A Bioarchaeological and Biogeochemical Study of Warfare and Mobility in Andahuaylas,Peru (ca. ad 1160–1260)

Warfare impacts how people and populations can move about the landscape. Ethnographers have posited that internal warfare, conflict that takes place within a single society, is strongly associated with female abduction. In contrast, external warfare, combat between different societies, is often accompanied by the in‐migration of men for purposes of defence. To test this assertion, we evaluate human remains from one of the most violent eras in Andean prehistory, the Late Intermediate Period (ad 1000–1400). In the south‐central highlands of Andahuaylas, Peru, this era witnessed the coalescence of two formidable polities, the Chanka and the Quichua. Ethnohistoric accounts describe internal warfare among the Chanka and external warfare between the Quichua and their neighbours. In this study, bioarchaeological and biogeochemical methods are marshalled to elucidate ancient patterns of violence and mobility with greater nuance. We employ strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel apatite to inform on residential origin, and we reconstruct patterns of violent conflict through analysis of cranial trauma. In all, 265 crania were excavated from 17 cave ossuaries at two Chanka sites and one Quichua site. Data were collected on age, sex and cranial modification—an indicator of social identity and cranial trauma. A representative subsample of molars from 34 individuals subjected to strontium isotope analysis demonstrates that among the Chanka, violence was significantly directed towards social groups within society, marked by modified crania. The presence of two nonlocal women with signs of increased morbidity and mistreatment points to possible mobility‐by‐abduction. In contrast, among the Quichua, men have significantly more trauma, and wounds are concentrated on the anterior. Trauma on women is lower, nonlethal, and concentrated on the posterior. This divergent pattern is commonly observed in external warfare (raids and community defence), where men face attackers and women escape them. The presence of two nonlocal men supports a mobility model of strategic in‐migration. In sum, osteological and isotopic data sets are shown to reveal divergent life‐course experiences not captured by the archaeological data or historic records alone. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The warriors of the steppes: osteological evidence of warfare and violence from Pazyryk tumuli in the Mongolian Altai

Skeletal remains of Pazyryk warriors unearthed in a recent archaeological excavation in the Mongolian Altai offer a unique opportunity for verifying ancient histories of warfare and violence given by Herodotus in the fifth century BC. The Pazyryks were Iron Age nomadic groups associated with the eastern Scythians and known from burial site discoveries on the high steppes of the Altai (Central Asia). The aim of this paper is to analyze the evidence for bone trauma provided by the skeletal remains of these Pazyryk warriors with a particular focus on violence-related injuries. The sample consists of 10 individuals, comprising seven adult males, one adult female and two children. Seven individuals exhibited a total of 14 traumatic injuries. Six of these injuries (43%) showed evidence of bone remodelling and eight injuries (57%) were morphologically compatible with a perimortem origin. Twelve injuries (86%) were related to interpersonal violence, most likely caused by weapons similar to those found in Pazyryk tombs (battle-axes, daggers and arrowheads). Five individuals, including the female and one child, exhibited evidence of violent death. Furthermore, one individual also exhibited evidence of scalping. Despite the small number of Pazyryk skeletons analyzed, the pattern of traumatic injuries observed appears to be in agreement with that documented in conflicts related to raids or surprise attacks, and not a result of routinized or ritualized violence. These findings contribute new data to osteological evidence from Scythian burial sites.     

Society and Violence in the Early Bronze Age: An Analysis of Human Skeletons from Nord-Trøndelag,Norway

In 1968, a large collection of human bones was excavated at a site located at Sund, Inderøy, Nord-Trøndelag. Radiocarbon dating showed the find to be from the Early Bronze Age. Between 20 and 30 individuals could be isolated -- half of them children -- and evidence of violent trauma indicated that the find was unusual. The only artefact in the find was a simple bone pin. Close to Sund is the large burial site of Toldnes, which has produced some of the richest Bronze Age finds from Norway. The skeletal materials from Sund and Toldnes have been compared and additional analyses from other Early Bronze Age burials used in order to understand what happened at Sund and its relationship to the Toldnes burials. The osteological analyses indicate a community in distress, ridden by long-term starvation, malnutrition and parasites as well as repeated violent encounters. The osteological evidence, in addition to archaeological analyses of weapons and society from England, Denmark and Sweden, suggests a society with a segment of specialized warriors. The constant possibility of violence and war may have acted like moral glue -- structuring the society and ensuring the power and status of the governing forces.     

