Tierra Caliente (Figure 1) is the low-elevation valley that runs from the Tepalcatepec River at the border of the states of Jalisco and Michoacán states to the basin of the Balsas River at the frontier with the state of Guerrero (González y González Reference González y González and Zarate Hernandez2001:17; Gonzalez-Paraiso Reference Gonzalez-Paraiso2004:10–12; Osborne Reference Osborne1943:59–61; Paradis Reference Paradis1974). This region is distinct not only in terms of its climatic conditions but also in terms of its local culture (González y González Reference González y González and Zarate Hernandez2001:18–30; Paradis Reference Paradis1974). The first archaeological survey in Tierra Caliente was conducted by Spinden (Reference Spinden1911) in the Balsas River basin and the valley of Río del Oro in June 1910 (Spinden Reference Spinden1911:29). However, it was not until the 1940s that a true golden era of archaeological interest in the Tierra Caliente occurred (Armillas Reference Armillas1945; Brand Reference Brand1943; Goggin Reference Goggin1943; Lister Reference Lister1947; Osborne Reference Osborne1943). Since that time, only a few archaeological surveys were conducted in this region (Gastelum-Strozzi et al. Reference Gastelum-Strozzi, Peláez-Ballestas, Castro, Rodriguez, Dena, Trujano and Punzo-Díaz2019; Grove and Paradis Reference Grove and Paradis1971; Medina Reference Medina1989).
Pioneer archaeologists working in the Tierra Caliente region did not pay much attention to the mortuary practices. However, cremation burials in the Tierra Caliente were reported from the beginning of the twentieth century (Spinden Reference Spinden1911:32–33). Brand (Reference Brand1943) discovered singular urn and pit cremation burials in the valley of the Balsas River. Other researchers reported the presence of similar archaeological features in the Churumuco region (Armillas Reference Armillas1945) and in San Miguel Totolapan (Lister Reference Lister1947). Cabrera Castro (Reference Cabrera Castro1976) confirmed the presence of cremation burials during his work in the La Villita region. He also mentioned the presence of funerary urns dated to the Classic period in the Cocula Valley, Guerrero (Cabrera Castro Reference Cabrera Castro, Niederberger and Reyna Robles2002:270).
This article presents the results of a preliminary study of 10 funerary urns from the Los Tamarindos cemetery in the Chigüero region of Tierra Caliente, Michoacan. This is the first pre-Columbian cremation sample analyzed from a bioarchaeological perspective from the Tierra Caliente region. Based on the methodology proposed by McKinley (Reference McKinley1994) and Jaskulska (Reference Jaskulska2020), I was able to determine the basic information about the biological profile (age at death, MNI, and sex), observing the presence of both children and adult individuals in separate urn burials. Detailed and careful excavation of the funerary urns allowed me to draw initial conclusions about the presence of pyre goods (obsidian flakes and the remains of animals) and grave goods deposited outside of the funerary urns (unburned deciduous teeth, clay figurine, and copper bell). Based on the color of cremains and indirect pyre temperature indicators such as fire-twisted obsidian flake and shattered enamel of permanent teeth, I suggest that the maximum temperature of the funerary pyre reached at least 600°C and a maximum of 800°C. This assumption opens a further interpretive path in the context of cremation technology at the Los Tamarindos site, which should be studied with the application of specialistic analyses, such as FTIR spectroscopy and archaeobotanical investigation.
Background
In the West Mexico region, which encompasses the territories of five Mexican states (Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacan) and parts of the Guanajuato and Guerrero states as defined by Williams (Reference Williams2020), the number of bioarchaeological studies on cremation burials is relatively limited. The first information about cremation burials was published by Hrdlička (Reference Hrdlička1903), who presented the results of the analysis of cremation burials from Totoate in the Bolaños River valley. Cremated remains from Valle de Banderas, Jalisco, were also studied by Bioarchaeologists, providing information about the taphonomy and biological profile of the deceased (Mountjoy Reference Mountjoy1993; Mountjoy and Sandford Reference Mountjoy and Sandford2006:316). Osteological analysis of cremation burials from Bolaños Canyon at the border of Jalisco and Zacatecas provides data about MNI and the age of individuals (Cabrero García and López Cruz Reference Cabrero García and López Cruz2007:245). Eventually, Talavera González and Santiago Martínez (Reference Talavera González and Santiago Martínez2017) studied Epiclassic cremation burials from La Pitayera in Nayarit.
However, the highest number of cremation burials in West Mexico was found in the Zacapu Basin, Michoacan. Until now, the largest sample of studied cremation burials comes from Loma Alta cemetery (Arnauld et al. Reference Arnauld, Carot and Fauvet-Berthelot1993; Carot Reference Carot2001; Michelet Reference Michelet and Carrasco2001). Thirty-one funerary urns excavated from this cemetery contained burned and cremulated human remains (Carot and Susini Reference Carot and Susini1989). The single funerary urn dated to the end of the Epiclassic period (A.D. 800/850–900) from the El Palacio site in the Zacapu region was also studied by Grégory Pereira (Pereira and Barrientos Juárez Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020). In addition, cremation burials were found in other parts of Michoacan (Caso Reference Caso1930; Espejel Carbajal Reference Espejel Carbajal2014:27; Leon Reference Leon1903:416; Macías Goytia Reference Macías Goytia1990, Reference Macías Goytia1997; Martínez González Reference Martínez González2013; Plancarte Reference Plancarte1893:83; Pulido Mendéz Reference Pulido Mendéz, Niederberger and Reyna Robles2002:302).
The presence of funerary urns with burned human remains was also reported in other parts of Mesoamerica (e.g., Bonfil Olivera Reference Bonfil Olivera2016; Cabrera Castro Reference Cabrera Castro, Manzanilla and Sánchez1999; Duncan et al. Reference Duncan, Balkansky, Crawford, Lapham and Meissner2008; Fauvet-Berthelot Reference Fauvet-Berthelot, de March, Pereira, Laporte and Escobedo1996; Garciá Payón Reference Garciá Payón1979; Grove Reference Grove1970:63–64 Iguaz Reference Iguaz1993:71; López Alonso Reference López Alonso1971; Nielsen and Helmke Reference Nielsen, Helmke, Tiesler and Scherer2018; Ruiz González Reference Ruiz González2021; Weiant Reference Weiant1943; Weiss-Krejci Reference Weiss-Krejci, Colas, Fort and Persson2006). Multiple Postclassic cremation burials were excavated in both the Mayan Lowlands and Mayan Highlands (Adams Reference Adams1990; Blom Reference Blom1954:124–129; Colby Reference Colby1976:75; Fauvet-Berthelot Reference Fauvet-Berthelot, de March, Pereira, Laporte and Escobedo1996; Medina Martín and Sánchez Vargas Reference Medina Martín, Vargas, Tiesler and Cucina2007; Miller Reference Miller, Tiesler and Cucina2007; Palka Reference Palka, Tiesler and Scherer2018; Ruiz González Reference Ruiz González2021:21; Tiesler Reference Tiesler, Tiesler and Cucina2007; Weiss-Krejci Reference Weiss-Krejci, Colas, Fort and Persson2006:76). However, the presence of cremation burials in the Maya region can be dated as early as the middle Preclassic period, and one of the earliest burials were discovered in Copan (Tiesler Reference Tiesler, Tiesler and Scherer2018:212; Weiss-Krejci Reference Weiss-Krejci, Colas, Fort and Persson2006:76). In addition, historical sources (Duncan et al. Reference Duncan, Balkansky, Crawford, Lapham and Meissner2008; Durán Reference Durán1964; Ragot Reference Ragot and Béligand2021; Román Berrelleza and López Luján Reference Berrelleza, Alberto and Luján1999) and Postclassic codexes (Bellas Reference Bellas1997; Iguaz Reference Iguaz1993:64–66; Oliver Reference Oliver, Tiesler and Scherer2018; Zborover Reference Zborover2020) indicate that cremation was a burial rite reserved for Tlaxcaltecan, Mixtec, Tarascan, and Aztec warriors, nobles, and kings. The archaeological record from the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan also indicates the practice of cremation (Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas2007, Reference Chávez Balderas, Tiesler and Scherer2018:379; Iguaz Reference Iguaz1993:71; Ragot Reference Ragot and Béligand2021:310; Román Berrelleza and López Luján Reference Berrelleza, Alberto and Luján1999).
