Interpreting and Reinterpreting Sacred Ridge: Placing Extreme Processing in a Larger Context

Abstract

Assemblages consisting of fragmented, cut, and burned human bone in the prehistoric Southwest have a long history of both analysis and controversy. How do we interpret violence and destruction of the body that occurred hundreds to thousands of years ago? Two basic models have emerged with regard to these assemblages: cannibalism (as primarily codified by the work of Turner) and extreme processing (as developed by Kuckelman and colleagues). These two models are discussed in this article, as is their development and interpretive power. Through the lens of Sacred Ridge, a large Pueblo I assemblage dating to approximately A.D. 810 in southwestern Colorado, the different interpretations of violence in the Southwest are interrogated. This study highlights the importance of placing assemblages that are heavily fragmented with high degrees of perimortem violence, tool marks, and burning into larger regional and temporal contexts.