Excavations in the La Plata Valley
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TOTAH TIME AND THE RIVERS FLOWING: EXCAVATIONS IN THE LA PLATA VALLEY VOLUME 5 HARMONY AND DISCORD: BIOARCHAEOLOGY Debra L. Martin Nancy J. Akins Alan H. Goodman H. Wolcott Toll Alan C. Swedlund ARCHAEOLOGY NOTES 242 OFFICE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES SANTA FE 2001 NEW MEXICO ADMINISTRATIVE SUMMARY In connection with improvements to NM 170 by the New Mexico Highway and Transportation Department (NMSHTD), the La Plata archaeological project stretched over ten years, from 1981 to 1991. This work, conducted by the Research Section of the Museum of New Mexico (MNM), which later became the Office of Archaeological Studies, included survey and testing, resurvey and further testing conducted in 1988 and 1989, and excavations in 1985 and 1988-1991. The NMSHTD has widened and realigned 14 miles of the La Plata Highway between Farmington and La Plata, northwestern New Mexico. This report concerns human burials encountered during excavations in 1988-1991 at the following sites: LA 1897, LA 37591, LA 37592, LA 37593, LA 37594, LA 37595, LA 37598, LA 37599, LA 37600, LA 37601, LA 37603, LA 37605, LA 37606, LA 60751, LA 65029, LA 65030, and LA 65031. The text provides a detailed description of the methods used for data collection and the analytical techniques for processing the information. Skeletal remains from the project fall into two main categories: articulated burials and disarticulated remains. Sixty-seven individuals were collected and analyzed as intact burials, and at least 68 additional individuals are represented by disarticulated remains. The major objectives of the research include the construction of demographic and health profiles for the burial population. The mortuary complex is described and discussed particularly as it relates to delineating the full range of vari- ability in burial and interment practices. Baseline data on age, sex, pathologies, morphological measure- ments, and other kinds of data are presented in a way that will contribute to the growing database on bio- logical remains from the Southwest. Vital to the analysis of the disarticulated remains was determining the numbers of individuals and taphonomic processes resulting in deposition. Comparisons between the La Plata Valley population and other contemporaneous groups, particularly groups within the Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde regions, are made whenever possible. The analysis and reporting were done as a cooperative effort between contractors Debra L. Martin and Alan Goodman (Hampshire College); Alan Swedlund (University of Massachusetts); and Nancy Akins and Wolcott Toll, staff members of the Office of Archaeological Studies. The NMSHTD provided the funding for this project. NMSHTD Project ST[S]-1331[201], CN 1496 MNM Project 41.419 (testing), 41.454 (data recovery) Permits SE-37 (testing) SE-46 (data recovery) iii CONTENTS ADMINISTRATIVE SUMMARY . iii CHAPTER 1. LA PLATA VALLEY HUMAN REMAINS: A BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY. 1 Raison d'Être . 1 Modeling the Effects of Stress and Change Using Skeletal Remains . 7 Populations at Risk in La Plata Valley . 9 Integrating Demography and Health with Archaeological Reconstruction in the Southwest . 10 Research Objectives of the La Plata Highway Human Remains Analysis . 11 CHAPTER 2. FIELD AND LABORATORY METHODS . 13 Excavation and Curation of the La Plata Human Remains . 13 Studies of Human Remains and Contract Archaeology. 14 Methods Used in the Analysis of the La Plata Human Remains . 15 Summary . 27 CHAPTER 3. MORTUARY AND DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT OF THE LA PLATA VALLEY HUMAN REMAINS . 33 Mortuary Patterning of the La Plata Burials . 33 Demographic Features of the La Plata Skeletal Population. 37 Discussion . 41 CHAPTER 4. HEALTH PROFILE OF THE LA PLATA VALLEY COMMUNITIES . 65 Porotic Hyperostosis . 65 Periosteal Reaction and Other Infections . 67 Linear Enamel Hypoplasias and Other Developmental Defects . 71 Subadult Growth . 75 Anthropometry of Adults . 76 Osteoarthritis . 77 Metastatic Cancer . 78 Trauma . 82 Discussion . 93 CHAPTER 5. DIET AND RELATED HEALTH ISSUES IN THE LA PLATA VALLEY POPULATION. 105 Stable Isotopic Analysis . 105 Diet and Dental Health. 106 CHAPTER 6. DISARTICULATED HUMAN REMAINS . 121 Methodological Considerations . 121 Damage and Breakage in the Burial Sample. 123 Site by Site Information on the Disarticulated Human Remains . 132 Assemblage Comparisons . 165 Discussion . 168 CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSIONS . 191 Health and Demography . 191 Patterns in Trauma . 192 v Culturally Modified Disarticulated Assemblage . 193 The La Plata Health Profile . 195 Comparing Health Profiles of La Plata, Mesa Verde, and Chaco Canyon Populations. 196 The Ethical Aspects of What We Do . 197 NOTES . 201 REFERENCES CITED . 205 Appendix 1. Site Location Information (removed from copies for public distribution) . 223 Appendix 2. Human Skeletal and Dental Remains Data Management. 231 Appendix 3. Burial Inventory . 245 Appendix 4. Postcranial Measurements . 277 Figures 1.1. Map of the greater Southwest, showing locations mentioned in this report . 2 1.2. Map of the La Plata Valley, showing greathouses and communities . 3 1.3. Map of the Totah region, showing Totah greathouses. 4 1.4. General model for integrating human remains with archaeological context . 8 2.1. Moderate unremodeled porotic hyperostosis in the orbital region of a subadult with a midpoint age of two years. LA 37592, B1 . 18 2.2. Moderate unremodeled periosteal reaction on the right tibia of a subadult with a midpoint age of nine years. LA 37601, B8 . 18 2.3. Threshold model for understanding the formation of LEHs. Defect formation is modeled as an all-or-none phenomenon. Unknown etiological factors, diet, and morbidity combine to disrupt enamel development to a degree that an LEH may occur . 21 2.4. Distinctive LEH formation on maxillary anterior permanent teeth. LA 65030, B6 . 22 3.1. Survivorship (lx): La Plata and other southwestern groups. 43 3.2. Survivorship (lx): La Plata and later southwestern groups . 43 3.3. Probability of dying (qx): La Plata and other southwestern groups . 44 3.4. Probability of dying (qx): La Plata and later southwestern groups . 44 4.1. Distribution of osteomyelitic lesions. LA 37601, B4 . 69 4.2. Osteomyelitis of the sternum. LA 37601, B4 . 70 4.3. Osteomyelitic and normal humerus. LA 37601, B4 . 70 4.4. Vertebrae showing tubercular involvement. LA 65030, FS 510 . 71 4.5. Prevalence of LEH by tooth: La Plata and other southwestern groups . 73 4.6. LEH per tooth (mean): La Plata and other southwestern groups. ..