Material
Los Tamarindos in regional chronology
Los Tamarindos urn-field cemetery was excavated during the salvage archaeology project “Proyecto Arqueológico Salvamento Presa el Chigüero” in 2015 prior to the construction of a dam in Chigüero (Gastelum-Strozzi et al. Reference Gastelum-Strozzi, Peláez-Ballestas, Castro, Rodriguez, Dena, Trujano and Punzo-Díaz2019; Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019, Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2020a). Forty-two funerary urns were found at this archaeological site deposited at the level of the tepetate bedrock (Figure 2). Some offerings were deposited outside the funerary vessels as grave goods, including clay figurine, copper bells, and unburned human deciduous teeth (Figure 3). In the case of one of the copper artifacts deposited as a grave offering, a fragment of the textile was preserved (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019:202–203). Copper bell do not exhibit signs of fire patina; therefore, they should be considered grave goods, not pyre goods, which would be deposited on the pyre before or during the cremation process and burned with the body of the deceased. Radiocarbon dating of the burned human bone from urn RT28 (Gastelum-Strozzi et al. Reference Gastelum-Strozzi, Peláez-Ballestas, Castro, Rodriguez, Dena, Trujano and Punzo-Díaz2019; Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Gastelum-Strozzi, Ballestas and Navarro2017) indicates that the cemetery functioned during the Postclassic period (1296–1404 cal A.D. [2σ]).
Map of Tierra Caliente and Michoacan with neighboring areas and the locations of major archaeological sites mentioned in the text. Map created by Budziszewski.
Planigraphy of the Los Tamarindos cemetery with the location of funerary urns. Drawn by Zarco Navarro, courtesy of INAH Michoacan.
Selected grave goods excavated outside of funerary urns within the funerary area at Los Tamarindos. RT17 presents the copper bell with textiles, and RT30 presents the clay figurine. RT33 presents a second upper deciduous molar with a resorbed root and a fragment of an unidentified deciduous tooth. RT34 presents left and right first lower deciduous molars with resorbed roots. Photographs by Budziszewski (RT33 and RT34) and Punzo Díaz (RT17 and RT30), courtesy of INAH Michoacan.
Regarding the most precise regional chronology, the results of Proyecto Arqueológico Salvamento Presa el Chigüero provides the most accurate and detailed information about this matter. The project entailed a comprehensive examination of all archaeologically recognizable sites within the region. The outcomes of the fieldwork yielded precise and reliable dating information (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019, Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro, Castañón Suárez, Englehardt, Heredia Espinoza and Beekman2020b). At least four settlements dated to the Classic period were excavated in the studied region at the Loma de Piticuaro, Cuinicuaro, Piaiticuaro, and Yácata de la Casita archaeological sites (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019, Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro, Castañón Suárez, Englehardt, Heredia Espinoza and Beekman2020b). All the mentioned settlements were dated using the radiocarbon method. Moreover, the archaeomagnetic method was applied in the case of Loma de Piticuaro (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019, Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro, Castañón Suárez, Englehardt, Heredia Espinoza and Beekman2020b). In Yácata de la Casita, inhumation burials were found near residential structures. Similarly, at the El Ancón archaeological site, which was dated back to the Preclassic period (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019:119–149, Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro, Castañón Suárez, Englehardt, Heredia Espinoza and Beekman2020b), inhumation burials were excavated. The only settlement occupied in the Postclassic period excavated during Proyecto Arqueológico Salvamento Presa el Chigüero was discovered in Cupandario (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019:429, Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro, Castañón Suárez, Englehardt, Heredia Espinoza and Beekman2020b). Archaeologists encountered inhumations without burial offerings, interred under the floors of the houses. In general, the preservation of nonburned human bones discovered in Cupandario was very poor (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019:427–428, Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2020a). Moreover, the presence of singular, dispersed burned human bones in Cupandario was also reported (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019:430).
The Los Tamarindos cemetery
The funerary urns excavated at the Los Tamarindos cemetery display a wide range of shapes and sizes. However, a more in-depth analysis of pottery is beyond the scope of this article, which will concentrate on the bioarchaeological data obtained from human remains intentionally placed in ceramic vessels and found in situ at the archaeological site (Figure 4). The method of placing funerary urns in clusters and the lack of architecture and other archaeological features, except for artifacts mentioned above that were deposited alongside burials, allows me to determine the funerary functions of this archaeological site. The Los Tamarindos cemetery is an example of a flat urn-field cemetery, similar to the definition of Trincheras culture sites such as Cerro de Trincheras in northern Mexico (Cerezo-Román Reference Cerezo-Román2021; Watson et al. Reference Watson, Cerezo-Román, Maldonado, Guzmán, Elisa Villalpando, Schmidt and Symes2015).
In situ documentation of the funerary urns analyzed in this study. Photographs by Punzo Díaz, courtesy of INAH Michoacan.
Analysis was conducted on 10 microexcavated urns (RT6, RT7, RT8, RT9, RT10, RT12, RT13, RT25, RT27, and RT28) from the Los Tamarindos site (Gastelum-Strozzi et al. Reference Gastelum-Strozzi, Peláez-Ballestas, Castro, Rodriguez, Dena, Trujano and Punzo-Díaz2019; Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019). The term “RT,” used by the team led by Jose Luiz Punzo Díaz, will be utilized in this article as the equivalent of the archaeological feature number. It will also be used to refer to the inventory numbers of the grave goods deposited outside of the urns (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2019).
The urns were excavated by mechanical layers with a layer thickness ranging from 2 to 2.5 cm, followed by the methodological protocol of Jessica Cerezo-Román (Cerezo-Román Reference Cerezo-Román2020; Cerezo-Román and Williams Reference Cerezo-Román, Williams, Kujit, Quinn and Cooney2014). In the case of RT07, the urn fill within each layer was additionally divided into quarters (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2020a:368). The main purpose of this protocol was to gather extensive data regarding the spatial distribution of objects within the urn, which could be later integrated with CT scan images (Gastelum-Strozzi et al. Reference Gastelum-Strozzi, Peláez-Ballestas, Castro, Rodriguez, Dena, Trujano and Punzo-Díaz2019). However, the exploration of funerary urn RT07 focused mainly on the metal artifacts and confirming information about its localization derived from CT scans (Punzo Díaz et al. Reference Punzo Díaz, Rangel Estrada, Ibarra Ávila, Navarro and Castañón Suárez2020a), not on burned human remains and their spatial distribution.
The remaining funerary urns from the Los Tamarindos cemetery will be microexcavated and analyzed in the future. The forthcoming research will focus on the potential of a combination of the traditional bioarchaeological analysis of osteological material with the results of computed tomography (Budziszewski et al. Reference Budziszewski, Gastelum-Strozzi and Punzo Díaz2023, Gastelum-Strozzi et al. Reference Gastelum-Strozzi, Peláez-Ballestas, Castro, Rodriguez, Dena, Trujano and Punzo-Díaz2019). Several urns from the Los Tamarindos cemetery were left unexplored as part of an ongoing effort to preserve examples of unique archaeological features from the Tierra Caliente region.
