Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-19T15:00:40.264Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Preclassic Mortuary Patterns and Evidence for Human Sacrifice at Chalchuapa, El Salvador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

William R. Fowler Jr.
William R. Fowler Jr.*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Salvage excavations in 1977–1978 of Structure E3-7 at Chalchuapa, El Salvador, revealed the structure to have been a multiple-episode Late Preclassic burial mound. The skeletal remains of 33 individuals were found in the construction fill. These remains are interpreted as evidence for human sacrifice. Osteological analysis was performed with the skeletal materials in situ. The individuals whose sex could be determined were adult males. This and other evidence suggests that the E3-7 burials might have been war captives from a “foreign” (non-Chalchuapa) population.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , July 1984 , pp. 603 - 618
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Aloja, Ada d' 1939a Informe sobre la Investigaci6n Antropologica Demografica en Guatemala, Honduras, y El Salvador. Institute Panamericano de Geografia e Historia, Publicacidn 39.Google Scholar
Aloja, Ada d' 1939b Sobre la Variabilidad de Algunos Caracteres Antropometricos Observados en Grupos de Indigenas Centroamericanos. Instituto Panamericano de Geografia e Historia, Publicacidn 43.Google Scholar
Anderson, Bruce A. 1978 Excavations at Laguna Cuzcachapa and Laguna Seca. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 1, pp. 43–60. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. E. 1962 The Human Skeleton: A Manual for Archaeologists. National Museum of Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Bass, William M. 1971 Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual of the Human Skeleton. Missouri Archaeological Society, Columbia.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1971 Mortuary Practices: Their Study and Their Potential. In Approaches to the Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices, edited by Brown, J. A.. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology 25: 6–29.Google Scholar
Boggs, Stanley H. 1950 Archaeological Excavations in El Salvador. In For the Dean: Essays in Anthropology in Honor of Byron Cummings on His Eighty-ninth Birthday, edited by Reed, E. K. and King, D. S., pp. 259–276. Hohokam Museums Association and The Southwestern Monuments Association, Tucson and Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Boggs, Stanley H. 1963 Excavations at Tazumal, El Salvador. Year Book of the American Philosophical Society, pp. 505–507.Google Scholar
Brown, James A. 1981 The Search for Rank in Prehistoric Burials. In The Archaeology of Death, edited by Chapman, R., Kinnes, I, and Randsborg, K., pp. 25–37. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Chapman, Robert, and Randsborg, Klavs 1981 Approaches to the Archaeology of Death. In The Archaeology of Death, edited by Chapman, R., Kinnes, I, and Randsborg, K., pp. 1–24. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Christensen, Bodil 1952-1953 Los Otomies del Estado de Puebla. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropologicos 13: 259–268.Google Scholar
Coe, William R. 1955 Excavations in El Salvador. University Museum Bulletin 19(2): 14–21.Google Scholar
Demarest, Arthur Andrew 1981 Santa Leticia and the Development of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Demarest, Arthur A., and Sharer, Robert J. 1981 Late Preclassic Ceramic Spheres, Culture Areas, and Cultural Evolution in the Southeastern Highlands of Mesoamerica. In The Southeast Mesoamerican Periphery: Problems and Prospects, edited by Shortman, E. and Urban, P.. University of Texas Press, Austin, in press.Google Scholar
Faulhaber, Johanna 1970 Anthropometry of Living Indians. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by Wauchope, R. and Stewart, T. D., vol. 9, pp. 82–103. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowler, William R. Jr. 1981 Preclassic Interregional Networks and Interethnic Relations in El Salvador and Related Areas. In Networks of the Past: Regional Interaction in Archaeology, edited by Francis, P. D. et al., pp. 437–466. Proceedings of the 12th Annual University of Calgary Archaeological Conference. The University of Calgary Archaeological Association, Calgary.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A. 1979 Culture Areas and Interaction Spheres: Contrasting Approaches to the Emergence of Civilization in the Maya Lowlands. American Antiquity 44: 36–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Genoves, Santiago T. 1967 Long Bone Proportionality and Its Relation to Stature in Mesoamerican Populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 26: 67–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Genoves, Santiago T. 1970 Anthropometry of Late Prehistoric Remains. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by Wauchope, R. and Stewart, T. D., vol. 9, pp. 35–49. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez Torres, Yolotl 1972 El Contenido Social del Sacrificio Humano. In Religidn en mesoamerica, pp. 193–197. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologia, XII Mesa Redonda, Mexico.Google Scholar
Hernandez, Francisco 1959 Historia Natural de Nueva Espana, 2 vols. Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico.Google Scholar
Kirchhoff, Paul 1943 Mesoamerica: Sus Limites Geograficos, Composici6n Etnica y Caracteres Culturales. Acta Americana 1: 92–107.Google Scholar
Krogman, Wilton Marion 1962 The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. Charles C Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.Google Scholar