Comparative Study of Perimortem Weapon Trauma in Two Early Medieval Skeletal Populations (AD 400–1200) from Ireland

Violence was a reality of life in early medieval Ireland (AD 400–1200). Its omnipresence is indicated from numerous narratives of regicide, mortal conflicts, battles and warfare that survive in ancient myths, legends and annalistic accounts. The archaeological evidence of violence and conflict is mainly identified in the osteoarchaeological record, and approximately 13% of all skeletal populations from excavated early medieval cemeteries in Ireland have shown evidence of weapon trauma. This study considers the osteological representation of violent deaths in two contemporaneous Irish skeletal populations dating to this period: Mount Gamble in County Dublin and Owenbristy in County Galway. This analysis involves assessing the different anatomical regions of the body for evidence of lesions that can be attributed to weapon trauma. The results indicate that these populations are likely to have been exposed to violence under differing circumstances; the evidence suggests that the individuals from Mount Gamble may have been well equipped or skilled at interpersonal battle, in contrast to the majority of individuals from Owenbristy who may have been unprotected and unprepared. The presence of two adolescents and two adult females amongst the victims from the latter population gives insight into a wider social dimension of weapon trauma in early medieval Ireland. There is also evidence of postmortem mutilations and decapitations, which reflect ritualistic aspects of violence. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

BETWEEN WARRIORS AND CHAMPIONS: WARFARE AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE LATER PREHISTORY OF THE NORTH‐WESTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA1

This article explores changes in the ‘art of warfare’ among societies in the north‐western Iberian Peninsula in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. These changes are interpreted as a manifestation of the transformation experienced by societies living in the region first from ‘warrior societies’ to ‘societies with warriors’ at the end of the Bronze Age and then back to ‘warrior societies’ in the Late Iron Age. Evidence of individual combat as a manifestation of ‘societies with warriors’ is analysed in the broader context of Indo‐European and ethnographical examples. It reflects societies in which there were groups specialized in warfare and represents the establishment, in the region, of an Indo‐European warrior ideology.     

TROUBLE IN PARADISE? – VIOLENT CONFLICT IN FUNNEL‐BEAKER SOCIETIES

The archaeology of warfare and violent conflict has made many advances over the past three decades. However, the Funnel‐beaker Culture (TRB) is mostly absent from these discussions and the presence of warriors is assigned to the succeeding periods. This contribution takes a new look at a conspicuous object from northern TRB contexts: the so‐called thick flint points or halberds (dan. dolkstaver). Their functionality as a specialized weapon is discussed through their use wear, contexts and European comparisons. Afterwards the evidence for violent conflict in the region is explored thematically, including paleo‐demography, victims, enemies, and fortifications. Based on this it is argued that warfare existed during the TRB culture and that warriors may emerge in a society that seems of a largely egalitarian structure.     

Conflict in Pre‐Hispanic Northwest Argentina: Implications Arising From Human Bone Trauma Patterns

The time span ranging from ca. 900 to 1450 A.D. in the South‐Central Andes has been traditionally posited as a period of social unrest, political disintegration and large‐scale conflict due to, primarily, environmental causes. However, the osteological record of traumatic injuries in a sample of 223 adult and subadult crania from different areas of Northwest Argentina does not clearly correspond to the expected scenario of pervasive and formalized armed attacks. Cranial trauma prevalence in the sample is low (17.48%), and no statistically significant differences were met between the sexes. No differences were found when comparing trauma prevalence between settlements or regions, suggesting that location or function of the sites may not have influenced in trauma frequencies. This information more comfortably agrees with a scenario of conflict where several sources of violence may have caused the record of traumatic injuries (i.e. raids, ambushes, etc). These results serve to problematize how conflict is expected to be expressed in the archaeological record, especially in osseous human remains, what sources of violence may have generated the traumatic patterns observed and the intensity of conflict in this region in particular and in the pre‐Hispanic Andes in general. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Possible cases of scalping from pre‐hispanic highland Peru

For years, the pre‐Hispanic Chachapoya of Northern Peru have been described as the ‘Warriors of the Clouds’. A more detailed look at newly excavated osteological samples from the highland site of Kuelap allows us to better examine the types of traumatic injuries among the Chachapoya. This paper describes an individual with evidence of a recent scalp removal including cut marks encircling the vault and a large area of active inflammatory response due to exposure of the outer table. The degree of osseous response and a small area of healing indicate short‐term survival. A second fragmentary skull demonstrates similar features but more advanced healing. The location and patterning of the cut marks are consistent with North American Indian pre‐historic and historic cases of scalping. The skulls of these two individuals provide the first osteological evidence of scalp removal from a pre‐Hispanic South American Andean context, although it is difficult to determine the motivation whether for therapeutic treatment or trophy taking. These cases, along with other evidence of interpersonal violence and cranial trauma, serve to elucidate the possible volatile nature of cultural contact between this region and lowland Amazonian tribes, where scalps and trophy heads were commonly taken in raids. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dangerous Visions: the Cassowary as Good to Think and Good to Remember among the Anganen