Methods
The data collection and analytic protocol were based on the methods proposed by McKinley (Reference McKinley1994) and Jaskulska (Reference Jaskulska2020). Before the analysis, each burial was weighed on an electronic scale with a measurement accuracy of 0.1 g. Subsequently, I sieved the burials through a set of three calibrated round-opening sieves with the mesh opening size sequentially >10 mm, >5 mm, and >2 mm. This division resulted in the separation of three size fractions, which later were separately weighed. Afterward, I conducted the morphological identification of bone fragments and assigned them into one of the following categories:
1. Skull
2. Torso (axial skeleton with pectoral girdle and pelvic girdle)
3. Upper free limb
4. Lower free limb
5. Unidentified
Next, I weighed each of the categories within each weight fraction separately. I also measured the largest bone fragment using a sliding clipper with a measurement accuracy of 0.1 mm. This protocol provides the quantitative data on which the analysis was based. Data are stored in the standardized Google Sheet file for each of the burials (Jaskulska Reference Jaskulska2020:130).
The rate of anatomical identification (RAI) was calculated for each of the contexts according to the protocol proposed by Gonçalves (Reference Gonçalves2012:67) as the maximum weight of all identified fragments divided by the full weight of the burial (with the 2 mm fraction included) and presented as percentage values.
During the morphological identification, I noted the presence of taphonomic and paleopathological lesions, and heat-induced alterations to the bones. Furthermore, at this step, I noted the presence of the diagnostic traits for the assessment of age at death and the sex of the individuals. Moreover, I registered the presence of animal bones, pyre goods, and grave goods within the burial (McKinley Reference McKinley, Mitchell and Brickley2017). The sex of individuals was assessed based on the standards of Buikstra and Ubelaker (Reference Buikstra and Ubelaker1994), whereas the age assessment for the subadults was based on the stage of epiphyseal fusion (Cunningham et al. Reference Cunningham, Scheuer and Black2016) and the odontogenesis (Ubelaker Reference Ubelaker1989). The age of adult individuals was assessed based on the stage of cranial suture obliteration (Meindl and Lovejoy Reference Meindl and Lovejoy1985) and the general morphology of bone fragments (McKinley Reference McKinley1994).
The division of age categories was adapted from the work of McKinley (Reference McKinley1994:19) at Spong Hill.
1. Infant (0–4 years old)
a. Young infant (0–2 years old)
b. Older infant (3–4 years old)
2. Juvenile (5–12 years old)
a. Young juvenile (5–8 years old)
b. Older juvenile (9–12 years old)
3. Subadult (13–18 years old)
a. Young subadult (13–15 years old)
b. Older subadult (16–18 years old)
4. Young adult (19–25 years old)
5. Mature adult (26–40 years old)
a. Younger mature adult (26–30 years old)
b. Older mature adult (31–40 years old)
6. Older Adult (>40 years old)
7. Adult (>19 years old)
In terms of chromatic changes of the bone, I used the scale developed by Holden et alia (Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995a), and I based the classification of thermal fractures on typology developed by Symes et alia (Reference Symes, Rainwater, Chapman, Gipson, Piper, Schmidt and Symes2008).
Results
Fragmentation
Due to the low weight of the burials (Table 1), all burials should be considered as partial burials. Data from modern crematories indicate that the adult cremated burial weight should range from 900 to even more than 5,000 grams (Bass and Jantz Reference Bass and Jantz2004). The mean weight of the analyzed burials is 196.8 g. Despite the low amount of osteological material, the presence of bone fragments from each of the anatomical regions was recorded in nearly all analyzed burials, except for RT10, RT13, and RT28 (Figure 5). Only in the case of RT7 is the distribution of anatomical regions similar to the expected model values for the dry, unburned skeleton (McKinley Reference McKinley1994:6). In most cases, the prevalence of cranial bone fragments within the identifiable fragments is visible.
Maximum weight along with the sum weight of identified bone fragments for each burial. The rate of anatomical identification (RAI) is presented in percentages.
The percentage values of anatomical regions among all identified bone fragments within each burial are compared with the model data of the normal weight distribution of anatomical regions (McKinley Reference McKinley1994). The weights of the anatomical regions in grams are presented in the table below the graph. Made by Budziszewski.
The RAI values ranged from 20.1% to 66.4%. The two burials with the highest RAI values have the lowest total weight, and the most identifiable fragments in those burials are cranial bone fragments with the minimum or no value of postcranial bone fragments. In the rest of the analyzed samples, the RAI value might be considered as the median value for archaeological cremation burials.
The mean measurements of the largest bone fragments range from 20 to 35 mm (Table 2). Feature RT6 is characterized by the smallest bone fragment sizes and the largest fragmentation, whereas the bone fragment measurements in RT7 indicate the lowest fragmentation in the analyzed sample.
Measurements of the largest bone fragments in each of the analyzed burials in millimeters.
The proportion of fraction weights (Figure 6) indicates a visible pattern, where most of the fragments have diameters below 10 mm. The only exception is the RT25 burial, where 63.77 percent of the fragments belong to the largest fraction. The greatest variety in the percentage value of the fractions is visible in the smallest 2 mm fraction, which consists of mostly unidentifiable small fragments of cremains, teeth roots, and bone dust. These differences might be due to fragmentation of the remains as a result of cremation burial practices or differences in microexcavation between the urns and methods of collecting bone fragments, and sieving of the urn fill. Despite these differences, the predominance of the <10 mm fraction is visible, indicating high fragmentation of the cremation burials from Los Tamarindos, which can also be observed in the measurements of the largest bone fragments (Table 2).
The cumulative bar graph presents the percentage values of each fraction (>10 mm, >5 mm, >2 mm) for each of the burials analyzed. Made by Budziszewski.
Taphonomy
The taphonomic changes observed in this context refer to heat-induced alterations of bone structure, which include bone warping and shrinking, chromatic discolorations, the presence or absence of china-like structure, and the brittleness of cremains.
In terms of the chromatic discolorations of the bones, all burials show both inter- and intraburial diversity. Most of the burials show the predominance of blue/gray fragments over white-colored bone fragments (RT6, RT9, RT10, RT12, RT13, RT25, RT27, RT28). Most of the white-colored fragments do not exhibit the specific china-like structure typical for the recrystallization phase of bone structure thermal alteration (Correia Reference Correia, Sorg and Haglund1996; Ellingham et al. Reference Ellingham, Thompson, Islam and Taylor2015:185; Holden et al. Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995a, Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995b; Schultz et al. Reference Schultz, Warren, Krigbaum, Schmidt and Symes2015). These white-colored fragments have a brittle structure, similar to the blue/gray fragments. Most of the china-like fragments within these burials are identifiable fragments of the cranium. Only in the case of RT8 did I observe the predominance of white china-like fragments, but even here, the blue/gray cremains represent around 40 percent of all bone fragments in this burial. RT7 exhibits the largest variety of chromatic discolorations of the bones, given that black fragments can also be observed in this context (Figure 7).
Cremains from RT07 show a wide range of thermal chromatic discolorations, ranging from blue to gray to chalky white. Photography by Budziszewski.
