ANARKY Talks Presents: Bioarchaeological Analysis of an Elite Burial Tomb with Possible Human Sacrifices at Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico

ANARKY Talks is a weekly lecture series by the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology. Bioarchaeological Analysis of an Elite Burial Tomb with Possible Human Sacrifices at Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico This analysis focuses on the most complex burial discovered at Paquimé, a subfloor tomb containing the remains of at least 12 individuals. The goal of this study is to evaluate the hypothesis that the upper level of disarticulated and fragmentary human remains represents a sacred offering to the elite individuals below through a comparative analysis of health indicators, trauma, postmortem processing, pathology, and taphonomy. The results suggest that there are significant differences between the two burial layers, particularly in terms of post-mortem processing (e.g., cutmarks), age-at-death structure, and overall health of the individuals. Not only do these findings support the research hypothesis, they also provide an additional line of evidence for increasing social differentiation during the Medio period at Paquimé. Free to Attend and Open to the Public Sponsored by Chacmool & Kula Ring.

Location:

Earth Sciences 614

Speaker:

Adrianne Offenbecker, Graduate Student, Department of Anthropology & Archaeology, The University of Calgary

More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/anarky-talks-presents-bioarchaeological-analysis-elite-burial-tomb-possible-human