James T Watson
Biographic Data
| ID | 73945 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James T Watson |
| GIVEN NAMES | James T |
| FAMILY NAME | Watson |
| SIGNATURE | WATSON J T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Arizona |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3307-2428 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 165 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 34 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1981 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Anchoring the Ancestors
Necroscapes reflect the agency of the deceased in constructing community social fabric, reinforcing lineage and ethnic connections essential for sedentary life. In the Sonoran Desert, precolonial necroscapes evolved during the Early Agricultural period (2100 B.C.-A.D. 50) alongside rising population densities and complex social systems. The ancestral pattern of dispersed, individual interments expanded to include multiple interments signaling cor…
Characterizing the Construction of Terraced Hills ( Cerros de Trincheras ) in the Sonoran Desert Through Soil Characterization and Micromorphology
Tumamoc Hill (AZ AA:16:6[ASM]) is the site of a prehistoric hilltop village in Tucson, Arizona. Indigenous people living in the lowland deserts of the southwest U.S. / northwest Mexico built hilltop villages, known as cerros de trincheras, more than 3,000 years ago. AMS 14C samples from terraces and a community structure in the center of the hill yielded dates consistent with the Late Cienega phase (400 B.C.-A.D. 50) and the Tortolita phase (A.D.…
Small-Scale Migrations among Early Farmers in the Sonoran Desert
Migration played a significant role in shaping the Native populations of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico. Large-scale migrations into and across the region were underlain by small-scale (intraregional) population shifts affected by environmental fluctuations (declines and improvements) and social phenomena such as aggregation and the spread of sociopolitical spheres of influence within the region. We compare projectile point type…
Respectful Terminology in Archaeological Compliance
Archaeological compliance is defined by state and federal legislation and the constrained, precise language in which it is written. Rules and policies operationalize the law but provide some flexibility in its interpretation and implementation. The pronounced use of “legal” and “scientific” language in archaeological compliance can be considered insensitive or offensive to some tribal members when discussing the disposition and care of the remain…
Childhood and Identity Acquisition in the Late Prehispanic Ónavas Valley, Sonora, Mexico
Identity acquisition is a lifelong process that begins prior to birth (passive), becomes more active with self-awareness, and continues throughout the enculturation process. We argue that in childhood, as a liminal period of the life course, individuals are subject to a combination of active and passive forces of identity acquisition, largely determined first by family/parental decisions, then by community decisions as part of the enculturation p…
Sex differences in age‐related bone loss and antemortem tooth loss in East‐Central Arizona (AD 1200–1450)
Previous archaeological research on dental health in the New World has documented significant sex differences in antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), with a much higher rate of AMTL in females versus males, particularly during the transition to agriculture. While AMTL can be caused by multiple factors, including periodontal disease, attrition, trauma and cultural influences, sex differences are often attributed to the impact of female reproductive biolo…
Female hunters of the early Americas
Sexual division of labor with females as gatherers and males as hunters is a major empirical regularity of hunter-gatherer ethnography, suggesting an ancestral behavioral pattern. We present an archeological discovery and meta-analysis that challenge the man-the-hunter hypothesis. Excavations at the Andean highland site of Wilamaya Patjxa reveal a 9000-year-old human burial (WMP6) associated with a hunting toolkit of stone projectile points and a…
Ancient Southwestern Mortuary Practices
Mortuary Practices among Early Farming Communities in the Sonoran Desert
The chapters in this volume represent the results of a multi-year, multi-researcher project to create a regional synthesis of prehistoric mortuary practices across the Southwest United States and Northwest Mexico.Inspired by Adler's (1996) and Adam and Duff 's (2004) volumes that assembled, systematized, and reported data on sites and settlements in the region, we (the editors and authors of the volume) assembled and systematically aggregated mor…
Transformation by Fire