Bone warping and thermal fractures can only be observed on the bone fragments in the >10 mm fraction. These thermal alterations can be observed in each of the studied burials. Longitudinal fractures can be observed mainly in the fragments of the long-bone diaphyses (RT6, RT9, RT12, RT25, RT27). Splintering is present on the surface of cranial bone fragments (RT6, RT8, RT9, RT10, RT13, RT28) and is visible mostly on the fragments of epiphyses (RT7, RT9, RT25).
Biological profile
Age-at-death assessment. The cremation process, as an intentional funerary practice, is inherently a destructive taphonomic process (Jaskulska Reference Jaskulska2020). The fragmentation and heat-induced alterations discussed in the previous results section pose challenges to the analytical potential of reconstructing the biological profile of individuals who were cremated and buried in the Los Tamarindos cemetery. Despite these limitations, the basic assumptions regarding the age and sex of individuals based on the presence of diagnostic bone fragments are presented in Table 3. The precision of age and sex assessments is based on the number of diagnostic fragments and their preservation. As a result, the age assessment was more precise in the case of subadults. In RT10, RT13, and RT28, the presence of permanent tooth germs provided the most detailed information about the age at death, but due to the lack of a complete dental inventory, the exact age assessment was impossible to determine, and therefore general age categories were established.
MNI along with the age and sex assessment, with the methods applied.
a McKinley Reference McKinley1994:16
b Cunningham et al. Reference Cunningham, Scheuer and Black2016
c Meindl and Lovejoy Reference Meindl and Lovejoy1985; after Buikstra and Ubelaker Reference Buikstra and Ubelaker1994
d Ubelaker Reference Ubelaker1989
e Ascadi and Nemeskeri 1970 quoted in Buikstra and Ubelaker Reference Buikstra and Ubelaker1994
In RT12 and RT27, the only indicator of age at death preserved was the completely fused epiphyses of proximal foot phalanges, which allowed only the determination of the lower margin of age assessment. The older age of those individuals cannot be negated. The most precise age assessment for adult individuals was possible in the case of RT8, where cranial bone fragments with endocranial obliteration of sutures were observed.
In the case of RT6, RT9, and RT25, no diagnostic fragments were preserved; therefore, according to the observations of Jacqueline McKinley (Reference McKinley1994:16) and based on the general morphology of bone fragments—including the thickness of cranial vault fragments and marrow cavities of the long-bone diaphysis—the very general age category of an adult can be determined.
Sex assessment. Similar methodological limitations also apply to the sex assessment. Only in two cases can the sex of individuals be preliminarily assessed based on the presence of fragments of the supraorbital margin (RT8 and RT9). Furthermore, in the case of RT8, the diagnostic fragment of the mastoid process was recorded.
Minimal number of individuals (MNI). The most complicated situation was encountered in RT7, where due to the presence of two right petrous parts of the temporal bone, the MNI = 2. The only diagnostic fragments for age-at-death assessment preserved in this context are the fragments of unfused femoral head and femoral neck. Due to the lack of a duplicated femoral head, the age can be assessed only for one of the individuals in this burial, and the age of the second cannot be determined more precisely than that of an adult. For the rest of the analyzed burials, MNI = 1. A very interesting feature of the Los Tamarindos population is the presence of individual graves of infants. More detailed assumptions regarding MNI and other aspects of the biological profile and the frequency of individual or multiple burials and their type would be possible to determine after the analysis of the remaining burials from Los Tamarindos
Foreign objects
During the bioarchaeological analysis, additional traces of both grave and pyre goods were recorded. Shell fragments were found in five burials (RT6, RT7, RT9, RT26, and RT28). Only in the case of RT9 do shell fragments exhibit visible signs of fire discoloration. Furthermore, small fragments of the engraved shell were recorded in the RT7 urn. Additionally, a fire-twisted obsidian flake was found in burial RT27.
The presence of animal burned bones was confirmed in only one burial (RT7), where fragments of carnivore ribs, fragments of bird long bone, and fragments of an unidentified animal were encountered. More detailed species identification was unobtainable due to thermal alterations and high fragmentation of animal bones, similar to the fire transformation of human bones, indicating the presence of animal remains on the pyre during the cremation process.
Discussion
Analysis of 10 funerary urns from Los Tamarindos allowed me to draw preliminary conclusions about the Pretarascan cremation burial practices at this archaeological site. The bioarchaeological data allowed me to propose interpretations of both the technological aspect of cremation and the cultural dimension in terms of mortuary practices, presumably related to funerary behaviors of the mourners and the eschatological perception of the human body. I also propose an analysis on the social dimension of the perception of children in society using the discussed cemetery. However, before delving into the results of this analysis, it is crucial to acknowledge the methodological limitations inherent in bioarchaeological research on cremation in West Mexico.
When attempting to compare the bioarchaeological data presented in this study with previous publications on pre-Columbian burned human remains, there is a major challenge due to the absence of a unified methodology. Recently, other bioarchaeological analyses reported information about the maximum weight of cremains (Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas2007:212; Núñez Hernández Reference Núñez Hernández2004:121; Pereira Reference Pereira, Tiesler and Scherer2018; Pereira and Barrientos Juárez Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020), and they provide a list of identified bone fragments (Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas2007:212; Fauvet-Berthelot et al. Reference Fauvet-Berthelot, de March, Pereira, Laporte and Escobedo1996:470–471; Medina Martín and Folan Reference Medina Martín and Folan2010:707; Medina Martín and Sánchez Vargas Reference Medina Martín, Vargas, Tiesler and Cucina2007:109; Pereira and Barrientos Juárez Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020:256–259) or publish quantitative data with precise and clear information (Núñez Hernández Reference Núñez Hernández2004:123–124; Pereira Reference Pereira, Tiesler and Scherer2018:335–337; Pereira and Barrientos Juárez Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020:254–255). These data allow me to compare the results of different publications. Detailed and clear reporting of numeric data concerning weights or representation of anatomical regions allows me to understand and envision the published burials. This enables me to make further interpretations regarding the technological and cultural facets of cremation burial practices, including the method of collecting bones from the funerary pyre by the mourners and the cultural aspects of this funerary behavior. Many publications also present data about the estimated temperature of the funerary pyre, including the exact ranges (Bonfil Olivera Reference Bonfil Olivera2016; Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas, Tiesler and Scherer2018:391–392; Duncan et al. Reference Duncan, Balkansky, Crawford, Lapham and Meissner2008; Medina Martín and Folan Reference Medina Martín and Folan2010; Núñez Hernández Reference Núñez Hernández2004:126; Pereira and Barrientos Juárez Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020; Pérez Rodríguez et al. Reference Pérez Rodríguez, Ponce de León and Martínez Tuñón2017; Ruiz González Reference Ruiz González2021). In other cases, the chromatic discolorations are only listed without further interpretation (Houston and Scherer Reference Houston, Scherer, Luján and Olivier2010:182; López Calvo and López Alonso Reference López Calvo and López Alonso2018:44; Tiesler Reference Tiesler, Tiesler and Scherer2018:217). Pereira and Barrientos Juárez (Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020:255), on the other hand, properly estimated the temperature in the case of cremation urn burials from El Palacio, indicating only its lower margin. Moreover, based on their report, I can tentatively suggest that the temperature of the funerary pyre during the cremation process in Los Tamarindos could be similar to the El Palacio cremations. Similar observations concerning the thermal discoloration and possible maximum temperature of the funerary pyre was also reported from Postclassic Mayan sites such as Dos Pilas (Weiss-Krejci Reference Weiss-Krejci, Colas, Fort and Persson2006:77) and from Tenochtitlan (Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas2007:210–212, Reference Chávez Balderas, Tiesler and Scherer2018:392–396).
