Southwestern physical anthropology: Do the cultural and biological parameters correspond?

Abstract

D e p a r t m m t ofAnthropology, Case Western ReserveUnroersrty, Ciei ?Land. Ohio 44106 KEY WORDS Anthropometry . Skeleton Biological distance . Southwest Plateau . ABSTRACTSkeletal series representing 15 prehistoric and historic Southwestern American Indian groups were examined to estimate the degree of biological distance on the basis of craniometric data, to re-examine Carl Seltzer's ('44) hypothesis of biological continuity in the Southwest Plateau region, and to see whether the biological parameters correspond to the cultural taxonomies and chronological subdivisions of the Southwestern prehistorians. Within and between group differences were found to he relatively small. Cult.ura1 and genetic isolation, disease selection and dietary patterns are suggested to best explain these differences. Seltzer's ('44) hypothesis is firmly supported. Conclusions reached by physical anthropologists with regard to biological relationships through time and space in the Southwest Plateau area are in agreement with the archeological subdivisions and known cultural history of the American Southwest.

Postclassic expansion of Mesoamerican biocultural characteristics into Sonora, Mexico

“…The nearly universal tabular form (both erect and oblique) practiced in this region resulted from placing infants in cradleboards for extended periods of time and is often thought to be unintentional-a byproduct of the nature of infant care among Puebloans (Dennis and Dennis 1940). Modified crania are infrequently encountered in the lowland desert areas of the Southwest and appear to be more tied to Puebloan identity (El-Najjar 1978). The pronounced form of elongated flattening exhibited by individuals recovered from El Cementerio is rarely found in the Southwest (Watson 1999).…”

“…Artificial cranial modification first appears in the Southwest during the Pueblo I period (A.D. 700-900) and continued until the late historical period in the region (Dennis and Dennis 1940;El-Najjar 1978). The nearly universal tabular form (both erect and oblique) practiced in this region resulted from placing infants in cradleboards for extended periods of time and is often thought to be unintentional-a byproduct of the nature of infant care among Puebloans (Dennis and Dennis 1940).…”

“…The practice of artificial cranial modification has long been documented in the surrounding core culture areas of the Southwest (El-Najjar 1978;Watson 1999), West Mexico (Carpenter 1996;Gill 1971), and Mesoamerica (Hrdlička 1912;Romero 1970). Artificial cranial modification (the tabular erect form) first appears-and becomes common-in Mesoamerica during the early Preclassic period (1400-1000 B.C.)…”

Phenotypic variation of transitional forager‐farmers in theSonoranDesert

“…Phenotypic variation in prehistoric human skeletal remains from Southwest U.S. archaeological sites receives considerable attention as a regional approach to understanding human population history and structure (Corrucini, 1972;Mackey, 1977;El-Najjar, 1978;Howell and Kintigh, 1996;Carlyle et al, 2000;Schillaci, 2003;Schillaci andStojanowski, 2002, 2005;Kemp, 2006;Kemp et al, 2010;Watson, 2010;Ortman, 2012;Peeples, 2014). This study uses craniometric data from three sitecomplexes ( Fig.…”

Asymmetric vault modification in Hopi crania

“…The effect of unintentional cranial vault modification on cranial morphology is of direct relevance to biological distance studies. Numerous studies have used metric traits in a n attempt to assess the degree of biological distance between prehistoric or protohistoric Indian groups within the United States based on cranial dimensions (Corruccini, 1972;Buikstra et al, 1990;El-Najjar, 1978;Droessler, 1981;Sciulli and Schneider, 1985;Sciulli, 1990). The practice of cradleboarding was particularly widespread throughout the Southwest, though the practice differed by population or by degree within a population (Hrdlicka, 1935;Stewart, 1937;Reed, 1949).…”