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Disclaimer: the Opinions Expressed Herein Are Those of the Author and Not of His Employer Or Any Other Federal Agency Christy G. Turner, II, Jacqueline A. Turner. Man Corn: Cannibalism and Violence in the Prehistoric American Southwest. Salt Lake City: Utah State University Press, 1999. v + 547 pp. $60.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-87480-566-6. Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb Published on H-NEXA (October, 1999) The American Southwest Revisited: Violence who are debating the hottest issue in the prehis‐ and Cannibalism, and the Anasazi and Toltecs of toric American Southwest explications of warfare, Mesoamerica witchcraft, ritual executions, and cannibalism. Introduction Even in the most dire, life-threatening cir‐ The topic of cannibalism is an emotionally cumstances, the consumption of the fesh of the charged issue that may engage humanistic or an‐ affiliates of one's own species or sociocultural thropological terms (endocannibalism and exo‐ group, whether the members of the stranded Don‐ cannibalism, or example), suggestions of human ner Party (Hardesty 1997) or sports team airplane sacrifice, or near starvation resulting in emergen‐ crash survivors in the Andes (Read 1974) is re‐ cy or survival cannibalism. These and psychoana‐ garded by a majority of outside observers as be‐ lytical phrases such as social pathology and "Han‐ haviorally inappropriate and, even as a criminal nibalistic" (Silence of the Lambs) behaviors, may or anti-religious act. Neurological disease vectors bring vivid, perhaps Stephen King-like or Dracula- aside (kuru, for example), the consumption of the like imagery to the minds of laypersons and scien‐ body parts or fesh of an enemy or of an ancestor tists alike. Add to this the potential for institution‐ is in some cultures considered appropriate, if not alized violence or warfare, witchcraft or sorcery, mandatory, behavior. Within the past half dozen and ritual executions, and then suggest that these years esteemed newspapers, sleazy tabloids, and activities and behaviors occurred in the American even that venerable magazine The New Yorker Southwest, a region usually depicted for peace, (Preston 1998) have carried accounts of gender vi‐ harmony, tranquility, and spirituality. Are these olence, butchery, and the consumption of human the potential plot parameters for a new "block‐ body parts by other members of our genus and buster" Tony Hillerman novel? No, to the contrary, species. Even the journal Science (Kolata 1986) these are some of the current scientific postulates has been seduced by the so-called "myth" of canni‐ by anthropologists and other learned scholars balism. Alfred Packer of Donner Party fame in H-Net Reviews 1846 and, more recently, Jeffrey Dahmer of Mil‐ opathology, and cannibalistic behaviors. Nonethe‐ waukee and Alex Sukleten of Kazan, Russia, come less, while there is mounting scientific evidence to mind when cannibalistic behavior is men‐ for violence and cannibalism, scholars also are tioned (Askenazy 1994:10-17, Hogg 1958:188-191, turning to sociocultural explanations as to why Sartore 1994:91-100). the act occurs and who conducted these activities. Recently the subject of a major story written An Analysis of "Man Corn" by journalist David Montgomery and published in Christy Turner, Regents' Professor in the De‐ The Washington Post (1999), "The Body Farm" cre‐ partment of Anthropology at Arizona State Uni‐ ated by William Bass at the University of Ken‐ versity, and his late wife, Jacqueline A. Turner (21 tucky documents the need need to study environ‐ September 1934-13 February 1996), are the co-au‐ mental and cultural effects on human remains. thors of Man Corn. The book's unusual title de‐ The story demonstrates the importance of such rives from the Nahuatl word tlacatlaolli, a "sacred analyses in the assessment of traumas, patholo‐ meal of sacrificed human meat, cooked with corn" gies, accidents, interpersonal violence, and proba‐ (following Fernandez 1992). The Nahuatl and ble suicides. Mesoamerican connections are more than coinci‐ In the mold of Scientific American, a new pe‐ dental. The idea for this volume was conceived in riodical called Discovering Archaeology (May- 1958, and Christy dedicates the volume to the June 1999), included a "Special Report: Wars, memory of his wife. Christy Turner's initial as‐ Witches & Cannibals A Dark New View of the sessments of cannibalism were published in Fly‐ American Southwest." This issue includes presen‐ nn, Turner, and Brew (1976), but a formal, sys‐ tations by Steve A. LeBlanc, Stephen Lekson, tematic analysis began in 1980 with enhanced Christy G. Turner II, and William H. Walker (1999) macro- and microscopic examinations, some ex‐ on the theme of warfare, cannibalism, and the perimentation, and a concerted effort to explain suppression of witchcraft; the narratives