The published osteological evaluation of cremated human remains from Tonina (Ruiz González Reference Ruiz González2021:263–267) is also an example of a well-conducted study using new methods and based on the current literature. The author evaluated thermal discolorations and thermal cracking as an important source of information about human body treatment (Ruiz González Reference Ruiz González2021:263–264). However, cremated human remains were found in the commingled context. Therefore, the funeral aspect of cremations in Tonina is not evident. Ruiz González (Reference Ruiz González2021:264–265) suggested that this case is an example of a sacrificial context. The recent discovery in Tonina is not the only example of burned human bones from the Mayan region that was identified as the remains of sacrificial victims. Stephen Houston and Andrew Scherer suggest that burned human bones dated to the Classic period from Piedras Negras, Tikal, and Dos Pilas should be interpreted as the remains of sacrificial activities (Chinchilla Mazariegos et al. Reference Mazariegos, Oswaldo, Gómez and Price2015:196; Houston and Scherer Reference Houston, Scherer, Luján and Olivier2010:181–182; Tiesler Reference Tiesler, Tiesler and Scherer2018:223–225). The burials of children from El Zotz indicate exposure to fire, but based on chromatic discolorations, I can estimate that the degree of oxidation was relatively low. Taking into account the archaeological context, children's burials from El Zotz can also be considered as the remains of sacrificial victims (Scherer and Houston Reference Scherer, Houston, Tiesler and Scherer2018:136–138). However, the archaeological record and historical sources suggest that the Maya could use fire to dispose of soft tissues and therefore clean bones (Chuchiak Reference Chuchiak, Tiesler and Scherer2018:168). Consequently, it is crucial to note that not all skeletal remains that show signs of fire exposure can be interpreted as evidence of burned sacrificial victims.
Conversely, when reporting descriptive data about cremation burials, the state of the art is different. The lack of a standardized way of describing qualitative features of burned human bones and the potential subjectivity of researchers in the descriptive reporting of cremation burials limits comparisons and conclusions based on queries of the scientific literature. Specifically, when it comes to qualitative data such as taphonomic changes and thermal alterations, a broad range of terminology is often used by researchers (Duncan et al. Reference Duncan, Balkansky, Crawford, Lapham and Meissner2008; Fauvet-Berthelot et al. Reference Fauvet-Berthelot, de March, Pereira, Laporte and Escobedo1996; Houston and Scherer Reference Houston, Scherer, Luján and Olivier2010; Mountjoy and Sandford Reference Mountjoy and Sandford2006:327; Ruiz González Reference Ruiz González2021; Talavera González and Santiago Martínez Reference Talavera González and Santiago Martínez2017). High variation and imprecision in their reporting significantly hinder interpretations. Regarding the description of thermal fractures, many bioarcheologists use the typology developed by Symes and colleagues (Reference Symes, Rainwater, Chapman, Gipson, Piper, Schmidt and Symes2008). However, many explanations for the presence of these thermal fractures refer to the traditional interpretation of bones being burned while still covered with soft tissues (Bonfil Olivera Reference Bonfil Olivera2016:33; Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas, Tiesler and Scherer2018:383; Chinchilla Mazariegos et al. Reference Mazariegos, Oswaldo, Gómez and Price2015; Fauvet-Berthelot et al. Reference Fauvet-Berthelot, de March, Pereira, Laporte and Escobedo1996; López Calvo and López Alonso Reference López Calvo and López Alonso2018:44; Núñez Hernández Reference Núñez Hernández2004:125; Pereira and Barrientos Juárez Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020:255; Tiesler Reference Tiesler, Tiesler and Scherer2018:217; Ubelaker Reference Ubelaker1989). However, this interpretation was questioned by the study, which indicates that the presence of collagen in bones before the cremation is sufficient to cause the above-mentioned thermal fractures and alternations (Gonçalves et al. Reference Gonçalves2011). Furthermore, it is notable that there is a lack of precision in the use of the term “fragmentation” in many publications. Frequently, the terms “high” or “low” fragmentation are used without providing the quantitative data (García Jiménez Reference García Jiménez2013; Mountjoy and Sandford Reference Mountjoy and Sandford2006). For each researcher, the subjective determination of high/low fragmentation can be misleading. I believe that the methodology applied in this study enables the comparison of this important feature of cremation burials regardless of territory or chronology, supported by the quantitative data. This approach will help to eliminate the interpretive biases in the data and will ensure greater accuracy of the published analyses.
Regarding heat-induced alterations in bone structure and taphonomic changes, a high variability in chromatic changes was observed in the analyzed burials. The possibility of macroscopic determination of the funerary pyre temperature is very limited. Recently, microscopic studies of the crystallinity index with the application of the spectrometric analyses (Ellingham et al. Reference Ellingham, Thompson, Islam and Taylor2015; Gonçalves et al. Reference Gonçalves, Vassalo, Mamede, Makhoul, Piga, Cunha, Marques and Batista de Carvalho2019; Iriarte et al. Reference Iriarte, García-Tojal, Santana, Jorge-Villar, Teira, Muñiz and Ibañez2020; Sandholzer et al. Reference Sandholzer, Sui, Korsunsky, Walmsley, Lumley and Landini2014; Thompson et al. Reference Thompson, Islam and Bonniere2013) proved to be a more reliable and accurate method for estimating the maximum temperature and duration of the cremation process. Therefore, only basic observations can be proposed based on macroscopic taphonomic changes. The majority of bone fragments indicate blue/grey or white chromatic changes, which suggests the degree of oxidation connected traditionally with pyre temperature exceeding 600°C. On the other hand, in the case of Los Tamarindos, many of the white-colored bones do not exhibit a china-like structure. This thermal-altered change in bone structure is one of the characteristic features of the recrystallization phase of cremains (Correia Reference Correia, Sorg and Haglund1996; Ellingham et al. Reference Ellingham, Thompson, Islam and Taylor2015:185; Holden et al. Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995a, Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995b; Schultz et al. Reference Schultz, Warren, Krigbaum, Schmidt and Symes2015). The temperature of the funerary pyre was probably not stable and constant during the whole process. As the result, the temperature and impact of the fire differed in specific parts of the funerary pyre. Therefore, bone fragments indicating different thermal-alerted changes can appear in one cremation burial as an effect of the typical process of burning human remains on the open-air pyre. Recently, multiple studies indicated that specific chromatic discolorations can be caused by lower temperatures if the remains had been exposed to fire for a longer duration (Fairgrieve Reference Fairgrieve2007; Holden et al. Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995a, Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995b; Weitzel and McKenzie Reference Weitzel, McKenzie, Schmidt and Symes2015). Because of these factors, the precise indication of the maximum temperature of the funerary pyre cannot be estimated based only on macroscopic observations of bone fragments.
However, the presence of a fire-twisted obsidian blade and the shattering of the fully erupted teeth crowns in the studied burials can serve as indirect indicators of the temperature range during the cremation process. The enamel tissue is destroyed when exposed to temperatures above 600°C (Bagdey et al. Reference Bagdey, Moharil, Dive, Thakur, Bodhade and Dhobley2014; Beach et al. Reference Beach, Passalacqua, Chapman, Schmidt and Symes2008; Mahoney and Miszkiewicz Reference Mahoney, Miszkiewicz, Schmidt and Symes2015). The teeth's roots are protected by maxillae and mandibular bones during the cremation process; therefore, they are the only part of the permanent teeth that will survive this funerary practice (Huntsman and Becker Reference Huntsman and Becker2013; Lemmers Reference Lemmers2012; McKinley Reference McKinley, Mitchell and Brickley2017; Schmidt Reference Schmidt, Schmidt and Symes2015). The melting point of obsidian was experimentally estimated to be at 800°C, and this data has been used in many archaeological case studies as an indication of the temperature of the funerary pyre (McGuire Reference McGuire2018; Reinhard and Fink Reference Reinhard and Fink1994; Shackley and Dillian Reference Shackley, Dillian, Loyd, Origer and Fredrickson2002). Based on this information, I can tentatively presume that the temperature during the cremation exceeded 600°C and reached at least 800°C. However, spectrometric analysis may yield more precise and certain information concerning the maximum temperature and the duration of the cremation process.
