Violence among foragers: The bioarchaeological record from central California

Schwitalla, Al W.; Jones, Terry L.; Pilloud, Marin A.; Codding, Brian F.; Wiberg, Randy S.

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2013.11.004

Cited by 54 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The archaeological correlates of the MCA across California have been identified as disruptions in exchange systems (Arnold, 1992;Gilreath and Hildebrandt, 1997;Jones et al, 1999), subsistence shifts (Collins, 2010;Kennett and Kennett, 2000), altered settlement patterns (Gardner, 2006;Hull, 2007;Jones and Ferneau, 2002), and higher levels of disease, undernutrition, and violence (Andrushko et al, 2005;Jones and Schwitalla, 2008;Lambert, 1994Lambert, , 1997Pilloud et al, 2014;Raab and Larson, 1997;Schwitalla, 2013;Schwitalla and Jones, 2012;Schwitalla et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work has used the Central California Bioarchaeological Database (CCBD) to assess the impacts of the MCA on rates of nutritional stress, disease, and interpersonal violence in Central California regions, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Delta, and Central Valley (Jones and Schwitalla, 2008;Pilloud, 2006;Pilloud et al, 2014;Schwitalla, 2013;Schwitalla and Jones, 2012;Schwitalla et al, 2014). These studies found higher frequencies of skeletal pathologies like cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, and enamel hypoplasia attributable to disease and malnutrition, in addition to increased rates of pre-and perimortem sharp and blunt force trauma indicative of violence, during the MCA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stable isotope evidence of juvenile foraging in prehistoric Central California

Greenwald

Eerkens

Bartelink

2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Ethnographic evidence demonstrates that hunter-gatherer children may forage effectively enough to supplement an adult provisioned diet, where ecology, subsistence strategies, and social organization are conducive to juvenile participation. We use stable isotope measures (δ 15 N and δ 13 C) from bone collagen and serial-samples of dentinal collagen extracted from first molars to examine childhood dietary patterns among 24 individuals from the Late Holocene Central California site CA-ALA-554. We identify weaning age and early childhood dietary patterns, and find evidence for independent child foraging among 25% of the sample population (n = 6), the majority of whom lived during the high-stress Medieval Climatic Anomaly (1100-700 BP).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotope evidence of juvenile foraging in prehistoric Central California

Greenwald

Eerkens

Bartelink

2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…Indeed, for our tobacco-using woman from CA-SCL-919, osteological analyses determined she was a "middleaged adult" most likely between 35 and 44 years. Based on osteological analyses of skeletal populations from archaeological sites, the average life expectancy of pre-contact native Californians was under 30 years, when all individuals including sub-adults are included in the calculation (e.g., Bartelink, 2009;Jurmain et al, 2009;Schwitalla et al, 2014). Life expectancy still averages around 40 years when subadults are removed from the analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental calculus as a source of ancient alkaloids: Detection of nicotine by LC-MS in calculus samples from the Americas

Eerkens

Tushingham

Brownstein

et al. 2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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A B S T R A C TDental calculus has been shown to be a repository of a variety of exogenous organic materials, including bacterial DNA, proteins, phytoliths, and starch grains. Here we show that certain alkaloids, nicotine in this case, can also be trapped and preserved in ancient dental calculus. We present Ultra-Performance Liquid ChromatographyMass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS) results of analyses of ten archaeological calculus samples from eight individuals from Central California. Two samples tested positive for the presence of nicotine, including one from an individual buried with a pipe. UPLC-MS analyses of dental calculus could provide an alternative means to trace the spread and consumption of tobacco and other plants with distinctive alkaloid products in ancient societies. As shown here for the first time in ancient samples, the ability to detect nicotine alkaloids in calculus has enormous potential to help us better understand the consumption of intoxicant plants by ancient humans on the individual level, for example by giving us the ability to test assumptions about the age, sex, and status of individual tobacco users in the past.

