Brian R. Billman

Cannibalism, warfare, and drought in the Mesa Verde Region during the twelfth century A.D

Abstract The existence of cannibalism has emerged as one of the most controversial issues in the archaeology of the American Southwest. In this paper, we examine this issue by presenting the results of our investigation at 5MT10010, a small early Pueblo III habitation site in southwestern Colorado. Battered, broken bones from seven individuals were discovered in two adjacent pithouses at 5MT10010. Mixed and incomplete remains of four adults and an adolescent were recovered from the floor and ventilator shaft of one pithouse; the remains of two subadults were found on the floor and in various subfeatures of the second. Cut marks and percussion scars implicate humans in the disarticulation and reduction of these bodies. Evidence of heat exposure on some bone fragments and laboratory analyses of a human coprolite recovered from one of the pithouses support the interpretation that people prepared and consumed human body parts. The discovery of disarticulated human remains at 5MT10010 is one of a number of similar finds in the northern Southwest. Analysis of cases from the Mesa Verde region indicates a sharp increase in cannibalism around A.D. 1150, a time of drought and the collapse of the Chaco system. The causes, consequences, and nature of this apparent outbreak of cannibalism are examined in light of 5MT10010 and other recent finds.

Biochemical evidence of cannibalism at a prehistoric Puebloan site in southwestern Colorado.

The existence of cannibalism is one of the most controversial issues in the archaeology of the American Southwest. Disarticulated, cut-marked and heat-altered human remains from non-burial contexts at prehistoric Puebloan (Anasazi) archaeological sites in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest have been interpreted by some scholars as evidence of cannibalism. Osteological studies indicate that many of the disarticulated bodies found at these sites were processed in a manner consistent with food preparation. Opponents of this interpretation point out that non-cannibalistic practices such as secondary interment, corpse mutilation and ritualized witch executions might account for the assemblages. Osteological evidence alone does not document the actual ingestion of human flesh. Here we show consumption of human flesh did occur as demonstrated in preserved human waste containing identifiable human tissue remains from a site with osteological evidence of cannibalism.

IRRIGATION AND THE ORIGINS OF THE SOUTHERN MOCHE STATE ON THE NORTH COAST OF PERU

In this paper, I examine the role that irrigation played in the formation of the Southern Moche state in the Moche Valley, Peru. Specifically, I attempt to test Wittfogel and Stewards hydraulic model, which postulates that in certain arid environments, the managerial requirements of construction and maintenance of irrigation systems played a crucial role in the formation of cen- tralized polities. I formulate and evaluate four hypotheses concerning the role of irrigation systems in the Moche Valley. Thos e hypotheses are then evaluated using settlement pattern data drawn from two surveys that cover the entire coastal section of the valley and provide information on 910 archaeological sites. Based on those data, I present a sequence of political development for the valley from the formation of the first autonomous village in the Late Preceramic period (2500-1800 B.C.) to the zenith of the Southern Moche state. Evaluation of the four hypotheses indicates that the managerial requirements of irrigation were relatively unimportant; rather, warfare, highland-coastal interaction, and political control of irrigation systems created oppor- tunities for leaders to form a highly centralized, territorially expansive state sometime between A.D. 200 and 700. En el presente articulo, examino el rol que jugo la irrigacion en la formacion del estado Moche Sureno en el valle de Moche, Peru . Especificamente, busco probar las hipotesis hidraulicas de Wittfogel y Steward, las cuales postulan que en ciertos medio ambiente s aridos, la necesidad. de una administracion de la construccion y el mantenimiento de los sistemas de irrigacion jugaron un rol crucial en la formacion de organizaciones centralizadas. Formulo y evaluo cuatro hipotesis tomando en consideracion el rol de que de los sistemas de irrigacion jugaron en la formacion del estado Moche Sureno. Los datos del patron de asentamiento son usados para evaluar las hipotesis. Los datos han sido recopilados a traves de dos prospecciones, las cuales cubren toda la sec- cion costena del valle y brindan informacion de mas de 910 sitios. Basado en dichos datos, presento una secuencia de desarrollo politico para el valle desde la formacion de la primera villa autonoma en el periodo Preceramico Tardio (2500-1800 a.C.) hasta el apogeo del estado Moche Sureno. Los analisis indican que los requisitos de una administracion de la irrigacion no tuvieron una importancia relativa en la formacion del estado Moche Sureno; por el contrario los conflictos, la interaccion costa-sierra, y el control politico de los sistemas de irrigacion crearon oportunidades para que los lideres formaran un estado altamente cen- tralizado y territorialmente expansivo en algun momento entre los 200 y 700 d.C.

Floodwater Farming, Discontinuous Ephemeral Streams, and Puebloan Abandonment in Southwestern Colorado

Geoarchaeological study on the southern piedmont of Sleeping Ute Mountain in southwestern Colorado indicates the presence of discontinuous ephemeral streams that were the foci of episodic Puebloan occupation between A.D. 600s and 1280. Characterized by arroyos, discontinuous ephemeral streams contain alternating aggrading and degrading reaches and are well suited for ak chin floodwater agriculture. Episodic Puebloan abandonment of the southern piedmont correlates with periods of drought but does not appear to be linked to stream entrenchment. We question a priori assumptions of droughts correlated to stream entrenchment and urge caution in the use of drought-arroyo models for settlement shifts in alluvial flood plains without supporting stratigraphic or geomorphic evidence.