The proportion of size fractions is an important indicator of the differences in cremation burials from both intra- and interpopulation perspectives. Multiple factors can contribute to higher levels of fragmentation, including cultural aspects of cremation burial practices and postcremation behaviors, such as the deliberate crushing of bones (Evans Reference Evans1996; Holden et al. Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995a; Lara et al. Reference Lara, Paz, Lewis and Solheim2015; Sigvallius Reference Sigvallius1994), technological aspects of cremations such as the temperature and duration of the cremation process (Harvig Reference Harvig and Thompson2015; Holden et al. Reference Holden, Phakey and Clement1995a; Ubelaker Reference Ubelaker2009), methods of pyre extinguishing and the manner of collecting cremains from the extinguished pyre (McKinley Reference McKinley1989, Reference McKinley1993; Pankowská et al. Reference Pankowská, Průchová and Nováková2013; Szydłowski Reference Szydłowski1965), postdepositional natural processes (Harvig Reference Harvig and Thompson2015; McKinley Reference McKinley1993, Reference McKinley1994; Minozzi Reference Minozzi, Schmidt and Symes2015; Symes et al. Reference Symes, Rainwater, Chapman, Gipson, Piper, Schmidt and Symes2008), process and methods of excavation (Harvig et al. Reference Harvig, Lynnerup and Ebsen2012; Minozzi Reference Minozzi, Schmidt and Symes2015; Pankowská et al. Reference Pankowská, Průchová and Nováková2013), and the time between cremation and collection of burned remains from the pyre (Waterhouse Reference Waterhouse2013).
In the analyzed sample, the prevalence of >5 mm fractions is visible, contrary to the European samples analyzed with a similar methodology. The archaeological sites where the biggest >10 mm fraction is visibly dominant range from the British Isles (Caffell and Holst Reference Caffel and Holst2007; McKinley Reference McKinley1994; Shimmin and Rose Reference Shimmin and Rose2015; Wysocki and Cummings Reference Wysocki, Cummings, Aldritt, Fowler and Cummings2007), through Belgium (Stamataki et al. Reference Stamataki, Sabaux, Hlad, Tys, Snoeck, Vercauteren and Warmenbol2019), Poland (Budziszewski Reference Budziszewski2018; Dzierlińska Reference Dzierlińska2018; Jaskulska Reference Jaskulska2018), the Balkans (Thomas Reference Thomas2011), and Portugal (Maradoa and Braga Reference Maradoa and Braga2018). Unfortunately, the lack of bioarchaeological analysis of cremains from the New World studied using a similar methodology makes the comparison of numerical data from Los Tamarindos to other examples from Mesoamerica or the Southwest impossible.
High fragmentation of burial from Los Tamarindos seen through the low proportion of the biggest >10 mm fractions may be one of the factors contributing to the low total weight of most of the analyzed burials. On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, fragmentation is influenced by various factors. At this stage of the analysis, it is challenging to identify the primary factors responsible for the fragmentation of the cremains. Furthermore, it is difficult to determine the extent to which fragmentation itself affects the overall weight and quantity of bone in the burials. In this regard, it is important to consider the possibility of the potential intentional manipulation of burned human remains by mourners before being placed in the funerary urns. Historical sources describing the mortuary behavior among Aztecs indicate the ritual usage and significance of the cremains and ashes of the deceased. In his opus, Diego Durán (Reference Durán1964) mentions that some of the burned remains were gathered and placed among the hills outside the habitation areas. The widows of the cremated warriors covered their faces with ashes and probably the remains of the funerary pyre (Oliver Reference Oliver, Tiesler and Scherer2018:348). Moreover, the historical description of Tlaxcaltecan practices indicates that some of the ashes were mixed with blood and utilized as a vital symbolic substance of the figurines and statues (Oliver Reference Oliver, Tiesler and Scherer2018:354).
Based on our knowledge of ethnohistorical records from Mesoamerica, it can be inferred that cremation burial practices are commonly associated with the cult of fire or the sun (Bonfil Olivera Reference Bonfil Olivera2016:33; Eberl Reference Eberl, Tiesler and Scherer2018). Additionally, the purifying attributes of fire are often considered an essential element of the religious aspect of cremation burial rites (Bonfil Olivera Reference Bonfil Olivera2016:35; Chinchilla Mazariegos Reference Chinchilla Mazariegos, Tiesler and Scherer2018:42; Palka Reference Palka, Tiesler and Scherer2018; Vail and Duncan Reference Vail, Duncan, Tiesler and Scherer2018:270). The cleansing power of fire has also been confirmed in historic and ethnohistoric sources (Chinchilla Mazariegos Reference Chinchilla Mazariegos, Tiesler and Scherer2018:39–40). Additionally, some variants of myth concerning the fiery death of dangerous Natsi'itni—especially the Ch'orti’, Totonac, and Popoluca versions—indicate the connection of the burning of the deity with fertility and successful cultivation (Chinchilla Mazariegos Reference Chinchilla Mazariegos, Tiesler and Scherer2018:41). Aztec mythologies also mention the act of self-sacrifice of gods by burning in the fire atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan as an act of transformation of death into life and darkness into light (Nielsen and Helmke Reference Nielsen, Helmke, Tiesler and Scherer2018:78; Oliver Reference Oliver, Tiesler and Scherer2018:347). This myth also indicates the recreating and transformative aspects of fire in Mesoamerican cosmology, including the self-sacrifice of Quetzalcoatl and numerous indications of the creation of humanity by gods out of ashes present in the Mesoamerican mythologies (Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas2007:122; Palka Reference Palka, Tiesler and Scherer2018:289; Scherer and Houston Reference Scherer, Houston, Tiesler and Scherer2018:142). Finally, fire could be used to destroy the essence of a person or profane the body of an enemy (Chuchiak Reference Chuchiak, Tiesler and Scherer2018:169–171). Fire also undoubtedly played an essential role in the Tarascan religion (Corona Nuñez Reference Corona Nuñez, Goytia and Silva1993). This element was one of the most important aspects of the principal deity in the pantheon: Curicaueri (Corona Nuñez Reference Corona Nuñez, Goytia and Silva1993:369–370; Pereira Reference Pereira, Tiesler and Scherer2018:323). Both archaeological record and historical sources indicate that sacred bonfires dedicated to gods were constructed and burned by the Tarascans (Alcalá Reference Alcalá2019; Corona Nuñez Reference Corona Nuñez, Goytia and Silva1993:371–372; Pereira Reference Pereira, Tiesler and Scherer2018:323).
