TY - JOUR
T1 - Migration, violence, and the “other”
T2 - A biogeochemical approach to identity-based violence in the Epiclassic Basin of Mexico
AU - Pacheco-Forés, Sofía I.
AU - Morehart, Christopher T.
AU - Buikstra, Jane E.
AU - Gordon, Gwyneth W.
AU - Knudson, Kelly J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was conducted as part of the Northern Basin of Mexico Historical Ecology Project. Archaeological samples were exported from Mexico with the approval of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia’s Consejo de Arqueología (Oficio No. 401-3-6715). Sample collection and laboratory analyses were supported by grants to Pacheco-Forés from the National Science Foundation (grant numbers 2013155229, 1744335, 2002923); as well as from the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, the Center for Bioarchaeological Research, and the School of International Languages and Cultures at Arizona State University. Excavations, archaeological analyses, and radiocarbon dating were supported by grants to Morehart from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the Wenner Gren Foundation. We are grateful to Abigail Meza-Peñaloza and María García Velasco for facilitating access to osteological collections at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. At the Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory, we are thankful to research apprentices Aimee Alvarado, Jorge Benavente, Sibella Campbell, Eric Flores, Zen Garcia, Kari Guilbault, Arman Gurule, Sparshee Naik, Elizabeth Rausch, Emily Steinberg, Alyssa Torres, Rebecca Ulloa, and Tajinder Virdee. At the Metals, Environmental, and Terrestrial Analytical Laboratory, we are grateful for the assistance of Stephen Romaniello, Trevor Martin, and Natasha Zolotova. At the Colorado Plateau Stable Isotope Laboratory, we are grateful for the assistance of Jeffrey Propster. Additionally, we are grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments also improved the manuscript.
Funding Information:
This research was conducted as part of the Northern Basin of Mexico Historical Ecology Project. Archaeological samples were exported from Mexico with the approval of the Instituto Nacional de Antropolog?a e Historia's Consejo de Arqueolog?a (Oficio No. 401-3-6715). Sample collection and laboratory analyses were supported by grants to Pacheco-For?s from the National Science Foundation (grant numbers 2013155229, 1744335, 2002923); as well as from the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, the Center for Bioarchaeological Research, and the School of International Languages and Cultures at Arizona State University. Excavations, archaeological analyses, and radiocarbon dating were supported by grants to Morehart from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the Wenner Gren Foundation. We are grateful to Abigail Meza-Pe?aloza and Mar?a Garc?a Velasco for facilitating access to osteological collections at the Universidad Nacional Aut?noma de M?xico. At the Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory, we are thankful to research apprentices Aimee Alvarado, Jorge Benavente, Sibella Campbell, Eric Flores, Zen Garcia, Kari Guilbault, Arman Gurule, Sparshee Naik, Elizabeth Rausch, Emily Steinberg, Alyssa Torres, Rebecca Ulloa, and Tajinder Virdee. At the Metals, Environmental, and Terrestrial Analytical Laboratory, we are grateful for the assistance of Stephen Romaniello, Trevor Martin, and Natasha Zolotova. At the Colorado Plateau Stable Isotope Laboratory, we are grateful for the assistance of Jeffrey Propster. Additionally, we are grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments also improved the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Bioarchaeological studies are highly successful in accessing multivalent past social identities. This study applies social identity theory to contexts of violence, developing a theoretical framework to investigate identity-based violence at the Epiclassic (600–900 CE) central Mexican shrine site of Non-Grid 4, where at least 180 individuals were ritually sacrificed and interred. Ethnohistoric and archaeological data indicate that geographic origin was a culturally significant indicator of social difference in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. This study therefore reconstructs the residential histories of sacrificed individuals (n = 73), analyzing radiogenic strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and stable oxygen (δ18O) isotopes to consider how the perception of social difference, inferred from geographic origins, contributed to the selection of victims of ritual violence. Biogeochemical results demonstrate that 70% of sampled sacrificed individuals were born and lived their early lives outside of the Basin of Mexico, migrating into the region later in life. In contrast, only 22% of individuals were born and lived in the Basin their entire lives. Observed paleomobility patterns among sacrificial victims thus suggest that they were targeted for identity-based violence based on their divergent geographic origins in the volatile socio-political landscape of the Epiclassic Basin of Mexico.
AB - Bioarchaeological studies are highly successful in accessing multivalent past social identities. This study applies social identity theory to contexts of violence, developing a theoretical framework to investigate identity-based violence at the Epiclassic (600–900 CE) central Mexican shrine site of Non-Grid 4, where at least 180 individuals were ritually sacrificed and interred. Ethnohistoric and archaeological data indicate that geographic origin was a culturally significant indicator of social difference in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. This study therefore reconstructs the residential histories of sacrificed individuals (n = 73), analyzing radiogenic strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and stable oxygen (δ18O) isotopes to consider how the perception of social difference, inferred from geographic origins, contributed to the selection of victims of ritual violence. Biogeochemical results demonstrate that 70% of sampled sacrificed individuals were born and lived their early lives outside of the Basin of Mexico, migrating into the region later in life. In contrast, only 22% of individuals were born and lived in the Basin their entire lives. Observed paleomobility patterns among sacrificial victims thus suggest that they were targeted for identity-based violence based on their divergent geographic origins in the volatile socio-political landscape of the Epiclassic Basin of Mexico.
KW - Central Mexico
KW - Human sacrifice
KW - Mesoamerica
KW - Paleomobility
KW - Radiogenic strontium isotopes
KW - Ritual violence
KW - Stable oxygen isotopes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104158068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85104158068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaa.2020.101263
DO - 10.1016/j.jaa.2020.101263
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85104158068
SN - 0278-4165
VL - 61
JO - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
JF - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
M1 - 101263
ER -