Additional Evidence for Cannibalism in the Southwest: The Case of LA 4528
Abstract
About A.D. 950, 11 persons of a small Anasazi settlement on Burnt Mesa north of the San Juan River, New Mexico, were butchered, mutilated and possibly roasted. The group's mixed remains were left strewn over a pithouse floor. Nearly all the bones were smashed and splintered. Some of them were burned, some show cut marks, and all exhibit greenstick breaks. Cannibalism is the most reasonable explanation for the patterned destruction. Starvation or necessity, rather than ritual or religious configuration, seem to best explain why the cannibalism occurred.
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The motivations for cannibalism have been more often reduced to three categories: ritualistic, dietary, and survival.
“Therefore, the motivations for cannibalism have been more often reduced to three categories: ritualistic (aggressive or affectionate), dietary and survival (Flinn et al., 1976, p. 308).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Flinn et al., 1976
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References 18 · Cited by 39
- Authors
- Flinn, L., Turner II, C. G., & Brew, A.
- Venue
- American Antiquity
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1976-07
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 308-318
- ISSN
- 0002-7316 (ISSN-L)
- 2325-5064
- OpenAlex
- W2329920510
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Antiquity (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Archaeological and Geological Studies
- Keywords
- cannibalism, Ancestral Puebloans, skeletal remains, greenstick fracture, butchery marks, ritual sacrifice, starvation, pit dwellings, San Juan River, prehistoric burial practices
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