The importance as well as the interpretative impact of La Relación de Michoacán (Alcalá Reference Alcalá2019) on the archaeology of Michoacan is indisputable. This unique opus dedicated three chapters to the description of the cremation funerary rites of Tarascans. Chapter VII depicts the funeral of a warrior; chapter IX characterizes the activities in the case of the death of the Tarascan noble. Finally, chapter XVI focuses on the ritual behavior during the funeral of the king (Alcalá Reference Alcalá2019; Pereira Reference Pereira, Tiesler and Scherer2018:328–329). This source is remarkable for the reconstruction of Tarascan cremation practices. However, it is important to note that making assumptions about the individuals buried in the Los Tamarindos cemetery belonging to a local Pretarascan society does not allow for an uncritical comparison between the descriptions provided in La Relación de Michoacán and the archaeological data from the discussed cemetery. In addition, La Relación de Michoacán depicts the high funeral of the most important individuals of the Tarascan society (Alcalá Reference Alcalá2019; Zborover Reference Zborover2020:146). Nevertheless, information about the usage of funerary bundles, and offerings including food, is an interesting aspect of cremation burial rites practices in West Mexico prior to the Spanish Conquest, which potentially could be detected in the archaeological context. Most of the offerings mentioned during the burial are perishable pyre goods, which would be consumed by fire during the cremation (Alcalá Reference Alcalá2019:201–202). Only in the case of the king's funeral does Jeronimo Alcalá mention the presence of turquoise and gold jewelery on the funerary pyre (Alcalá Reference Alcalá2019:221–222). These types of pyre goods could be detected within cremation burials as artifacts deposited into the cremation funerary urn after the burial ceremony. Finally, La Relación de Michoacán provides a bit of information about the Tarascan funeral pyre. According to the source, it was constructed from dry wood stacked in rows on top of each other and stabilized with pine tree sap (Alcalá Reference Alcalá2019:223; Pereira Reference Pereira, Tiesler and Scherer2018:329). Unfortunately, no well-preserved pyre debris in funerary urns or remains of funerary pyres was discovered in the Los Tamarindos cemetery. As a consequence, it is not possible to use the description of the funerary pyre in La Relación de Michoacán to reconstruct the pyre construction methods employed at the Los Tamarindos cemetery.
Furthermore, some interpretations of cremation burials from Michoacan were rooted in La Relación de Michoacán. For example, Lumholtz (Reference Lumholtz1973:427–431) and Plancarte (Reference Plancarte1893:83) perceived cremation burials from the Zacapu and Zamora regions as interments of local leaders. La Relación de Michoacán also had an impact on such interpretation in other regions of West Mexico (Cabrero García and López Cruz Reference Cabrero García and López Cruz2007:253; Meighan Reference Meighan1959:3). However, comparable interpretations were made in other parts of Mesoamerica (Chase and Chase Reference Chase and Chase2011:11–12; Chávez Balderas Reference Chávez Balderas, Tiesler and Scherer2018:386; Fauvet-Berthelot et al. Reference Fauvet-Berthelot, de March, Pereira, Laporte and Escobedo1996; Gillespie Reference Gillespie2008; Nielsen and Helmke Reference Nielsen, Helmke, Tiesler and Scherer2018; Palka Reference Palka, Tiesler and Scherer2018:292–293; Román Berrelleza and López Luján Reference Berrelleza, Alberto and Luján1999). For example, the emergence of cremation burial practices in the Mixtec highlands during the Preclassic period was interpreted as a sign of the beginning of ranked society in this region (Duncan et al. Reference Duncan, Balkansky, Crawford, Lapham and Meissner2008). In the case of Los Tamarindos, I avoid the social status interpretation of cremation burials, as with the above-mentioned examples.
In terms of the social dimension derived from paleodemographic data, the presence of single child burials is worth highlighting. The effort to prepare a similar burial for an infant as for an adult individual might indicate the social perception of a child as a full member of society in the Pretarascan middle Balsas region in the sense of social age understood in the perspective of social sciences (Halcrow and Tayles Reference Halcrow and Tayles2008:202–206; Lillehammer Reference Lillehammer1989; Perry Reference Perry2005; Więckowski and Wołoszyn Reference Więckowski and Wołoszyn2016:225–226). Childhood is a modern idea (Aries Reference Aries1980; Baxter Reference Baxter2005; Halcrow and Tayles Reference Halcrow and Tayles2008:199; Qvortrup Reference Qvortrup, Qvortrup, Rosier and Kinney2009). In preindustrial societies, children received responsibilities and started working in the household early in their lives (Aries Reference Aries1965; Baxter Reference Baxter2005; Hewlett Reference Hewlett1991; Lundh Reference Lundh1995:36–37). The absence of child burials in cemeteries is a commonly reported phenomenon, not only in the case of societies that practiced cremation burial rites (Alesan et al. Reference Alesan, Malgosa and Simó1999; Lillehammer Reference Lillehammer1989:101–102; Millett and Gowland Reference Millett and Gowland2015; Perego et al. Reference Perego, Tamorri, Scopacasa and Rebay-Salisbury2020; Pereira Reference Pereira and Béligand2021:101–103; Stamboliyska-Petrova Reference Stamboliyska-Petrova, Rebay-Salisbury and Pany-Kucera2020; Watson et al. Reference Watson, Cerezo-Román, Maldonado, Guzmán, Elisa Villalpando, Schmidt and Symes2015). Multiple explanations of this phenomenon range from mainly taphonomic reasons (Buckberry Reference Buckberry2000; Guy et al. Reference Guy, Masset and Baud1997) to a cultural basis, where children dying before passing a specific age should not be buried in the same manner as an adult member of a specific society (Becker Reference Becker2007; Cerezo-Román Reference Cerezo-Román2015:362–363; Dasen Reference Dasen and Rawson2011; Perego Reference Perego2014:163; Pereira Reference Pereira and Béligand2021:97–98; Tiesler Reference Tiesler2011:119) or to the mortuary practices, where separate cemeteries or parts of necropoleis would be dedicated only for children (Gill Reference Gill1971:39; Pereira Reference Pereira and Béligand2021:100; Perry Reference Perry2005:90–91; Schutte Reference Schutte1973:30). On the other hand, previous reports from West Mexico documented the presence of cremation urn burials of individual children, such as those found at the El Palacio, Guadalupe, and Malpais Prieto sites in the Zacapu Basin (Pereira Reference Pereira1999:67–68, Reference Pereira and Béligand2021; Pereira and Barrientos Juárez Reference Pereira, Juárez and Forest2020). Therefore, this practice is not unique either in the regional or in the Mesoamerican perspective. Regarding the differences in the treatment of children in pre-Columbian Michoacan, Pereira (Reference Pereira and Béligand2021) noted the distinct treatment of infants younger than five years old during the Classic and Epiclassic periods in the Zacapu region. The children were buried in the funeral area, but they were interred in a separate part of the cemetery. He suggested that this behavior could be connected with the perception of children under five years old not being full members of society (Pereira Reference Pereira and Béligand2021:104–106). During the Postclassic period, the distinction between children and both adolescent and adult individuals further deepened. Fetuses and infants were buried below the floor level in the household context (Pereira Reference Pereira and Béligand2021:107). It is also worth noting that individual burials of children were excavated at archaeological sites of the Preclassic Chupícuaro culture (Darras and Faugère Reference Darras and Faugère2010; Maurer et al. Reference Maurer, Gérard, Person, Juárez, Carmen Ruiz, Darras, Durlet, Zeitoun, Renard and Faugère2011; Porter Reference Porter1956:530). In later periods, if present, children's burials were often connected with human sacrifices, most commonly dedicated to Tlaloc (Ardren Reference Ardren2011; Buikstra Reference Buikstra, Tiesler and Cucina2007; Chinchilla Mazeriegos Reference Chinchilla Mazariegos, Tiesler and Scherer2018:42–45; Iguaz Reference Iguaz1993:71; López Luján et al. Reference López Luján, Chávez, Montúfar, Luján and Oliver2010; Matos Moctezuma Reference Matos Moctezuma, Niederberger and Reyna Robles2002:137; Medrano Enríquez Reference Medrano Enríquez2021; Ragot Reference Ragot and Béligand2021:314; Sánchez Alaniz and González Miranda Reference Sánchez Alaniz, González Miranda, Manzanilla and Sánchez1999; Scherer and Houston Reference Scherer, Houston, Tiesler and Scherer2018:134–139).
