmarks, and modification provides additional information bones also pointed to defleshing. (Table 1 and Table S1). The bones exhibited water damage, root The skeletal material in the Temple represented all age groups etching, exfoliation, and much recent breakage. Some bones and both sexes. The majority of the bones were unmodified long exhibited cutmarks and spiral fractures that may have occurred bones with ample evidence of cutmarks. However, the place- upon disarticulation from the body (Fig. S1). The majority of the ment, width, and depth of the cutmarks imply processing when proximal and distal parts of the long bones were still present; some the bodies were already desiccated or partially skeletonized. The femora were complete. Of the 130 fully analyzable bones, ∼20% deposits could represent three distinct episodes of bone cleaning had cutmarks, mainly on the cranium, femur, fibula, and humerus. for hanging or display; in that case they constitute a minimum of A total of 67 cutmarks on cranial fragments were analyzed for 14 individuals: 10 adults (two males, four females, and four un- shape (86% were V-shaped) and length (1.8 mm to 28.3 mm). knowns) and 4 children (an infant and three juveniles). Alter- On the long bones, almost all of the cutmarks were near the natively, the three deposits may be part of a single preparatory distal or proximal ends. Long bones generally had multiple cut- process, in which case the minimum number of individuals is marks (10 bones had 171 cutmarks), ranging in length from 0.6 mm reduced (because of age and sex overlap) to eight individuals

Nelson and Martin PNAS | July 28, 2015 | vol. 112 | no. 30 | 9197 Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 Midden 7

Midden 2

Fig. 2. Bone deposits on Terrace 18 of La Quemada.

comprised of five adults (two males and three females) and three Someone had looted the grave or the inhabitants had removed children (aged 2–12 y). the bone to take it elsewhere. Contents included a pegged fig- Given either scenario, this bone exhibition could represent urine that may have adorned a staff or baton of office. The figure the sequential deposition of community members as they died. was carved in a soft green stone and depicted a human head To address the contrasting possibility that the individuals were emerging from the mouth of a coyote, probably representing a defeated enemies, future isotopic or DNA analyses may help shaman or warrior. determine succession, relatedness, and birthplace. Currently we The second tomb, an individual interment in a substructural reject the foe explanation for two reasons. First, it is incongruent chamber (AU 166), was beneath the east end of Patio Group D. with the indoor-outdoor differences in bone modification iden- The chamber was faced with cut stone; it contained several broken, tified here, indoor bone being modified postmortem and less incomplete, decorated pots and 11 polished mirror stones. The destructively. Second, keeping enemy bodies in a temple would be tomb cut through Patio D, implying a late place in the construction inconsistent with practices in descendant Cora and Wixárika com- sequence of the terrace. The femur of this very large and robust munities, where temples are places of ancestor worship and bundled male bore cutmarks and perimortem fractures. The bone appeared bones of venerated ancestors were kept in temples as recently as the to have been hollowed out by reaming. The cranial fragments were 17th and 18th centuries (29, 32), the latter in a traditional handmade all from one individual and were partially refitted; these had cut- seat called an equipal. In the Wixárika community of Keuruwit+a marks distributed across the parietal and occipital bones. There (Las Latas), B.A.N. asked why miniature equipals were suspended was a large perimortem trauma on the occipital with multiple fine from the ceiling of the temple; a community member answered, striations (Fig. S2), suggestive of White’s percussion striae (33). “They are the ancestors.” We suggest that this custom echoes the The individual was over the age of 50, possibly a warrior who was inferred ancient practice of suspending ancestral remains. killed by blunt force trauma applied to the back of the head. The A 1.2 × 1.2-m cobble-lined tomb (AU 101) was found beneath cutmarks on the cranium were not diagnostic of a particular mo- a wall in Patio Group B; only one bone fragment remained. tivation, but scalping, defleshing, or removal of facial/ear tissues as

