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.

Geoarchaeological investigation of lithic resources in the central Mesa Verde region, Colorado, USA

“…Indeed, they hypothesize that hostile attacks on local communities, including acts of cannibalism, were perpetrated by groups from the Chuska Mountains (Billman, Lambert, & Leonard, 2000). According to our findings, some of the trachybasalt temper found in ceramics in the central Mesa Verde region may have been procured locally.…”

“…Secondly, Billman, Lambert, and Leonard (2000) argued that the Ute Mountain residents, just prior to the abandonment of the region in the late 13th century, experienced frequent interactions with people from the Chuska Mountain area, based in part on the presence of trachybasalt igneous temper at some sites on the UMUR. Indeed, they hypothesize that hostile attacks on local communities, including acts of cannibalism, were perpetrated by groups from the Chuska Mountains (Billman, Lambert, & Leonard, 2000).…”

“…However, the strong interaction between Chaco and central Mesa Verde declined around the A.D. 1150s, and each region then appears to have been independent (Neily, 1983;Arakawa & Duff, 2002). There is also evidence of violence during the late period in the central Mesa Verde region (Billman, Lambert, & Leonard, 2000;Kuckelman, 2002;Kohler et al, 2008).…”

“…Based partly upon the evidence of supposed Chuska igneous temper materials found in the central Mesa Verde region, some archaeologists have asserted that interaction, affiliation, and migration between the Mesa Verde Puebloans and people in Chaco Canyon was strong (Billman, Lambert, & Leonard, 2000;Wilshusen & Ortman, 1999). They further assert that population density increased and nucleated villages were formed in the central Mesa Verde region.…”

Human Violence and Evolutionary Consciousness

“…Instances of cannibalism have also been reported among chimpanzees, indicating that the lack of food was perhaps one of the selection pressures responsible for the evolution of primate violence (Wilson, Wallauer, & Pusey, 2004;Goodall, 1990). Cannibalism has similarly been used as a weapon of war by humans living in tribal societies (Billman, Lambert, & Leonard, 2000).…”