We examine the changes in funerary rituals from the Early Agricultural period (2100 BC-AD 50) to the Early Preclassic period (AD 475-750) and how these changes concurrently reflect changes in social relationships between the dead, their families, and the community. The predominant mortuary ritual in the Early Agricultural period was inhumation, possibly emphasizing a variety of identity intersections of the dead and the mourners in the treatment …
Dental Wear in Evolutionary and Biocultural Contexts
Dental microwear texture analysis of Homo sapiens sapiens
OBJECTIVES: The current study seeks to determine if a sample of foragers, farmers, and pastoralists are distinguishable based on their dental microwear texture signatures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included a sample of 719 individuals from 51 archeological sites (450 farmers, 192 foragers, 77 pastoralists). All were over age 12 and sexes were pooled. Using a Sensofar® white-light confocal profiler we collected dental microwear texture anal…
Periodontal health and the lifecourse approach in bioarchaeology
Healthy periodontal tissues are essential to maintaining attachment, stability, and retention of teeth. The concept of ‘health’ is problematic however and includes both physical and psycho-social characteristics. The challenge for bioarchaeologists is defining what physical expression begins to affect an individual’s well-being. Here we apply a lifecourse approach to the measurement of periodontal tissue depth (CEJ-AC) at M1 in a prehistoric samp…
Early Andean Diaspora, Culinary Traditions, and Dietary Continuity in the Periphery
The deep social meaning behind food behaviors has significant consequences in diasporic communities and may be one of the hallmarks of the expansion of the Tiwanaku state in the central Andes. The consumption or utilization of corn beer (chicha), coca leaves, and hallucinogenic drugs spread from the altiplano along with several material traditions, but may superficially overlie complex biocultural interactions across the region. This report conte…
Raiding and Warfare in Early Farming Villages of the Sonoran Desert
The archaeological record of the precolumbian Southwest US and Northwest Mexico contains a wide variety of evidence for violence and warfare. We examined osteological evidence for trauma from the site of La Playa in Sonora, Mexico to identify if violence was present during the Early Agricultural period in the Sonoran Desert (as it was in the northern Southwest) and, if present, identify the source of that violence (i.e., warfare vs. social contro…
Changes in Remembrance of an Urnfield Cremation Cemetery, Cerro De Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico
We explore the transformation of a site into a place of remembrance by evaluating the life history of an urnfield at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico. Prehispanic inhabitants used this cemetery as a cremation burial ground ca. AD 1300-1450. Memory of the cemetery persisted into historical times among inhabitants of the area, but its use changed. We argue that critical and contextualized approaches to cemeteries are needed to understand the com…
Dental evidence for wild tuber processing among Titicaca Basin foragers 7000 ybp
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this work is to characterize dental wear in a skeletal sample dating to the Middle/Late Archaic period transition (8,000-6,700 cal. B.P.) from the Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru to better define subsistence behaviors of foragers prior to incipient sedentism and food production. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dental sample consists of 251 teeth from 11 individuals recovered from the site of Soro Mik'aya Patjxa (SMP), the earlie…
Postclassic expansion of Mesoamerican biocultural characteristics into Sonora, Mexico
Recent excavations at the Postclassic period (circa a.d. 1000–1521) mortuary mound of El Cementerio (SON P:10:8), located along the Río Yaqui in central Sonora, Mexico, have documented 105 mortuary features (111 individuals) many of which display elongated intentional cranial modification and several cases of tooth filing. These constitute biocultural traits common across much of Mesoamerica throughout its Prehispanic cultural sequence, which exp…
Violence and Perimortem Signaling among Early Irrigation Communities in the Sonoran Desert
Violence is common among small-scale societies and often stems from a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors. We suggest that socialization for violence and revenge as a motivation can encourage costly signaling by warriors and contribute to the creation of atypical burials in archaeological contexts. We characterize mortuary patterns among early irrigation communities in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States/northwest Mexico…
The La Playa Archaeological Project
