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Geographic Identities of the Sacrificial Victims from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan: Implications for the Nature of State Power

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christine D. White ,
Michael W. Spence ,
Fred J. Longstaffe ,
Hilary Stuart-Williams  and
Kimberley R. Law
Christine D. White
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Western Ontario, London ON N6A 5C2, Canada
Michael W. Spence
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Western Ontario, London ON N6A 5C2, Canada
Fred J. Longstaffe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London ON N6A 5B7, Canada
Hilary Stuart-Williams
Affiliation:
Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601
Kimberley R. Law
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London ON N6A 5B7, Canada
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Abstract

This study addresses the political and military structure of early Teotihuacan through the analysis of oxygen-isotope ratios in skeletal phosphate from 41 victims of a sacrifice associated with the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. Oxygen-isotope ratios are markers of geographic identity. A comparison of bone and enamel values, which provides a contrast between environments experienced during growth and those of adulthood, illustrates that at least four different regions are represented in this sample. Those identified as soldiers had either lived locally since childhood or had moved to Teotihuacan from several foreign locations. Most had lived in Teotihuacan for a prolonged period before their death. This pattern suggests foreign “recruitment” or mercenary behavior. The women had either lived all their lives in Teotihuacan or had moved from there to a foreign location. Most of the individuals in the center of the pyramid (burial 14) did not come from Teotihuacan, nor had they lived in the city long before their deaths. We suggest that the choice of victims was meant to demonstrate Teotihuacan's powerful ideology to the rest of the Mesoamerican world. Notably, this isotopic evidence of physical interaction between Teotihuacan and foreign regions considerably predates the currently existing archaeological evidence.

En este estudio investigamos la estructura política y militar del estado temprano de Teotihuacan, México, por medio del análisis de las proporciones de los isótopos estables del oxígeno en el fosfato óseo y dental de 41 víctimas del gran sacrificio asociado a la construcción de la pirámide de la Serpiente Emplumada en los años 200 AD. El análisis se funda en la premisa de que “somos lo que bebemos”. La proporción isotópica del agua ambiental de una región se transfiere al agua corporal de quienes beben el agua y, entonces, a su fosfato óseo y dental. Así, la proporción de los isótopos sirve como un marcador geográfico. Además, una comparación entre los valores dentales y óseos nos informa de la diferencia entre el ambiente geográfico de la niñez y el ambiente de la vida adulta del individuo. Los resultados indican que al menos cuatro regiones están representadas en la muestra. Los sacrificados identificados como soldados habían vivido en el área de Teotihuacan desde su infancia o se transladaron a Teotihuacan de áreas foráneas. La mayoría había vivido en el área varios años antes del sacrificio. Este patrón sugiere el reclutamiento de extranjeros o quizás el empleo de mercenarios. Las mujeres habían pasado toda la vida en Teotihuacan o se trasladaron de Teotihuacan a áreas foráneas. En cambio, la mayor parte de los individuos masculinos del entierro 14, al centro de la pirámide, no procedía de Teotihuacan ni había vivido en el área mucho tiempo antes de su muerte. Sugerimos que la selección de las víctimas tuvo por objeto la demostración de la poderosa ideología de Teotihuacan al mundo mesoamericano. Cabe destacar que esta evidencia isotópica de interacción entre Teotihuacan y las áreas foráneas indica una fecha bastante más temprana para esta interacción que lo que la evidencia arqueológica muestra.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 2002 , pp. 217 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2002

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