Sensitive Subjects...

Upon reading some of my fellow student's blog entries, I realized a strong trend in the mention of cannibalism. Last semester, I wrote a paper for Research and Methodology which analyzed two papers with differing opinions regarding the same archaeological evidence from an archaeological site in the American South West. The Puebloan site in question was named 5MT10010, and is located in southwestern Colorado. The opposing views were presented by Dongoske, et al. (2000), with the opinion of NO cannibalism, and Billman, et al. (2000), with the opinion of YES for cannibalism having occurred at the site. As this was an emotionally heavy issue that had the potential for affecting the descendants of those buried in the archaeological sites, the interpretation of the bones had to be sensitive and well argued. For the purposes of this blog post, I will summarize the opposing opinions and some of the archaeological evidence, and then provide my opinion on the issue and its place within the archaeological of death. 

Billman, et al. (2000) focussed on archaeological data to support their opinion of cannibalism having occurred in at least one instance at site 5MT10010. For this team of researchers, too many anomalies were present in the osteological data to ignore. The evidence included: burnt and boiled human remains (patterned burning), human blood residue on tools, human bones which had been disarticulated and processed, and a human coprolite which tested positive for human myoglobin (evidence of ingesting human protein). The seven individuals remains found at the site all showed signs of perimortem breakage and processing, typical of butchering practices. Furthermore, many bones showed signs of burning or boiling, typical of being cooked for consumption. The authors argued that this "patterned burning" is not apparent in bush fires, but rather in slowly cooked remains. Finally, the human coprolite discovered at the site was tested for human myoglobin which can be found in muscle tissue. This molecule is only present in a coprolite upon ingesting muscle tissue. Though it paints a rather horrific picture, it seems evident that cannibalism took place at the Puebloan site of 5MT10010. 

Dogoske, et al. (2000) take an interesting approach to this issue. Whereas Billman, et al. (2000) place their findings in logic, Dongoske (2000) uses wild "what-if" scenarios to argue that, due to a lack of the knowledge of the site's taphonomy, WHO KNOWS what happened! I hope it is evident by my diction and capitalization that I do not agree with this tactic, or Dongoske et al.'s views at all. The main points of argument used include: lack of taphonomic history, lack of comparison for bone breakage, lack of cultural knowledge, and lack of secondary tests on the human coprolite. All in all, the paper was rather useless and incredibly personally written for an academic paper. 

The seven individuals recovered from 5MT10010 showed signs of being processed, disarticulated, broken for marrow, boiled and burned, and then haphazardly thrown onto the floor of a residential site with the tools used to dismember them. The authors for both sides of the arguments provided theories as to why this would occur in the first place. Billman et al. (2000) suggested that a combination of starvation due to drought, sociopolitical upheaval, and terrorizing neighbouring communities with violence all lead to this occurrence of cannibalism; due either to starvation, terrorizing your enemies, or both. Billman, et al. (2000) argue that these are the most likely reasons not only because of the evidence of cannibalism, but also because of the lack of care of the burial of the bones and associated tools. Dongoske et al. (2000) offered an interesting counter-point regarding the burial of these remains: they proposed that it could be just as likely that the funerary practices of the Puebloan people in that area consisted of processing the remains, and then having a secondary burial. It raises many questions within the archaeological context of this site... 

How are we to truly know what happened at an archaeological site? Cannibalism is such a taboo subject that quite often, the option is left in the dust, simply to avoid controversy. Though it is important to respect that descendants of the prehistoric Puebloan people, the archaeological truth of that time and place is just as knowledgable to Puebloan descendants today. Knowledge of a site's taphonomy can provide vital information regarding a culture's practices in their funerary rites. How would the burial sites of a culture that DID dismember, process and secondarily bury their dead look different in an archaeological context than one which came of violence and cannibalism? Is there a difference aside from reason and intention? Though I cannot answer these questions, I like to think that because I was forced to read these papers, I will have an open mind to different possibilities and not be so quick to assume a past culture's rites while I'm digging. 

Billman, Lambert & Leonard. (2000). Cannibalism, Warfare, and Drought in the Mesa Verde Region during the Twelfth Century AD. American Antiquity: 179-187.