Larde, Jorge 1926 Regi6n Arqueol6gica de Chalchuapa. Revista de Etnologia, Arqueologia, y Linguistica 1: 163-173. San Salvador.Google Scholar
Longyear, John M. III 1944 Archaeological Investigations in El Salvador, with an Appendix by Boggs, Stanley H.. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 9(2).Google Scholar
Lopez, Manuel R. 1979 Notas Sobre la Excavacidn de Rescate del Monticulo E3-7, El Trapiche, Chalchuapa. Ms. on file, Administration del Patrimonio Cultural, San Salvador.Google Scholar
Lopez, Alonso, Sergio, , Zaid Lagunas, Rodriguez, and Carlos Serrano, Sanchez 1976 Enterramientos Humanos de la Zona Arqueoldgica de Cholula, Puebla. Coleccion Cientifka, Antropologia Fisica 44. Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Lothrop, Samuel K. 1937 Code: An Archaeological Study of Central Panama. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 7.Google Scholar
Michels, Joseph W. 1979 The Kaminaljuyu Chiefdom. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park.Google Scholar
Norman, V. Garth 1973 Izapa Sculpture. Part I: Album. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 30.Google Scholar
Norman, V. Garth 1976 Izapa Sculpture. Part II: Text. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 30.Google Scholar
Peebles, Christopher S., and Kus, Susan M. 1977 Some Archaeological Correlates of Ranked Societies. American Antiquity 42: 421–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romero, Javier 1970 Dental Mutilation, Trephination, and Cranial Deformation. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by Wauchope, R. and Stewart, T. D., vol. 9, pp. 50–67. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruz, Alberto L. 1965 Tombs and Funerary Practices of the Maya Lowlands. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by Wauchope, R. and Willey, G. R., vol. 2, pp. 441–461. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Saul, Frank P. 1972 The Human Skeletal Remains of Altar de Sacrificios: An Osteobiographic Analysis. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 63(2).Google Scholar
Saxe, Arthur Alan 1970 Social Dimensions of Mortuary Practices. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Michigan, University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Sedat, David W., and Sharer, Robert J. 1984 Archaeological Investigations in the Salama Valley, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. University Museum Monographs. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1974 The Prehistory of the Southeastern Maya Periphery. Current Anthropology 15: 165–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1975 The Southeast periphery of the Maya Area: A Prehistoric Perspective. Paper presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco. Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1978a The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, 3 vols., edited by Sharer, R. J.. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1978b Excavations in the El Trapiche Group. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 1, pp. 61–87. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1978c Summary of Architecture and Constructional Activity. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 1, pp. 121–132. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1978d The Surface Surveys. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 1, pp. 13–39. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1978e Pottery. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 3, pp. 1–203. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1978f Special Deposits. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 1, pp. 181–194. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J. 1978g Conclusions. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 3, pp. 205–217. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J., and Gilford, James C. 1970 Preclassic Ceramics from Chalchuapa, El Salvador and Their Relationships with the Maya Lowlands. American Antiquity 35: 441–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1978 Artifacts. In The Prehistory of Chalchuapa, El Salvador, edited by Sharer, R. J., vol. 2, pp. 1–131. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Shook, Edwin M., and Kidder, Alfred V. 1952 Mound E-III-3, Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 596.Google Scholar
Standley, Paul C. 1944 The American Fig Tree. In The Aztec and Maya Papermakers, edited by Von Hagen, V. W., pp. 94–101. J. J. Augustin, New York.Google Scholar
Starr, Frederick 1908 In Indian Mexico. Forbes, Chicago.Google Scholar
Tainter, Joseph A. 1978 Mortuary Practices and the Study of Prehistoric Social Systems. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, edited by Schiffer, M. B., vol. 1, pp. 105–141. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Tolstoy, Paul 1963 Cultural Parallels Between Southeast Asia and Mesoamerica in the Manufacture of Bark Cloth. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Series II 25: 646–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ubelaker, Douglas H. 1978 Human Skeletal Remains. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Von, Hagen, Wolfgang, Victor 1944 The Aztec and Maya Papermakers. J. J. Augustin, New York.Google Scholar
Weaver, Muriel Porter 1981 The Aztecs, Maya, and Their Predecessors (second edition). Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Webster, David L. 1977 Warfare and the Evolution of Maya Civilization. In The Origins of Maya Civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 335–372. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar