A re-assessment of Basketmaker II cave 7: massacre site or cemetery context

Coltrain, Joan Brenner; Janetski, Joel C.; Lewis, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.02.018

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The Early period is marked by considerable spatial and temporal variability in evidence for warfare, though overall, LeBlanc (1999) characterizes this period as subject to "endemic warfare." The famous assemblage of bodies in Cave 7 in southeastern Utah excavated by the Wetherills in the 1890s is interpreted by LeBlanc as the massacre of an entire group, though a recent intensive radiocarbon dating program suggested it accumulated over at least five centuries, and identified only about 20 percent of the bodies as showing evidence of perimortem trauma (Coltrain et al 2012). Coltrain and colleagues infer a pattern of episodic raiding and intragroup male/male violence for the period during which they believe the Cave 7 deposits accumulated (roughly 100 B.C.-A.D. 400).…”

Section: Brief History Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Better Angels of their Nature: Declining Violence through Time Among Prehispanic Farmers of the Pueblo Southwest

et al. 2014

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The central Mesa Verde and the northern Rio Grande regions housed two of the densest populations of prehispanic Pueblo peoples in the North American Southwest. We plot incidence of violent trauma on human bone through time in each region. Such violence peaked in the mid-A.D. 1100s in the central Mesa Verde, and in general was higher through time there than in the northern Rio Grande region. In the central Mesa Verde, but not in the northern Rio Grande, there is a tendency for violence to be greater in periods of low potential maize produccción per capita and high variance in maize produccción, though these structural tendencies were on occasion overridden by historical factors such as the expansion and demise of the Chacoan polity and the regional depopulation. Violence generally declined through time in the northern Rio Grande until the arrival of the Spanish, even as populations increased. We propose that this decline was due to the combination of increased social span of polities, the importance of inter-Pueblo sodalities, the nature of religious practice, “gentle commerce,“ and increased adherence to a set of nonviolent norms.

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Section: Brief History Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Better Angels of their Nature: Declining Violence through Time Among Prehispanic Farmers of the Pueblo Southwest

et al. 2014

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“…This type of farming was likely facilitated by ease of access since prior to the Grand Gulch Phase BMII peoples generally lived in rock shelters (Lipe 1966;Matson 1991;2006a, b;Smiley 1994;Smiley and Gumerman 1986). During the Grand Gulch Phase, dry farming on mesa tops led to occupations in dispersed hamlet clusters at higher elevations and a movement away from canyons and rock shelters (Coltrain et al 2012;Dohm 1994;Hurst et al 2011;Matson 1991;2006a, b;Matson et al 1990). Mesa-top Grand Gulch Phase inhabitants of Cedar Mesa had settlement patterns remarkably similar to BMIII and Puebloan peoples, likely indicative a similar approach to subsistence farming (Dohm 1994).…”

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supplementing Maize Agriculture in Basketmaker II Subsistence: Dietary Analysis of Human Paleofeces from Turkey Pen Ruin (42SA3714)

Battillo¹

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This research explores the factors that motivated increasing reliance on maize during the Basketmaker II period in the North American Southwest. Through the analysis of 44 human paleofeces from Turkey Pen Ruin, Utah, I investigate resource choice and nutritional supplementation of maize before the advent of bean horticulture. In order to discern what resources provided caloric and nutritional supplementation to maize, all paleofecal specimens were analyzed for pollen and macrofossil content, and 20 were further sampled for PCR analysis targeted at several select animal and plant species. Eight paleofecal specimens from various stratigraphic layers were directly AMS dated in order to better assess the chronology of the midden from which they were excavated, and to determine their cultural phase association. The resulting data allowed for the testing of three hypotheses based in human behavioral ecology, specifically applying diet-breadth and patch-choice models. The results of this project demonstrate that the diet of these early maize farmers was relatively broad, and included a high proportion of resources with lower caloric returns than maize. Furthermore, plants associated with field and disturbance settings, such as goosefoot (Chenopodium spp.) and purslane (Portulaca spp.), which provide excellent nutritional complements to maize, made large contributions to the diet. Overall, these findings indicate that people were pushed to increase their reliance on farming due to resource depression, and that the anthropogenic niche created by farming activities encouraged greater focus on the field as a patch of multiple types of resources, and not only as a location for growing maize. The discovery of corn smut (Ustilago maydis) spores in all but one of the specimens studied suggest that this parasitic fungus may also have made a noteworthy contribution to the diet, further supporting the emphasis on the field as a patch. In combination, these data and theoretical analyses help to explain the subsistence choices made by Basketmaker II people. In particular, these results clarify what motivated people to increasingly focus on farming, and highlight the wild resources used to augment maize-based nutrition prior to the incorporation of beans, which provided essential nutrients during later periods.

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The Role of Elites and Social Control

Harrod

2017

The Bioarchaeology of Social Control

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A re-assessment of Basketmaker II cave 7: massacre site or cemetery context

Cited by 8 publications

References 23 publications

The Better Angels of their Nature: Declining Violence through Time Among Prehispanic Farmers of the Pueblo Southwest

The Better Angels of their Nature: Declining Violence through Time Among Prehispanic Farmers of the Pueblo Southwest

Supplementing Maize Agriculture in Basketmaker II Subsistence: Dietary Analysis of Human Paleofeces from Turkey Pen Ruin (42SA3714)

The Role of Elites and Social Control

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