Dongoske, Matin & Ferguson. (2000). Critique of the Claim of Cannibalism at Cowboy Walsh. American Antiquity: 145-146.

(First photo: site of 5MT10010)

(Second photo: Puebloan ruins in Southwestern Colorado)

DONT OPEN- DEAD INSIDE

Good evening, 397!

As a long time reader of the Walking Dead graphic novels, I knew I'd need to write about them eventually. For personal context... When I met my partner, I also accepted the fact that I would have to face my fear of zombies. I started out slow by watching Day of the Dead and 28 Days Later, which contrary to intuition, were easier to watch due to their dedication to gore. I started reading comics a couple of years later, and over the last few years, I've kept up with the Walking Dead graphic novels. 

Why did I get hooked? Why does everyone get hooked? I believe it is the intense personal connections built by the authors between the reader and the characters. Sure, the novels (and now TV show) are chalk full of brutal gore scenes, but the point of the story is to understand and witness the disintegrating social factor. How would we survive in a zombie apocalypse? And if we did survive.. Would our hearts and souls? Our mental states? Would some of us revel in the idea of our loved ones walking once more? Would any of our culture survive?

In the image to the right, Jim, a short-lived character in the graphic novels, is bitten, and as his health deteriorates, asks to be left to die on his own. He wonders if he will be reunited with his family, who also walk the streets as the undead.

What does this perspective regarding death do to society as we live? I can't help but wonder if it is simply another grasp at cheating death; simply another way to carry on, regardless of the state. Is this the modern-day variation of having a tormented means of carrying on? Is it any different from the Egyptian's belief of reawakening? It is interesting to consider the effects that such cultural crazes have on the interpretations of archaeological sites.

Something I found very interesting in The Walking Dead graphic novels was the fact that the surviving groups still chose to bury their dead, given the dire situation all of humanity found themselves in. Despite the necessity of either decapitation or brain puncturing to ensure the loved one would remain dead, many deceased group members still received a proper, albeit improvised, burial. I specifically wanted to talk about this point, because I remembered a class discussion regarding the phenomenon of burial tradition changes linked with mass death and tragedy.

What would these post-apocolyptic, zombie-land burials look like, years down the road, in an archaeological context? Here are some characteristics I believe would be similar between most burials of that time:

- Decapitation or severe wound to the brain

- Skeletal evidence of severe stress (malnutrition,     improperly healed breaks and fractures)

- Irregularly shaped graves (great variation in depth/shape)

- Most likely not located in distinguished "cemeteries"

- Lack of similarity between graves in orientation

- Possibility of simple grave goods such as personal items (jewelry, memorabilia, etc.) 

It is interesting to try to view such a scene from the future, and attempt to explain these peculiar occurrences. For example, some cemeteries belonging to the Kitoi people in the Cis-Baikal region of Siberia have revealed a high rate of intentionally decapitated remains, with the majority of the heads unaccounted for. I realize this is a huge stretch, but is it a possibility that the Kitoi people believed it  necessary to remove the head after death to avoid "reanimation"? Would this be a logical inference for archaeologists to make, were they to find the makeshift cemeteries of the survivors of The Walking Dead?

.......Let's hope we never find out.

Cultural phenomenon like The Walking Dead series provide contemporary society with a means to deal with issues surrounding death. Perhaps it is the fact that most of us (at least those of us reading this), here sitting cozily in the developed western world, are out of touch with true tragedy, horror, and loss, so we create it in a manageable context to allow ourselves to feel these issues, or even to judge our reactions. In class, we spoke of how the living bury the dead, and often it is their interpretation of that person's life that is reflected in the burial. This concept of planning "what I would want" in the event of death is ever-present in The Walking Dead, especially regarding the haunting spectre of inevitable reanimation. All of these themes common to the gravesite archaeologist are now presented in The Walking Dead. What is the purpose? Surely, it isn't just about the gore and the drama. The real strength of the graphic novels comes from the personal connection you build with each person struggling page after page, bearing their heart and everything they are to the reader. They are made human, and in that creation, so is their fear of death made real, and so are their attempts at holding onto a shred of human culture in the form of proper burial. As seen in today's post-disaster cultures, honouring the dead in a way that is the closest to "normal" (achievable for that time), may be what holds a struggling people together in the wake of tragedy.

