Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Category
Social Sciences/Humanities
Abstract/Artist Statement
At the prehistoric site of Paquimé in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico, violence has been linked to the development and maintenance of ritual and social inequality through human sacrifice and performance violence. Across pre-colonial Mexico, human sacrifice coincided with the end or beginning of new seasons, maintenance of hierarchical structures, and offerings to the gods of rain, fertility, and agriculture. Research indicates that preferences for certain demographic variables such as age and sex may have played a significant role in the recruitment of sacrificial victims, and that these were often matched with the deities to whom they were offered. To aid in the understanding of how an individuals’ biological sex may or may not have predisposed them to suffer violence, real-time PCR and high-resolution melting analysis were applied to determine the sex of 49 individuals previously identified as sacrificial and cannibalized victims at Paquimé. Preliminary results provided estimations of sex for 30 of these individuals, characterizing ten of the 14 sacrificed individuals as female (71%) and ten of the 16 cannibalized individuals as male (62%). Ongoing research is focused on performing sex determinations for the remaining 19 individuals, as well as expanding the sample size by further identifying more victims at Paquimé. Results will add to the existing knowledge on the ritual practices and social structure present at Paquimé. Identifying patterns of victim identity may provide insight into how individuals were chosen for practices involving ritual violence, and into the gendered nature of the particular deities involved.
Mentor Name
Dr. Meradeth Snow
Sex Determination of Ritual Violence Victims at Paquimé in Chihuahua, Mexico
UC North Ballroom
At the prehistoric site of Paquimé in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico, violence has been linked to the development and maintenance of ritual and social inequality through human sacrifice and performance violence. Across pre-colonial Mexico, human sacrifice coincided with the end or beginning of new seasons, maintenance of hierarchical structures, and offerings to the gods of rain, fertility, and agriculture. Research indicates that preferences for certain demographic variables such as age and sex may have played a significant role in the recruitment of sacrificial victims, and that these were often matched with the deities to whom they were offered. To aid in the understanding of how an individuals’ biological sex may or may not have predisposed them to suffer violence, real-time PCR and high-resolution melting analysis were applied to determine the sex of 49 individuals previously identified as sacrificial and cannibalized victims at Paquimé. Preliminary results provided estimations of sex for 30 of these individuals, characterizing ten of the 14 sacrificed individuals as female (71%) and ten of the 16 cannibalized individuals as male (62%). Ongoing research is focused on performing sex determinations for the remaining 19 individuals, as well as expanding the sample size by further identifying more victims at Paquimé. Results will add to the existing knowledge on the ritual practices and social structure present at Paquimé. Identifying patterns of victim identity may provide insight into how individuals were chosen for practices involving ritual violence, and into the gendered nature of the particular deities involved.