The La Playa Archaeological ProjectBinational Interdisciplinary Research on Long-Term Human Adaptation in the Sonoran Desert John Carpenter (bio), Guadalupe Sánchez (bio), James Watson (bio), and Elisa Villalpando (bio) Introduction The La Playa site has a long and storied history in the archaeology of northwestern Sonora. This site was initially visited and described by Carl Sauer and Donald Brand as their Site No. 19 Boquillas during their pion…
Internal environmental characteristics of a Chiribaya style tomb holding swine remains and their taphonomic impact on decomposition delay, a requisit for mummification
Attempts have been made to better understand the mummification processes associated with the pre-Inca culture known as the Chiribaya. The ancient Chiribaya used various textile wrappings that likely enhanced wicking of fluids out of the body thus increasing the potential for mummification. Here we examine the tomb environment itself as a probable factor in the potential mummification of human remains. To reveal more about the Chiribaya mummificat…
Gendered Logistic Mobility Among the Earliest Farmers in the Sonoran Desert
Archaeological evidence suggests that early farmers in the Sonoran Desert practiced a mixed subsistence strategy that likely involved logistical foraging by a segment of the population to supplement agricultural investments on the floodplains. Patterned differences in labor investments in archaeological populations can often be extrapolated by comparing cross-sectional geometry in long bones, which can vary as a result of repetitive behaviors. We…
Tooth Wear Related to Marine Foraging, Agro-Pastoralism and the Formative Transition on the Northern Chilean Coast
Occlusal surface wear scores were examined in a sample of 200 Formative period (1500 bc-ad 500) skeletons from the lower Azapa Valley in northwest Chile. Wear rate and plane (angle) were additionally evaluated using a subsample of paired first and second mandibular molars. The Formative period represents the transition from marine foraging to agro-pastoral dependence in the region, and differences in oral pathology indicate that diet varied by si…
Documenting Archaeological Mortuary Features using High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging
This technical note presents a refined technique for photo-documenting archaeological mortuary features using High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging. Mortuary features in archaeological context can be complex and delicate given the wide variability in grave constructions and preservation of human skeletal remains. It is therefore critical to obtain the greatest detail possible when photo-documenting these features. HDR techniques represent more contras…
Stratigraphy and geochronology of La Playa archaeological site, Sonora, Mexico
The La Playa Archaeological Project
The La Playa Archaeological ProjectBinational Interdisciplinary Research on Long-Term Human Adaptation in the Sonoran Desert John Carpenter (bio), Guadalupe Sánchez (bio), James Watson (bio), and Elisa Villalpando (bio) Introduction The La Playa site has a long and storied history in the archaeology of northwestern Sonora. This site was initially visited and described by Carl Sauer and Donald Brand as their Site No. 19 Boquillas during their pion…
Prehistoric dental disease and the dietary shift from cactus to cultigens in northwest Mexico
Differences in dental health of prehistoric human groups are commonly attributed to specific subsistence practices, whereby food foragers generally have a lower incidence of dental disease than agriculturalists. Dental health was assessed on a sample of 135 human skeletons from northwest Mexico that date to the Early Agricultural period (1600 BC–AD 200), which coincides with the initial introduction of domesticated cultigens into the region c. 20…
Changes in food processing and occlusal dental wear during the early agricultural period in northwest Mexico
Crown dimensions and occlusal surface wear rate and wear plane were evaluated using paired first and second mandibular molars from a sample of 84 Early Agricultural period (1600 B.C.–A.D. 200) skeletons from northwest Mexico. Although this period represents a major shift in subsistence strategies in the Sonoran Desert, from food‐foraging to agriculture, archaeological and dental pathology studies have identified this period as one of relative die…
Stratigraphy and geochronology of La Playa archaeological site, Sonora, Mexico
Violence and Perimortem Signaling among Early Irrigation Communities in the Sonoran Desert
Violence is common among small-scale societies and often stems from a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors. We suggest that socialization for violence and revenge as a motivation can encourage costly signaling by warriors and contribute to the creation of atypical burials in archaeological contexts. We characterize mortuary patterns among early irrigation communities in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States/northwest Mexico…
Exploring the thrifty genotype's food-shortage assumptions
The "thrifty genotype hypothesis" has become firmly entrenched as one of the orienting concepts in biomedical anthropology, since first being proposed by Neel (1962 Am. J. Hum. Genet. 14:353-362) over 40 years ago. Its influence on inquiries into the evolutionary origins of diabetes, lactose tolerance, and other metabolic disorders can hardly be underestimated, as evidenced by its continued citation in many top scientific and medical journals. Ho…
Dental microwear texture analysis of Homo sapiens sapiens
OBJECTIVES: The current study seeks to determine if a sample of foragers, farmers, and pastoralists are distinguishable based on their dental microwear texture signatures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included a sample of 719 individuals from 51 archeological sites (450 farmers, 192 foragers, 77 pastoralists). All were over age 12 and sexes were pooled. Using a Sensofar® white-light confocal profiler we collected dental microwear texture anal…
Gendered Logistic Mobility Among the Earliest Farmers in the Sonoran Desert
Archaeological evidence suggests that early farmers in the Sonoran Desert practiced a mixed subsistence strategy that likely involved logistical foraging by a segment of the population to supplement agricultural investments on the floodplains. Patterned differences in labor investments in archaeological populations can often be extrapolated by comparing cross-sectional geometry in long bones, which can vary as a result of repetitive behaviors. We…
Formative Adaptations, Diet, and Oral Health in the Azapa Valley of Northwest Chile
Indicators of oral health were recorded in a sample of 200 Formative period (1500 B.C.-A.D. 500) skeletons from archaeological sites located in the Lower Azapa Valley of northwest Chile. This period represents a major shift in subsistence strategies in the Atacama Desert, as coastal groups adopted agriculture and moved deeper into the valley. Frequencies of caries and antemortem tooth loss were compared between site locations (coast vs. valley) a…
Tooth Wear Related to Marine Foraging, Agro-Pastoralism and the Formative Transition on the Northern Chilean Coast
Occlusal surface wear scores were examined in a sample of 200 Formative period (1500 bc-ad 500) skeletons from the lower Azapa Valley in northwest Chile. Wear rate and plane (angle) were additionally evaluated using a subsample of paired first and second mandibular molars. The Formative period represents the transition from marine foraging to agro-pastoral dependence in the region, and differences in oral pathology indicate that diet varied by si…
Dental evidence for wild tuber processing among Titicaca Basin foragers 7000 ybp
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this work is to characterize dental wear in a skeletal sample dating to the Middle/Late Archaic period transition (8,000-6,700 cal. B.P.) from the Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru to better define subsistence behaviors of foragers prior to incipient sedentism and food production. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dental sample consists of 251 teeth from 11 individuals recovered from the site of Soro Mik'aya Patjxa (SMP), the earlie…
Periodontal health and the lifecourse approach in bioarchaeology
Healthy periodontal tissues are essential to maintaining attachment, stability, and retention of teeth. The concept of ‘health’ is problematic however and includes both physical and psycho-social characteristics. The challenge for bioarchaeologists is defining what physical expression begins to affect an individual’s well-being. Here we apply a lifecourse approach to the measurement of periodontal tissue depth (CEJ-AC) at M1 in a prehistoric samp…
Raiding and Warfare in Early Farming Villages of the Sonoran Desert
The archaeological record of the precolumbian Southwest US and Northwest Mexico contains a wide variety of evidence for violence and warfare. We examined osteological evidence for trauma from the site of La Playa in Sonora, Mexico to identify if violence was present during the Early Agricultural period in the Sonoran Desert (as it was in the northern Southwest) and, if present, identify the source of that violence (i.e., warfare vs. social contro…
Changes in Remembrance of an Urnfield Cremation Cemetery, Cerro De Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico
We explore the transformation of a site into a place of remembrance by evaluating the life history of an urnfield at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico. Prehispanic inhabitants used this cemetery as a cremation burial ground ca. AD 1300-1450. Memory of the cemetery persisted into historical times among inhabitants of the area, but its use changed. We argue that critical and contextualized approaches to cemeteries are needed to understand the com…
Postclassic expansion of Mesoamerican biocultural characteristics into Sonora, Mexico