9198 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1422337112 Nelson and Martin Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 Table 1. Bone summary by analytical unit 8 mm. The margins of the hole were even, with a slight beveling SPECIAL FEATURE AU inward in the cranial walls. A second cranium composed of a frontal bone with parts of the left and right parietal bones attached also Variable 43 44 45 166 74A 74B 74C 74D 87 88 111 67 had an identically shaped hole, 10 × 10 mm. The completely fused sutures may indicate an adult over the age of 50. This frontal MNI 6 2 6 1 5 1 3 2 7 1 1 3 bone had two distinctive cutmarks along the left side of the temple. Adult 3 5 1 5 1 3 2 7 1 1 3 The long bones appeared to have been manually reduced to ap- Male 3 5 1 5 1 3 2 7 1 1 3 proximately the same size. Female 1 3 2 Each house included a sunken patio (tragaluz) of approxi- Subadult 3 1 mately 2 × 2 m. In Patio B (AU 111) were 73 very poorly pre- Burning N N N N N N Y Y N Y served human bone fragments that apparently hung from a Perimortem Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y portico over the walkway. All of the bone was concentrated along Cutmarks Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y the west edge of the patio; had it been on a wall, it would have MNI, minimum number of individuals; N, no; Y, yes. fallen at the base of the wall as happened on the walkway in front of the temple (AU 87). Four relatively large cranial fragments were clearly from adults. The fragmentary and splintered shafts trophies may explain them. The breakage on the ends of the long of all of the major long bones were represented, but the state of bones, with some cutmarks, could also be from defleshing and preservation did not permit analysis of breakage patterns. All of reduction as part of a sacrifice ritual or for marrow extraction. the postcranial material appeared to be from adults. The long Bones Outdoors bones consisted of shafts; virtually no long bone ends were present. No minimum number of individuals beyond at least one The main patio, 26 × 36 m, was delineated by raised banquettes; individual can be assessed. at the center was a small ball court. Human remains were dis- Several mandibles rested on a stairway that led downward played or deposited in the patio, on the front wall of the temple, from Platform 4 to Platform 3 (AU 67). The mandibles had and on the adjacent walkway on the west banquette. In contrast perimortem breaks, including adherent flakes and dental abla- to the bones kept indoors, those that were kept outdoors had a tion (teeth broken off in one case), and portions were burned strong tendency to exhibit deep, wide, V-shaped cutmarks (Fig. 3 black, indicating high heat and fresh bone (Fig. S5).

and Fig. S3), indicative of perimortem processing (31). Ten of 25 known middens were excavated, including two as- ANTHROPOLOGY The most prominent outdoor display was a presumed skull sociated with Terrace 18, Middens 1 and 7. Nearby is Midden 6, rack (tzompantli) along the west wall of main patio. Four con- also discussed here. Midden 1 contained over 300 pieces of centrations of human bones fell along the West Banquette human bone, mostly fragmentary pieces of the ends of long Walkway at the edge of Patio A (AUs 74 A–D). These bones bones, ribs, hands, feet, and bone splinters. Many of these bones came to rest on or just above the patio floor and appeared to were burned to a dark and blackened state. Most of the bone have been suspended from above the edge of the patio walkway. appeared to be from adults. Cutmarks (10%), spiral fractures Unlike the temple, the deposit included only skulls and long (80%), and burning (20%) suggest that these human remains bones. AU 74D was associated with tangible evidence of a rack; resulted from ritual production of modified bone not found here four courses of fallen cobbles in the patio marked a freestanding (long bones and crania). These elements may represent the ini- feature about 1-m wide. The bones were resting underneath the tial preparation of human remains for display, trophies, or for fallen cobbles, implying that they had hung on the side facing the cooking and consumption. main patio. We infer that the feature had a rock base and Midden 7 lay at the base of the terrace, behind the temple and wooden superstructure, and that before it collapsed the bones its associated Patio Group B, and adjacent to a cardinal entrance fell at its base. The pattern of bones along the edge of the Patio to the site. Wixárika pilgrims returning from treks spend time at A is isomorphic to that in Plaza A at nearby Cerro del Huistle, such entrance points, feasting with those who receive them back where the better preserved skulls exhibited drilling (27). into the community. Midden 7 also was associated with the Beginning at the northern end of the western wall of Patio A, AU 74A consisted of fragmentary adult long bone shafts with postmortem damage and erosion of all bone surfaces. The bones appeared to have been purposefully modified so that only the shafts of each arm and leg bone remained. This treatment could have aided their drying if they were suspended. If primarily a display, it was constructed largely of arm and leg bones from five adults, of which three (based on dimorphic features) may be males. AU 74B included highly fragmentary and exfoliated long bones and cranial fragments. One humerus shaft had perimortem equi- distant excisions on the lateral and medial sides, corresponding to musical instruments known as raspers (34). The bone deposit midway along the patio wall (AU 74C) was comprised of poorly preserved long bone shafts very similar to those in AU 74A. The southernmost bone deposit consisted of adult, probably male, long bone shafts (AU 74D). Two drilled crania were included in the human remains that apparently hung from the front wall of the Temple (AU 87), par- alleling those along the patio edge 3-m away. The only complete specimen was very fragile and exfoliated (Fig. 4). The cranium was fully adult but quite small and delicate with no discernable brow ridge or occipital margins, suggesting a female. At the top of the Fig. 3. Deep cutmarks on the right proximal femoral neck region circling cranium, along the sagittal suture, was a drilled circular hole, 8 × the head of the femur (AU 45).