RESPONSE TO CRITIQUE OF THE CLAIM OF CANNIBALISM AT COWBOY WASH

Abstract The original authors of Billman et al. (2000) are joined by three other analysts from the Cowboy Wash research team to respond to the critique of this article by Dongoske et al. (2000). Dongoske and his coauthors state that Billman et al. (2000) failed to test alternative hypotheses or to consider alternative explanations for the findings at 5MT10010 and similar sites. The original authors point out that alternative hypotheses were examined and rejected, leaving a violent episode of cannibalism as the most plausible explanation for the remains found at 5MT10010. Dongoske et al. also question many aspects of the osteological, archaeological, coprolite, and biochemical analyses that were presented in the 5MT10010 study. Our response addresses issues of data collection, procedure, and interpretation, and attempts to clarify some points that were not fully developed in the original text due to length restrictions.

BONE CHEMISTRY AT CERRO OREJA: A STABLE ISOTOPE PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REGIONAL ECONOMY IN THE MOCHE VALLEY, PERU DURING THE EARLY INTERMEDIATE PERIOD

In this paper we test the hypothesis that an intensification of maize production preceded the development of a regional Moche political economy in the Moche Valley of north coastal Peru during the Early Intermediate period (400 B.C.—A.D. 600). To do so we analyze stable isotopic signatures of 48 bone apatite and 17 tooth enamel samples from human remains recovered from the site of Cerro Oreja, a large urban and ceremonial center in the Moche Valley. These remains date to the Guanape, Salinar, or Gallinazo phases and provide a diachronic picture of subsistence before the appearance of the Southern Moche state. The most notable patterns identified in the study include a lack of significant change in δ 13 C apatite values from the Guanape to Satinar phases, followed by a significant enrichment in δ 13 C apatite values from the Salinar to Gallinazo phases. Several lines of evidence, including archaeological context, dental data, and comparative carbon stable isotope data from experimental animal studies and studies of archaeological human remains support the interpretation that the observed 13 C enrichment in stable isotope values in the Gallinazo phase primarily reflects maize intensification. The stable isotope data from Cerro Oreja thus suggest that a shift in subsistence toward a highly productive and storable crop may have served as an important precursor to state development during the Early Intermediate period in the Moche Valley.

Explaining variability in mutilated human bone assemblages from the American Southwest: a case study from the southern piedmont of Sleeping Ute Mountain, Colorado

Many scholars interpret assemblages of disarticulated human remains from Anasazi sites as evidence of cannibalism. Other scholars argue that variation in the condition of these assemblages implies that many, if not all, resulted from non-cannibalistic practices. This paper evaluates four well-documented cases of mutilated human bones from a dispersed community on the southern piedmont of Ute Mountain, Colorado. Evidence indicates that all four sites were suddenly abandoned around ad 1150, after events responsible for corpse mutilation took place. Still, variations in processing methods were observed between the sites and between two sets of remains at one site. The authors suggest that these, and similar assemblages in the Mesa Verde region, resulted from violent raiding involving cannibalism, and that minor processing variations are consistent with the expediency inherent in such attacks. Copyright

Tracking shifts in coca use in the Moche Valley: analysis of oral health indicators and dental calculus microfossils

Abstract In this article we explore the use of coca in the Moche Valley of north costal Perú during the Early Intermediate Period. To do so we examined the dental remains of 173 residents of Cerro Oreja. These remains date to the Salinar and Gallinazo phases and thus provide us with a picture of coca use before the emergence of the Southern Moche state. We find that patterns of oral health and micro-plant remains recovered from dental calculus suggest shifting use of coca during this period. These data suggest that coca was an important resource in the emergence of social inequality in the Moche Valley.

Understanding the Timing and Tempo of the Evolution of Political Centralization on the Central Andean Coastline and Beyond

One of the fundamental questions in anthropology is the origin of formal institutions of rule. A central issue in the study of the origins of centralized political organization is the timing and tempo of the emergence of pristine chiefdoms and states. Why did centralized political institutions develop rapidly at an early date in certain areas, while in other areas they emerged more slowly at a much later date? Current views of human origins propose that anatomically modern human beings had evolved by approximately 100,000 years ago, yet centralized political organizations apparently did not develop for at least another 94,000 years. Early pristine chiefdoms and states developed in only a few restricted areas between 6,000 and 3,000 years ago. Most of the world was not incorporated into state-level polities until the last 100 to 500 years during the period of colonial, nation-state expansion. Theories of the origins of centralized political organization must explain not only why centralized institutions developed, but how, when, and where. These crucial issues can be summarized in three questions: 1 How? By what process did pristine centralized polities develop? 2 Where? Why did this process occur in certain areas and not others? 3 When? Why did this process occur when it did in human prehistory?