The taphonomy of violence: Recognizing variation in disarticulated skeletal assemblages

Abstract

The identification of violence and trauma in an archaeological context requires a nuanced and detailed analysis of material culture and human remains. This paper focuses on sharp-force trauma data from individual skeletal elements for the Ancestral Pueblo site Peñasco Blanco (n=1301) and the epiclassic site La Quemada (n=800). The material from these assemblages exhibits examples of bone damage and modification including blunt and sharp force trauma, pre- and peri-mortem modification, breakage, chopping, burning, and dismemberment. Using a methodology that combines microscopy of cutmarks (Peñasco Blanco [n=29] and La Quemada [n=623]) with taphonomic reconstruction of each category of bone damage, the combined empirical datasets suggest several of the current explanatory hypotheses cannot be accepted, e.g., cannibalism for the Ancestral Pueblo and violent trauma for all of the La Quemada remains. By examining the maximum width and depth of each cutmark in cross-section along with tool use and pattern recognition of the trauma, I suggest a series of alternative hypotheses (postmortem processing for Peñasco Blanco; ancestor veneration and mutilation at La Quemada). It is highly possible that some of the disarticulated remains have nothing to do with violence and everything to do with burial rites, veneration, or consecration.