Nelson and Martin PNAS | July 28, 2015 | vol. 112 | no. 30 | 9199 Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 Nonhuman site formation processes were also at work over time, producing taphonomic forces that greatly affected the character and quantity of the human remains. These included carnivore gnawing, weathering, building collapse, water transport, and de- composition by physical and chemical forces present in the sedi- ments and construction materials into which some human bone became incorporated after abandonment. It is important to em- phasize that the skeletal remains described here are not typical of the whole population of the Malpaso Valley; occupants made ordinary subfloor inhumations in the surrounding villages (35). Within the context analyzed here, archaeological and osteo- logical analyses point to six different cultural contexts of use. First, three clusters of human remains in the temple represent all ages and adult males and females. These are primarily whole long bones with shallow cutmarks, suggesting defleshing after some period of postmortem desiccation and decay. This arrange- ment suggests ancestor veneration. Second, Patio B contained bone fragments with cutmarks, bone splinters, and burning. This area was likely a place for public feasting and anthropophagy. The Patio B bones had pot polishing and other characteristics consis- tent with cannibalism. Third, the walkway in front of the temple contained processed long bones and drilled crania, which suggests the public display, possibly of defeated enemies, hanging on the outside wall of the temple and on freestanding racks. Fourth, Midden 1 includes a great variety of small bone elements with some burning and processing, which may represent bones not used and discarded after processing. Fifth, Midden 7 represents bones with spiral fractures and cutmarks. This may be bone discard from creating the display along the West Banquette or Fig. 4. Skull perforated at apex for suspension (AU 87). within the Temple. Finally, rare individual inhumations were placed in tombs. Two basic pathways of treatment ultimately corresponded to temple. Because of these associations, Midden 7 materials may bones kept indoors or outdoors. Bones were kept indoors in the have had significance more public than private. temple and in tombs. In the temple, sets of bone elements were Midden 7 (AU 301) contained long bone fragments, almost all wrapped in bundles and suspended from the ceiling, whereas in of which (85%) showed spiral fractures and cutmarks (15%). the subfloor tombs individuals were inhumed. It is possible that There were also signs of perimortem processing, including chop these two kinds of treatment were stages in a single, long-term marks and percussion pits. Cutmarks included V-shaped cuts processing program. Indoor bone had very little perimortem along the ends of long bones, and on rib and cranial fragments. modification other than cutmarks. Subsequently and probably The distribution and morphology of the cutmarks is consistent after the site’s abandonment, the bones kept hanging in the temple with dismembering (bone-from-bone). A right femur had cut- were gnawed by carnivores. marks and carnivore gnawing on the ends, and it was excep- The residents treated outdoor bone differently. The bones in tionally well preserved. There were cutmarks along the shaft, and such deliberately dramatic displays had far more frequent and carnivore gnawing removed the proximal and distal ends. This varied perimortem and postmortem modification. The occupants bone (Fig. S4) appears to have been a trophy bone that was handled suspended skulls and long bones from a rack on the western edge over many years, eventually reaching the midden, possibly as part of of Patio A, from the adjacent front wall of the temple near its colluvium from the disintegrating buildings above. The selective entrance, and from a roof above the walkway in Patio B. They human remains found in this midden are very different from those also kept a set of mandibles either on the staircase near Platform of Midden 1 because these include a more narrow range of ele- 3 or in a structure on that platform. Finally, the occupants dis- ments (mostly long bones). Perhaps this was the final resting place carded unwanted bone in middens, apparently after culling it for bones used in ritual or ceremonial activities. from skeletons that were processed on the terrace. Midden 6 accumulated at the base of a shrine platform situ- The above analysis answers a question raised by the initial ated at the end of a spur off the causeway. We suspect that this study of only the remains around the temple (22): were the hu- shrine was an offering location for people arriving at the western man bones of Terrace 18 those of ancestors or enemies? The cardinal entrance of La Quemada. Human remains recovered present study concludes, “both.” The residents of La Quemada from Midden 6 include 12 fragments of bone representing long treated the bones as animated, powerful objects, constituting two bone fragments, as well as cranial, hand, and rib pieces, all too basic categories of social persons: ancestors and adversaries. small for analysis. However, most of the bones show spiral Ethnohistory attests to similar bone treatment among the fractures and other signs of processing, including adherent flakes ethnically diverse groups inhabiting the Northern Frontier at the and crushing. time of European contact. Indigenous violence was endemic and included “extended killing,” i.e., disarticulating enemies’ bodies Conclusions and further treatments. For example, the Caxcan people made In the multiethnic Northern Mesoamerican Frontier, human bone trophies and war implements from them (36), the Acaxee con- was prominent in living spaces of ceremonial centers. Residents sumed their cooked flesh (37), Cumupa residents hung the bones handled and processed human bone extensively. Their actions of defeated enemies outdoors (38), and Purépecha leaders included killing, disarticulating, dismembering, defleshing, burn- passed the bones of defeated enemies among cooperating elite ing, drilling, bundling, suspending, displaying, and discarding. (10). Thus, contextualized regionally and ethnohistorically, the