by Lek‐ the causation. The Turners comment (p. 8) that son, Turner, and Walker also appear on Discover‐ "research on cannibalism has not been free of ing Archaeology Online at http:// controversy or political and professional censur‐ www.discoveringarchaeology.com/0399/toc/ . Like‐ ing," and they cite instances where their work has wise, a television "documentary" entitled The been disbelieved, dismissed, or admonished. Most Ancient Taboo: Cannibalism was featured on The narrative is divided into fve chapters the History Channel's In Search of History, broad‐ (pp. 1-484), supplemented by one six-page appen‐ cast in August 1999. Evidence of cannibalism has dix (a discussion about and reproduction of four been discerned recently in a Neanderthal popula‐ data-collecting forms), a four-page acknowledg‐ tion in western Europe, specifically the site of ment, 348 black-and-white fgures (halftones and Moula-Guercy, Ardeche, France, about 100,000 illustrations), 111 tables, and 499 references cited. years ago (Defleur et al. 1999, Culotta 1999). Evi‐ There is also a detailed index to sites (n = 141) and dence of cannibalism in Fiji less than 2,000 years an elaborate nine-page general index of conflated ago will be reported by David DeGusta in a forth‐ proper nouns and topics (one page has double col‐ coming article in American Journal of Physical umns and eight pages have triple columns). The Anthropology (Holden 1999). diversity of references in English and Spanish cit‐ Therefore, from newspaper stories, television ed in the Turners detailed analysis include un‐ programs, and flm documentaries, the public has published diaries, newspaper accounts (such as become increasingly aware of the importance of the Los Angel Angeles Times), Mexican codices skeletal analysis, forensic science, and pale‐ (the Codex Borgia), masters' theses and doctoral 2 H-Net Reviews dissertations, and even literary texts (Willa is no evidence of cannibalism among the Ho‐ Cather). I shall summarize briefly the major hokam, perhaps because it has not been looked thrust of each chapter and offer some comments for there, even though the Hohokam were more before turning to an overall critique of the vol‐ influenced by Mesoamerican culture than any ume. other prehistoric Southwestern peoples (p. 4). Chapter One: "Introduction: Studying South‐ Cannibalism, the Turners suggest, has a restricted western Cannibalism" (pp. 1-9) has one table illus‐ distribution, with almost all of the verified cases trating chronologies in the "Southwest" and "Val‐ in or near the Anasazi culture area. ley of Mexico" (e.g., Basin of Mexico). The Turners Chapter Two: "Interpreting Human Bone begin by differentiating endo- and exocannibal‐ Damage: Taphonomic, Ethnographic, and Archae‐ ism, consider prior general surveys (particularly ological Evidence" (pp. 10-54, fourteen fgures, by Hogg 1966), Ahren's (1979) opposing views, and eleven tables) provides an excellent review of rebuttals (notably by Forsythe 1985). The authors methods of interpretation, beginning with the state (p. 2) that "this book is the frst to examine concept of taphonomy (Efremov 1940), concen‐ prehistoric Southwestern cannibalism on a re‐ trating on perimortem events. Taphonomy (p. 6) is gional scale rather than site by site. It has two the explanation of how the bone assemblage was goals. First, we define and illustrate the character‐ deposited and damaged after death. Among the istics of damaged human bones that we believe topics assessed are environmental processes; the reflect acts of cannibalism in the American South‐ mechanical and physical breakdown of bone; the west. Second, we attempt to explain why canni‐ effects of ground water, microbial activity, and balism occurred there, offering a few working hy‐ acidic soils; and human activities (breaking, cut‐ potheses about local, proximate causes. In order ting, burning, etc.); color changes in burned bone; to be persuasive in arguing that cannibalism ex‐ and pot polishing from culinary activities. A isted, we present all the evidence we have been through assessment of ethnographic accounts of able to amass, which makes up the largest part of animal processing (among the Navajo, Zuni, Yava‐ this book chapter 3." pai, Hopi, etc.), as well as archaeological data This regional approach, they assert (p. 2), pro‐ (from Olsen-Chubbuck, Snaketown, Arroyo Hon‐ duced fve principal fndings: 1) Cannibalism can do, and other sites), provide comparative evi‐ be differentiated from all other forms of bone dence for the definition of the "signature of canni‐ damage and mortuary practice. 2) Cannibalism balism" as opposed to mortuary practices report‐ was practiced for almost four centuries, begin‐ ed for the Anasazi area of the prehistoric South‐ ning about C.E. 900, and was concentrated in the west. Four Corners area especially among people living A continuum
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