Evidence for Prehistoric Scalping in Northeastern Nebraska

Miller, Elizabeth

doi:10.1080/2052546.1994.11931728

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The fact that the cuts follow the hair line, consistent with cases from colonial North America, provides strong evidence for intentional scalping. Examples from many sites in the United States demonstrate cut marks located high on the frontal bone as well as cuts that circumscribe the superior part of the skull (Allen et al, 1985;Miller, 1994;Owsley, 1994;Willey & Emerson, 1993). A number of these examples illustrate healed and unhealed cases, but few present the extensive infection with only early stages of recovery (like Burial 4).…”

Section: Traumatic Avulsion Of the Scalpmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Archaeological evidence The best archaeological evidence for taking human scalps comes from pre-historic and historic contexts and documents from throughout North America (Bueschgen & Case, 1996;Chaffray, 2005;Miller, 1994;Neumann, 1940;Willey & Emerson, 1993), though it has been identified in other areas of the Old World as well (Borodovsky & Tabarev, 2005;Mednikova, 2003). The first archaeological case reported was in the 1940s for a Middle Mississippian (A.D. 1000-1500) site in Central Illinois (Neumann, 1940).…”

Section: Scalping In the Americasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Possible cases of scalping from pre‐hispanic highland Peru

Toyne

2011

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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For years, the pre-Hispanic Chachapoya of Northern Peru have been described as the 'Warriors of the Clouds'.A more detailed look at newly excavated osteological samples from the highland site of Kuelap allows us to better examine the types of traumatic injuries among the Chachapoya. This paper describes an individual with evidence of a recent scalp removal including cut marks encircling the vault and a large area of active inflammatory response due to exposure of the outer table. The degree of osseous response and a small area of healing indicate short-term survival. A second fragmentary skull demonstrates similar features but more advanced healing. The location and patterning of the cut marks are consistent with North American Indian prehistoric and historic cases of scalping. The skulls of these two individuals provide the first osteological evidence of scalp removal from a pre-Hispanic South American Andean context, although it is difficult to determine the motivation whether for therapeutic treatment or trophy taking. These cases, along with other evidence of interpersonal violence and cranial trauma, serve to elucidate the possible volatile nature of cultural contact between this region and lowland Amazonian tribes, where scalps and trophy heads were commonly taken in raids.

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Section: Traumatic Avulsion Of the Scalpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scalping In the Americasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible cases of scalping from pre‐hispanic highland Peru

Toyne

2011

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…One case from the Dallas sample (male) and two from the Mouse Creek sample (a male and a probable female) display the cut marks which are unequivocally associated with scalping (Hill, 1976;Miller, 1975;Olsen and Shipman, 1994;Smith, 1993Smith, , 1995Smith, , 1997Willey and Emerson, 1993). The remaining two male Mouse Creek individuals and the female from the Dallas sample exhibit particular changes to the external cortex and underlying cancellous bone which suggest postscalping survival (Aufderheide and Rodríguez-Martin, 1998;Hamperl, 1967;Hamperl and Laughlin, 1959;Jacobi et al, 1996;Ortner and Putschar, 1985;Miller, 1994;Reese, 1940) (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Scalpingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are also a number of recorded archaeological cases of presumptive scalping survival (Bridges et al, 2001;Berryman, 1984;Hamperl, 1967;Hollimon and Owsley, 1994;Hrdlička, 1909;Jacobi et al, 1996;Miller, 1994;Milner et al, 1991;Owsley and Berryman, 1975;Snow, 1941;Williams, 1994;Willey, 1990;Willey and Emerson, 1993). However, some of these are only briefly described, and a few not at all.…”

Section: Scalpingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These include the observation that the reactive portion of the cranium is confined to a clearly demarcated area, defined at least in part by a ridge, gutter, and/or groove (Bridges et al, 2000;Hrdlička, 1909;Jacobi et al, 1996;Miller, 1994;Owsley and Berryman, 1975;Ortner and Putschar, 1985). This characteristic, in addition to the rarity of osteomyelitis exclusive to the cranium, has been argued to suggest that a single traumatic event is responsible for the defect (Hamperl, 1967;Aufderheide and Rodríguez-Martin, 1998).…”

Section: Scalpingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond palisades: The nature and frequency of late prehistoric deliberate violent trauma in the Chickamauga Reservoir of East Tennessee

Smith

2003

American J Phys Anthropol

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Based on the presence of palisades and an iconography suggesting a warrior elite, warfare is presumed to be endemic in the Late Mississippian period (AD 1200-1600) of the southeastern United States. Warfare is theorized to play a vital role in the cycling of chiefdoms. However, apart from a few exemplary cases that display double-digit frequencies, very little direct (i.e., skeletal) evidence of violent trauma has dovetailed with the archaeological presumptions of warfare. Eight sites from the Chickamauga Reservoir of east Tennessee were examined for skeletal evidence of deliberate violent trauma. Violent trauma was anticipated because these sites are in close proximity and consist of two adjacent, sociopolitically distinct, and temporally overlapping phases: Dallas (AD 1300-1600) and Mouse Creek (AD 1400-1600). In addition to small, round, nonlethal ectocranial blunt-force trauma (BFT) on the frontal and upper parietal bones, inflicted projectile points and scalping were identified. The low total trauma frequency in the Dallas sample (3.86%, n = 259) is consistent with emerging evidence from east and west Tennessee Late Mississippian data, but significantly different from Mouse Creek (8.06%, n = 273). The proportion of nonlethal cranial BFT in the collective Chickamauga sample is large and at odds with the Tennessee River Valley comparative literature. Based on other bioarchaeological literature, this pattern suggests intragroup violence, but not face-to-face ritual contests. It is better explained as interpersonal conflict resolution along codified lines. This is consistent with southeastern ethnohistoric data and may explain the more frequent cranial BFT in the less stratified Mouse Creek phase, which likely would not have had an overarching civil authority.

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Warfare and mortality at Koger's Island, Alabama

Bridges

1996

Int. J. Osteoarchaeol.

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Evidence for Prehistoric Scalping in Northeastern Nebraska

Cited by 16 publications

References 2 publications

Possible cases of scalping from pre‐hispanic highland Peru

Possible cases of scalping from pre‐hispanic highland Peru

Beyond palisades: The nature and frequency of late prehistoric deliberate violent trauma in the Chickamauga Reservoir of East Tennessee

Warfare and mortality at Koger's Island, Alabama

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