Recent excavations at the Postclassic period (circa a.d. 1000–1521) mortuary mound of El Cementerio (SON P:10:8), located along the Río Yaqui in central Sonora, Mexico, have documented 105 mortuary features (111 individuals) many of which display elongated intentional cranial modification and several cases of tooth filing. These constitute biocultural traits common across much of Mesoamerica throughout its Prehispanic cultural sequence, which exp…
The Archaeology of Pueblo Grande De Nevada
Pueblo Grande de Nevada, more popularly known as “Lost City,” refers to a loosely defined series of archaeological sites in the Moapa Valley of southern Nevada. Excavated between the years of 1924 and 1941, these sites were to have a major impact on early-twentieth-century Southwestern archaeology. Despite the excitement that surrounded these finds at the time of their discovery, their legacy has largely been forgotten today. We argue one reason …
Navigating the Boundaries of Prevention
Deportation of foreign national security suspects to States where they may face a real risk of torture and other human rights breaches is becoming an increasingly frequent counter-terrorism measure. To effectively reduce these risks, so as not to be in breach of their non-refoulement obligations, removing States, most notably the United Kingdom, are obtaining diplomatic assurances from receiving States that persons returned will be treated in acc…
Animal Resource Exploitation among the Virgin River Puebloans in the American Southwest
A review of the literature documenting faunal remains recovered from 16 archaeological sites attributed to the Virjin River Puebloan (VRP) tradition (ca. 300 B.C.–A.D. 1200) of the American Southwest was conducted to identify the importance of wild animal resources to the subsistence strategy. The Number of Individual Specimens (NISP) was counted (NISP = 16,386) and sorted by taxa and animal size categories to explore differences in the distribut…
Respectful Terminology in Archaeological Compliance
Archaeological compliance is defined by state and federal legislation and the constrained, precise language in which it is written. Rules and policies operationalize the law but provide some flexibility in its interpretation and implementation. The pronounced use of “legal” and “scientific” language in archaeological compliance can be considered insensitive or offensive to some tribal members when discussing the disposition and care of the remain…
Transformation by Fire
We examine the changes in funerary rituals from the Early Agricultural period (2100 BC-AD 50) to the Early Preclassic period (AD 475-750) and how these changes concurrently reflect changes in social relationships between the dead, their families, and the community. The predominant mortuary ritual in the Early Agricultural period was inhumation, possibly emphasizing a variety of identity intersections of the dead and the mourners in the treatment …
Kari korsch
Exploring the thrifty genotype's food-shortage assumptions
The "thrifty genotype hypothesis" has become firmly entrenched as one of the orienting concepts in biomedical anthropology, since first being proposed by Neel (1962 Am. J. Hum. Genet. 14:353-362) over 40 years ago. Its influence on inquiries into the evolutionary origins of diabetes, lactose tolerance, and other metabolic disorders can hardly be underestimated, as evidenced by its continued citation in many top scientific and medical journals. Ho…
Animal Resource Exploitation among the Virgin River Puebloans in the American Southwest
A review of the literature documenting faunal remains recovered from 16 archaeological sites attributed to the Virjin River Puebloan (VRP) tradition (ca. 300 B.C.–A.D. 1200) of the American Southwest was conducted to identify the importance of wild animal resources to the subsistence strategy. The Number of Individual Specimens (NISP) was counted (NISP = 16,386) and sorted by taxa and animal size categories to explore differences in the distribut…
Changes in food processing and occlusal dental wear during the early agricultural period in northwest Mexico
Crown dimensions and occlusal surface wear rate and wear plane were evaluated using paired first and second mandibular molars from a sample of 84 Early Agricultural period (1600 B.C.–A.D. 200) skeletons from northwest Mexico. Although this period represents a major shift in subsistence strategies in the Sonoran Desert, from food‐foraging to agriculture, archaeological and dental pathology studies have identified this period as one of relative die…
Prehistoric dental disease and the dietary shift from cactus to cultigens in northwest Mexico
Differences in dental health of prehistoric human groups are commonly attributed to specific subsistence practices, whereby food foragers generally have a lower incidence of dental disease than agriculturalists. Dental health was assessed on a sample of 135 human skeletons from northwest Mexico that date to the Early Agricultural period (1600 BC–AD 200), which coincides with the initial introduction of domesticated cultigens into the region c. 20…
