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 Sout...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2000-09, Vol.407 (6800), p.74-78
Main Authors: Marlar, Richard A, Leonard, Banks L, Billman, Brian R, Lambert, Patricia M, Marlar, Jennifer E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Archaeological sites
Bone and Bones
Cannibalism
Cannibalism - history
Colorado
Cooking - history
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Feces - chemistry
Female
Historic buildings & sites
History of medicine
History, Ancient
Homo sapiens
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Indians, North American - history
Ingestion
letter
Male
multidisciplinary
Myoglobin - analysis
Native North Americans
Prehistoric era
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
USA
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/35024064