Contextualizing High Fragmented Remains as Complex Mortuary Practices in the American Southwest (AD 700-1700)

Violence is never an isolated or meaningless act, but intentional, communicative, and socially meaningful. This dissertation extrapolates that meaning through a holistic methodology by focusing on the cultural context of previously analyzed and archived collections of heavily fragmented human remains from the American Southwest (AD 700-1700). The intent is to provide critical information about the motivation and meaning behind these assemblages. Previous works claiming these osteological collections were the result of cannibalism are problematic with indigenous populations having lived with this dehumanizing stigma for more than two decades. The goal of this study was to provide a different interpretation to explain the cultural reasoning behind the behaviors related to the modification and handling of these bodies. This research used a number of lines of evidence including an extensive review of the literature, ethnographic histories, original field notes, maps, and photos from excavations to contextualize and reinterpret the earlier conclusions. Although the majority of the remains for this research have been repatriated or are no longer available for physical examination, this dissertation shows the possibility of continuing bioarchaeological research on repatriated sites. By analyzing the nuances and characteristics of these numerous different archaeological sites from across the American Southwest with fragmented remains this research adds to the existing literature regarding these processed skeletal collections. This research urges scholars to not rudimentarily place these remains in a single category of cannibalism, but to instead view the sites individually and holistically across time and place and most importantly within the cultural context.