Navigating the Boundaries of Prevention
Deportation of foreign national security suspects to States where they may face a real risk of torture and other human rights breaches is becoming an increasingly frequent counter-terrorism measure. To effectively reduce these risks, so as not to be in breach of their non-refoulement obligations, removing States, most notably the United Kingdom, are obtaining diplomatic assurances from receiving States that persons returned will be treated in acc…
Introduction of agriculture and its effects on women's oral health
This study explores the dynamic relationship between the introduction of agriculture and its effects on women's oral health by testing the hypothesis that female reproductive physiology contributes to an oral environment more susceptible to chronic oral disease and that, in a population undergoing the foraging to farming transition, females will exhibit a higher prevalence of oral pathology than males. This is tested by comparing the presence, lo…
The Archaeology of Pueblo Grande De Nevada
Pueblo Grande de Nevada, more popularly known as “Lost City,” refers to a loosely defined series of archaeological sites in the Moapa Valley of southern Nevada. Excavated between the years of 1924 and 1941, these sites were to have a major impact on early-twentieth-century Southwestern archaeology. Despite the excitement that surrounded these finds at the time of their discovery, their legacy has largely been forgotten today. We argue one reason …
Formative Adaptations, Diet, and Oral Health in the Azapa Valley of Northwest Chile
Indicators of oral health were recorded in a sample of 200 Formative period (1500 B.C.-A.D. 500) skeletons from archaeological sites located in the Lower Azapa Valley of northwest Chile. This period represents a major shift in subsistence strategies in the Atacama Desert, as coastal groups adopted agriculture and moved deeper into the valley. Frequencies of caries and antemortem tooth loss were compared between site locations (coast vs. valley) a…
Genesis of an Artifact Layer
Documenting Archaeological Mortuary Features using High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging
This technical note presents a refined technique for photo-documenting archaeological mortuary features using High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging. Mortuary features in archaeological context can be complex and delicate given the wide variability in grave constructions and preservation of human skeletal remains. It is therefore critical to obtain the greatest detail possible when photo-documenting these features. HDR techniques represent more contras…
Stratigraphy and geochronology of La Playa archaeological site, Sonora, Mexico
Gendered Logistic Mobility Among the Earliest Farmers in the Sonoran Desert
Archaeological evidence suggests that early farmers in the Sonoran Desert practiced a mixed subsistence strategy that likely involved logistical foraging by a segment of the population to supplement agricultural investments on the floodplains. Patterned differences in labor investments in archaeological populations can often be extrapolated by comparing cross-sectional geometry in long bones, which can vary as a result of repetitive behaviors. We…
Tooth Wear Related to Marine Foraging, Agro-Pastoralism and the Formative Transition on the Northern Chilean Coast
Occlusal surface wear scores were examined in a sample of 200 Formative period (1500 bc-ad 500) skeletons from the lower Azapa Valley in northwest Chile. Wear rate and plane (angle) were additionally evaluated using a subsample of paired first and second mandibular molars. The Formative period represents the transition from marine foraging to agro-pastoral dependence in the region, and differences in oral pathology indicate that diet varied by si…
Internal environmental characteristics of a Chiribaya style tomb holding swine remains and their taphonomic impact on decomposition delay, a requisit for mummification
Attempts have been made to better understand the mummification processes associated with the pre-Inca culture known as the Chiribaya. The ancient Chiribaya used various textile wrappings that likely enhanced wicking of fluids out of the body thus increasing the potential for mummification. Here we examine the tomb environment itself as a probable factor in the potential mummification of human remains. To reveal more about the Chiribaya mummificat…
The La Playa Archaeological Project
The La Playa Archaeological ProjectBinational Interdisciplinary Research on Long-Term Human Adaptation in the Sonoran Desert John Carpenter (bio), Guadalupe Sánchez (bio), James Watson (bio), and Elisa Villalpando (bio) Introduction The La Playa site has a long and storied history in the archaeology of northwestern Sonora. This site was initially visited and described by Carl Sauer and Donald Brand as their Site No. 19 Boquillas during their pion…