9200 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1422337112 Nelson and Martin Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 ancient practices documented here form part of a widespread the bones. It describes the physical evidence (such as cutmarks, breakage, pattern of persistent interethnic violence. reduction, and burning) as well as depositional context. Each bone is coded SPECIAL FEATURE Findings here are also consistent with enemy skeletal displays for the presence or absence of spiral fractures, internal vault release, scar- being symbolically important as mnemonic devices to recall past ring, pitting, flaking, peeling, cutmarks, chop marks, polishing, scraping, and episodes of violence. Skeletal displays could focus ceremonies burning. Each element was assessed for rodent or carnivore activity and root, water, weathering, and other postmortem damage. Biological indicators of and stories on remembering and possibly cauterizing (39) further age, sex, health status, robusticity, and trauma were recorded (42). violence. The historical evidence suggests that the enemies are A total of 417 bone identifiable elements were recovered and analyzed, of likely to have been ethnic others, yet evidence from modern which 402 were sufficiently preserved for thorough analysis. Of the remaining zones of persistent conflict shows that ethnic diversity does not 2,015, 840 could be identified or partially analyzed; the rest were too frag- predict frequency of conflict (40). To follow up on the conclusion mentary. The recovered assemblages are likely representative of their original that the violence was interethnic, the obvious next steps are deposition. Excavators strove for complete bone recovery, sifting all sediments stable isotopic and DNA analyses of skeletal samples from the with one-quarter inch (6 mm) screens. In many areas bone attrition was severe. identified contexts. If the inferences are correct, those analyses About 75% of the total surface area of Terrace 18 was excavated, including should corroborate the contrasts presented here with indications almost all of the roofed architectural area, the ball court in the center of the main of biological distance. patio, and the western half of the main patio. Excavation penetrated the sub- structure in less than half the excavated area and may have missed substructural Materials and Methods chambers. As a result, we cannot be sure of the exact representativeness of the Bones from seven seasons of excavation were analyzed in the field laboratory skeletal bone assemblage to everyone who died, but it is clearly representative of (Tables S1 and S2, and Datasets S1 and S2). We discuss the archaeological those whose remains were intentionally placed inside and outside buildings. recovery strategies elsewhere (41). Here we report on bones from Terrace 18 and two associated middens. We draw on ethnographic understanding from ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the Consejo de Arqueología of the Instituto participation in 13 Wixárika ceremonies since 1995 (30). Bioarchaeological Nacional de Antropología e Historia of Mexico for permission to study La Quemada; Peter Jiménez Betts for long collaboration; Christopher Schwartz methods conformed to the fragmentary, disarticulated, and commingled ’ for Fig. 1 and Vincent Schiavitti for Fig. 2; Ventura Perez for the photographs deposition. White s (33) protocol provided a systematic approach to exam- of bones; and two anonymous reviewers and Linda R. Manzanilla for critical ining taphonomy, cultural modification, and formation processes. The comments. This study was supported in part by the National Science Founda- analysis characterizes bone type, preservation, side, and completeness, along tion (BCS-0211109), the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Re- with taphonomic properties, particularly peri- and postmortem changes on search, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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