In West Mexico, most of the Classic (Cahue and Pollard Reference Cahue, Pollard, Avila, Emphoux, Gastélum, Ramirez, Schondube and Valdez1998; Pollard and Cahue Reference Pollard and Cahue1999:266–268; Punzo Díaz Reference Punzo Díaz2022; Punzo Díaz and Valdes Herrera Reference Punzo Díaz and Herrera2020), Epiclassic, and Postclassic archaeological sites on which numerous burials were found almost exclusively contained inhumation burials. In the case of Huandacareo, three distinct burial areas were identified (Macías Goytia Reference Macías Goytia1990:191–192). The dominance of the inhumation burials excavated from the Tarascan centers was also observed in Urichu (Cahue and Pollard Reference Cahue, Pollard, Avila, Emphoux, Gastélum, Ramirez, Schondube and Valdez1998; Pollard Reference Pollard1997; Pollard and Cahue Reference Pollard and Cahue1999), Erongaricuaro (Haskell Reference Haskell2008:50–53), and Angamuco archaeological sites (Cohen Reference Cohen2021). However, in the latter archaeological site, partial cremations were encountered. Despite this, no additional data were published regarding the osteological materials from Angamuco, because the analysis of these materials is still ongoing (Cohen Reference Cohen2021:339). In the case of Tzintzuntzan, only skeletal burials were encountered near the Great Platform and yacatas. Burned human remains in great quantities were encountered in the ossuary in the Tarascan capital (Rubín de la Borbolla Reference Rubín de la Borbolla1941). However, remains from the ossuary should not be considered burials, but rather the intentional manipulation of human remains as part of cultural behavior. Similarly, the dominance of inhumation is also visible in the Sayula Basin during the Classic (Acosta Nieva and Uruñuela Ladrón de Guevara Reference Acosta Nieva, Ladrón de Guevara, Valdez, Schöndube and Emphoux2005; Uruñuela Ladrón de Guevara Reference Uruñuela Ladrón de Guevara, Weigand and Williams1996; Valdez et al. Reference Valdez, Emphoux, Acosta Nieva, Ramírez, Reveles and Schöndube2006) as well as the Postclassic periods (Acosta Nieva and Uruñuela Ladrón de Guevara Reference Acosta Nieva, Ladrón de Guevara and Palafox1994, Reference Acosta Nieva, Ladrón de Guevara, Valdez, Schöndube and Emphoux2005; Uruñuela Ladrón de Guevara Reference Uruñuela Ladrón de Guevara, Weigand and Williams1996; Valdez et al. Reference Valdez, Emphoux, Acosta Nieva, Ramírez, Reveles and Schöndube2006). However, in the case of the archaeological sites of the Preclassic Chupicuaro culture excavated by Porter (Reference Porter1956), burned human remains were discovered in the ossuary context, where the presence of intermixed human and animal bones were discovered. Unfortunately, no further data or analysis were published (Porter Reference Porter1956:528–530). On the other hand, excavations conducted on other Chupicuaro culture archaeological sites indicate the dominance of inhumation burial practices (Darras and Faugère Reference Darras and Faugère2010; Maurer et al. Reference Maurer, Gérard, Person, Juárez, Carmen Ruiz, Darras, Durlet, Zeitoun, Renard and Faugère2011).
Surely, the Late Preclassic cremation burial rite from Loma Alta of cremains pulverization (Carot and Susini Reference Carot and Susini1989) is a unique funerary practice. Burned remains from Los Tamarindos burials do not exhibit any indicators or premises that would allow suggesting the partial pulverization of cremains gathered from the funerary pyre. I would expect the presence of very characteristic traces indicating the mechanical crushing of burned human remains. Previously, researchers argued that the presence of distinctive traces indicating intentional pulverization would be necessary to confirm this practice (Harvig et al. Reference Harvig, Lynnerup and Ebsen2012). In addition, the osteological material from Los Tamarindos shows typical signs of thermal alterations caused by the cremation process (Symes et al. Reference Symes, Rainwater, Chapman, Gipson, Piper, Schmidt and Symes2008). The high fragmentation of the cremains is likely a result of the lower resistance to postdepositional damage of burned bones that have not undergone recrystallization transformation (Correia Reference Correia, Sorg and Haglund1996; Schultz et al. Reference Schultz, Warren, Krigbaum, Schmidt and Symes2015). Eventually, one question that arises is, if the intention was to crush the burned remains in Los Tamarindos, why was it only done partially and not completely, as in the case of Loma Alta pulverized burials?
Conclusion
To conclude, this article presents preliminary data about the funerary practices in the Los Tamarindos urn-field cemetery. Keeping in mind the bias of biological data assessment in the case of cremains, I can tentatively state that cremation urn burials usually contained the remains of one individual. This observation seems to be most accurate in the case of infant burials, given that separate funerary urns were prepared to contain only the remains of a single child. This behavior may also indicate that children of around three and four years old were considered full members of society. In the analyzed sample, I did not observe the remains of the younger children. However, this does not mean that younger children were not cremated or were treated in a way other than the rest of the local society.
The findings related to the pyre technology suggest that the highest temperature reached during cremation did not surpass 900°C, as indicated by the taphonomic data and the degree of oxidation of the burned human bones. This is consistent with previous observations made for cremation burials in El Palacio, located in the Zacapu Basin. To further validate these remarks, FTIR spectroscopy analysis is required to obtain accurate information about the maximum temperature and duration of exposure to fire during the cremation process. This study also revealed the usage of obsidian flakes and animal remains as pyre offerings. It is possible that animal fat and bones were used as fuel for the fire during the cremation, but the cosmological significance of depositing certain animal remains should not be disregarded. At this stage, the study presents only preliminary results, and a more in-depth analysis of the religious or cosmological aspects of the mortuary practices in the Los Tamarindos cemetery cannot be performed. Future archaeobotanical analysis of the contents of the urns, and analyses merging bioarcheological data with CT scanning, can provide important information about both the technological and religious aspects of the mortuary rites in Los Tamarindos.
Finally, one of the most important observations about cremation burials is the high fragmentation of the osteological material. Although I was unable to observe any traces and indications of intentional pulverization or cremulation of the bones in the studied sample, at this moment, I am not able to determine the major and most probable factors causing the fragmentation, which have a direct impact on the amount of the cremains in the burials. However, it is important to consider the possibility of intentional manipulation of the cremains after the cremation process and before their placement in the secondary burials. Most of the funerary urns contained cremains from all anatomical regions, suggesting that no part of the human body was not intentionally burned on the pyre or was not placed in the secondary urn burial after the cremation process. The intentional manipulation of cremains from the extinguished funerary pyre was documented in historical sources for Aztecs and Tlaxcaltecans. Currently, however, there is no archaeological evidence to confirm the intentional deposition of any part of the burned human remains in other areas within the cemetery or outside of its boundaries. But such practices would probably be archaeologically intangible.
Data availability statement
Separate files for each funerary urn are available in the FAIR repository via the following link: https://doi.org/10.18150/8D4T3A. Each file contains raw qualitative and quantitative data obtained during the analysis of 10 cremation funerary urns containing the burned human remains from the Los Tamarindos cemetery, located in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacan state.
Open access