Postclassic expansion of Mesoamerican biocultural characteristics into Sonora, Mexico
Recent excavations at the Postclassic period (circa a.d. 1000–1521) mortuary mound of El Cementerio (SON P:10:8), located along the Río Yaqui in central Sonora, Mexico, have documented 105 mortuary features (111 individuals) many of which display elongated intentional cranial modification and several cases of tooth filing. These constitute biocultural traits common across much of Mesoamerica throughout its Prehispanic cultural sequence, which exp…
Violence and Perimortem Signaling among Early Irrigation Communities in the Sonoran Desert
Violence is common among small-scale societies and often stems from a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors. We suggest that socialization for violence and revenge as a motivation can encourage costly signaling by warriors and contribute to the creation of atypical burials in archaeological contexts. We characterize mortuary patterns among early irrigation communities in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States/northwest Mexico…
Dental evidence for wild tuber processing among Titicaca Basin foragers 7000 ybp
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this work is to characterize dental wear in a skeletal sample dating to the Middle/Late Archaic period transition (8,000-6,700 cal. B.P.) from the Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru to better define subsistence behaviors of foragers prior to incipient sedentism and food production. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dental sample consists of 251 teeth from 11 individuals recovered from the site of Soro Mik'aya Patjxa (SMP), the earlie…
Raiding and Warfare in Early Farming Villages of the Sonoran Desert
The archaeological record of the precolumbian Southwest US and Northwest Mexico contains a wide variety of evidence for violence and warfare. We examined osteological evidence for trauma from the site of La Playa in Sonora, Mexico to identify if violence was present during the Early Agricultural period in the Sonoran Desert (as it was in the northern Southwest) and, if present, identify the source of that violence (i.e., warfare vs. social contro…
Changes in Remembrance of an Urnfield Cremation Cemetery, Cerro De Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico
We explore the transformation of a site into a place of remembrance by evaluating the life history of an urnfield at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico. Prehispanic inhabitants used this cemetery as a cremation burial ground ca. AD 1300-1450. Memory of the cemetery persisted into historical times among inhabitants of the area, but its use changed. We argue that critical and contextualized approaches to cemeteries are needed to understand the com…
Dental Wear in Evolutionary and Biocultural Contexts
Dental microwear texture analysis of Homo sapiens sapiens
OBJECTIVES: The current study seeks to determine if a sample of foragers, farmers, and pastoralists are distinguishable based on their dental microwear texture signatures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included a sample of 719 individuals from 51 archeological sites (450 farmers, 192 foragers, 77 pastoralists). All were over age 12 and sexes were pooled. Using a Sensofar® white-light confocal profiler we collected dental microwear texture anal…
Periodontal health and the lifecourse approach in bioarchaeology
Healthy periodontal tissues are essential to maintaining attachment, stability, and retention of teeth. The concept of ‘health’ is problematic however and includes both physical and psycho-social characteristics. The challenge for bioarchaeologists is defining what physical expression begins to affect an individual’s well-being. Here we apply a lifecourse approach to the measurement of periodontal tissue depth (CEJ-AC) at M1 in a prehistoric samp…
Early Andean Diaspora, Culinary Traditions, and Dietary Continuity in the Periphery
The deep social meaning behind food behaviors has significant consequences in diasporic communities and may be one of the hallmarks of the expansion of the Tiwanaku state in the central Andes. The consumption or utilization of corn beer (chicha), coca leaves, and hallucinogenic drugs spread from the altiplano along with several material traditions, but may superficially overlie complex biocultural interactions across the region. This report conte…
Geography (25 works) · Archaeology (24 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (18 works) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (15 works) · Archaeology and Natural History (12 works) · Agriculture (11 works) · Biology (11 works) · Medicine (10 works) · Ecology (9 works) · Dentistry (8 works)