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“…This is not to say that females were not victims of interpersonal violence. Indeed, Schwitalla et al (2014) record many examples of skull depressions, ulnar fractures (speculated to represent "parry fractures"), and projectile wounds …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, Heizer (1949) thought that a calotte (skull cap) fashioned into a container from the same site was that of an "enemy, " and Ragir (1972:25) interpreted five isolated skulls from CA-SAC-168 as "heads taken from war victims." Isolated heads have also been reported from sites that post-date the Early period, including CA-SMA-23, CA-SAC-99, and CA-SCL-806 (Schwitalla et al 2014). In addition, headless burials have also been found and implicated in ancient trophy-taking behaviors.…”

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confidence: 99%

Trophy Heads or Ancestor Veneration? A Stable Isotope Perspective on Disassociated and Modified Crania in Precontact Central California

et al. 2016

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Few items in the archaeological record capture the imagination more than human heads separated from their bodies. Such items are sometimes assumed to indicate warfare practices, where "trophy heads" display power and fighting prowess. Other times, they are interpreted as representing ancestor veneration. Isolated crania are not uncommon in the Early period (ca. 4500-2500 B.P.) in Central California. Some anthropologists interpret them as trophy heads, but isotopic analyses at CA-CCO-548 suggest an alternative interpretation. Strontium isotope analyses on one modified cranium produced values consistent with local individuals, and both headless burials and people buried with extra skulls overlap in carbon and nitrogen isotopes. Further, teeth from two individuals who were buried with extra skulls suggest both were weaned at early ages (before age 2), much earlier than other individuals at the site. Together with contextual information, we argue that the isotopic data are more consistent with the hypothesis that extra skulls and headless burials represent ancestor veneration rather than trophies, shedding new light on Early-period societies in Central California.Existen pocos elementos en el registro arqueológico que capturen la imaginación tanto como lo hacen las cabezas humanas separadas de sus cuerpos. En algunos casos, se asume que estos elementos indican antiguas prácticas de guerra donde las "cabezas trofeo" fueron utilizadas para demostrar el poder y la destreza en la lucha. En otros, éstas han sido interpretadas como una representación de la veneración a los ancestros. Los métodos isotópicos proveen una línea de evidencia independiente que puede ayudar a los arqueólogos a entender tales hallazgos. Los cráneos aislados no son infrecuentes en California Central en el Período Temprano (ca. 4500-2500 a.P.) y han sido interpretados por algunos antropólogos como cabezas trofeo. Nuestros análisis isotópicos en CA-CCO-548 sugieren una interpretación alternativa. Los análisis de isótopos de estroncio sobre uno de los cráneos modificados produjeron valores consistentes con individuos locales y ambos, enterratorios sin cabezas y gente enterrada con cráneos extra, se superponen en los isótopos de carbono y nitrógeno. Además, los dientes de dos individuos que fueron enterrados con cráneos extra sugieren que ambos fueron destetados a edades tempranas (antes de los 2 años), mucho antes que otros individuos en ese sitio. Nosotros argumentamos que los datos isotópicos, junto con la información contextual, son más consistentes con la hipótesis que los cráneos extra y enterratorios sin cabezas representan la veneración a los ancestros más que los trofeos, lo cual arroja nueva luz sobre las sociedades del Período Temprano en California Central.ead-taking is a powerful image in human societies, both today and in the past. Trophy heads figure prominently in the iconography and public display of several ancient and recent chiefdoms, states and empires, both in the Americas (e.g., Andrushko 2011; Brown and Dye 2007;Cordy-Collins ...

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Violence among foragers: The bioarchaeological record from central California

Cited by 54 publications

References 46 publications

Stable isotope evidence of juvenile foraging in prehistoric Central California

Stable isotope evidence of juvenile foraging in prehistoric Central California

Dental calculus as a source of ancient alkaloids: Detection of nicotine by LC-MS in calculus samples from the Americas

Trophy Heads or Ancestor Veneration? A Stable Isotope Perspective on Disassociated and Modified Crania in Precontact Central California

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