A Case of Historic Cannibalism in the American West

Implications for Southwestern Archaeology

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2591645
AutoresAlison E Rautman (Michigan State University, autor de correspondencia), Todd W Fenton (Michigan State University)
Año2005
Volumen70
Número2
Páginas321-341
Fecha de publicación2005-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/40035706
OpenAlexW2312652530
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas48

Discoveries of concentrated deposits of fragmentary human bone and their interpretation as evidence of cannibalism in the pre-Hispanic American Southwest have engaged archaeologists in a continuing debate. Forensic study of the victims in the historic Alferd [sic] Packer case from southern Colorado in the 1870s contributes to this discussion by providing detailed data regarding perimortem trauma, cut marks, and butchering patterns in a well-accepted case of mass murder and survival cannibalism. In particular, postmortem cut marks record a butchering strategy focused on filleting muscle tissue for immediate consumption; patterning of cut marks was structured by anatomy and also by cultural values. Contrasts between this historic case and the archaeological assemblages highlights the need for a more nuanced discussion of the cultural context and meaning of the archaeological cases. Interpretations of human skeletal remains arguably must begin with the view of 'the body as artifact' and from a theoretical perspective defined largely by osteology and in comparison with zooarchaeological assemblages under various ecological conditions. At this point, however, the debate regarding Anasazi cannibalism would benefit from the addition of other anthropological perspectives, particularly those concerning the human body as a vehicle for the expression of cultural ideas and values

Archaeological record · Archaeology · Artifact (error) · Biology · Cannibalism · Context (archaeology) · Geography · Human bone · Interpretation (philosophy) · Meaning (existential) · Osteology · Projectile point · Sociology · Taphonomy · Zooarchaeology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Psychology