So what can we learn from The Walking Dead phenomenon and its glimmer into the human condition? We will always carry on, and find a way to continue to do what makes us, us, regardless of the situation and resulting hardship.

Kinship....

JUST KIDDING!

Hello, fellow archaeology students...

I have a wonderful article that I had remembered incorrectly and had convinced myself that it had to do with kinship, but alas, it does not. Regardless, I will present and discuss this most wonderful Upper Paleolithic burial and why it is oh-so wonderful. Can it relate to kinship? I'm sure I could find a way to swing that, though it may be a bit of a stretch. Either way, I hope you enjoy this discussion regarding:

The Double Child Burial from Sunghir (Russia): 

Pathology and Inferences for Upper 

Paleolithic Funerary Practices

(Formicola & Buzhilova, 2004, p.189-198)

This particular burial is absolutely stunning and one of my personal favourites. Located in Sunghir, Russia, the Sunghir site resides in open tundra-like conditions with multiple burials, though there is one of particular interest: the burial of two children, lying head to head, covered in thousands of beads, and buried with many important and peculiar grave goods. Sunghir dates to the Upper Paleolithic, approximately 24,000 BP.

(Burial of Sunghir 2&3, head to head)

The two children a part of this simultaneous inhumation will be henceforth referred to as Sunghir 2, a boy near the age of 12-13 and Sunghir 3, a girl near the age of 9-10 (according to dentition). The peculiarities surrounding this burial are many, beginning with the simple fact that this lavish burial contains children (not common during the Upper Paleolithic), the way the children were laid in the burial, and the extreme amount of grave goods for that time. A peculiarity which further mystified archaeologists is the pathology present in the long bones of Sunghir 3, which displayed Congenital Bowing of the Long Bones or (CBLB), a condition which shortens and significantly bows the long bones of an individual. This pathology has been linked to diabetes of the mother in contemporary times.

(Artists rendition of the burial of Sunghir 2&3. Note the long mammoth spears and thousands of beads)

One of the most spectacular aspects of the Sunghir burials is the sheer amount of beads which were most likely sewn to the clothing the children were buried in. Thousands of beads made of ivory and fox canines littered the children. The burial also contained "long spears of straightened mammoth tusks (one of which is 240 cm long), ivory daggers... pierced antler rods, bracelets, ivory animal carvings, ivory pins, and disc-shaped pendants" (Formicola & Buzhilova, 2004, p.189). 

Sunghir is differs in many ways from other Upper Paleolithic burials in that, a) this lavish burial was for children, b) the mass amounts of grave goods (especially beads which would have taken many hours to make), c) the positioning of the children (as most double burials were side-by-side), and d) the congenital condition suffered by Sunghir 3. Formicola and Buzhilova discuss the importance of the congenital deformity in the long bones of Sunghir 3 in the preparation of such an elaborate burial. It is suggested by the authors that "those associations reassert the possibility of ideological connections between “abnormality” and extraordinary funerary patterns" (Formicola & Buzhilova, 2004, p.189). 

My opinion? I find the authors conclusions very possible, but also wonder if the children could have represented some form of sacrifice, given the high level of importance signified by such an elaborate burial. Cause of death is not discussed in the paper, though disease or an "accident" was given as a possible reason why the children died at the same time (Formicola & Buzhilova, 2004, p.189). I suppose ritual sacrifice would have to be further explored in burial practices for that time and area. It is also possible that such an elaborate burial could signify KINSHIP (I did it) of sorts, possibly linking these children to high ranking individuals within their society. I find this also very plausible, especially when one considers that burial goods such as spears were not necessarily yet useful to children of such young ages, therefore could have been the possession of a high ranking father or family member. 

(Artists rendition of an Upper Paleolithic household at Sunghir, making beads and decorating clothing)

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed the treasure that is Sunghir. 

Primary paper used:

Formicola, V., & Buzhilova, A.P. (2004). The Double Child Burial from Sunghir (Russia):                 Pathology and Inferences for Upper Paleolithic Funerary Practices. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 124, 189-198.