The cassowary, although no longer a popular animal for possession or gift exchange in contemporary Anganen, is good to think in the Lévi-Straussian sense and good to remember. Its excessive violence may stand for the violence of which men are capable. This is the case for inter-group warfare. It also refers to intra-community hostilities, not sharing cassowary meat being a frequent cause for clan fission and an agonistic exchange called rawa where those conceptualised as brothers engage in the competitive slaughter of, ideally, cassowaries. The article primarily concerns rawa and its extraordinary character. It is typified by paradox and danger despite the displacement of anger from direct attacks on humans to the slaughter of animals. Rawa protagonists throw blood and uncleaned entrails at each other while shouting the vilest of insults in the hope the opponent will eventually not respond and lose the contest. However, while escalation of a dispute to the level of rawa is evidence of failed mediation, this competitive exchange establishes the condition for eventual intervention and, via a communal feast of the slaughtered animals, the resumption of strong community relations, including those between the former protagonists. The final ethnographic section focuses on the fact that warfare and rawa were prohibited by the Australian Administration. Anganen men feel they were disenfranchised by the Administration, in part because they were denied access to the culturally lauded male pursuits of being warriors and rawa men. As such, that cassowaries are thought to have been much more popular in the past is central to my claim they are good to remember.     

‘Generous Amazons Came to the Breach’: Besieged Women,Agency and Subjectivity during the French Wars of Religion

Gender studies of violence have forced scholars to rethink the association of femininity with ‘vulnerability’ and the objectivisation of women as mute victims of organised violence and oppression, incapable of agency. Recent debates about the role women and homosexuals should play in military systems in the United States and other countries have sparked a renewed interest in exploring historical contexts of the relationships between gender and organised violence. If we consider violence as a performative act, whole new dimensions of gendered aspects of the history of violence and warfare emerge. In this article, I intend to draw on my research on gender, honour, and violence during the French Wars of Religion to explore the roles played by Protestant and Catholic women in southern France during siege operations. These besieged women acted to support their coreligionists by participating in the conflicts as healers, suppliers and even combatants. Besieged women were considered ‘vulnerable’ in sieges, yet their involvement in siege operations challenged contemporary gender stereotypes, threatened social norms and opened new potential cultural possibilities for these women. I hope to show how the discourses on violence, bodies, revolt and religion shaped the tough choices that confronted these women as they participated actively in civil violence. The besieged women in southern France, I believe, are key to understanding the dynamics of gender and warfare and the ways in which women have actively participated in violence – especially in cases of civil violence where the status of the body politic was thrown into question.     

Middle Bronze Age Burials in the Southern Levant: Spartan Warriors or Ordinary People?

Intermediate and Middle Bronze Age tombs with weapons (mainly daggers) in the southern Levant were often interpreted as ‘warrior graves’. Taking into consideration new data from Rishon Le‐Zion (Israel), recent work on early warfare and warriors, and a study of so‐called ‘warrior graves’ in Mesopotamia (Rehm 2003), we suggest that most of these graves are not graves of elite warriors, but typical male burials. We also discuss the assumed ‘burial kit’ and the decline in numbers of weapons per burial, which is in our view related to the shift from individual burials (in the Intermediate Bronze and Middle Bronze IIA periods) to multiple shaft burials (in the Middle Bronze IIB period).     

Brief encounters: Tatham Mound and the evidence for Spanish and Native American confrontation

Skeletal trauma often has been utilized to examine facets of inter- and intragroup violence. Eighteen skeletal elements from Tatham Mound are considered in this study, which exhibit wounds similar to documented cases of trauma caused by edged metal weapons. Tatham Mound is a sixteenth century mortuary site in central Gulf Coast Florida and is located within the reconstructed zone of contact with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Macroscopic and microscopic analyses of skeletal elements are conducted in order to distinguish trauma due to edged metal weapons from other perimortem and post-mortem bone modification. The damage on elements from Tatham Mound is compared with documented cases of trauma from edged metal weapons as well as medieval European skeletal remains exhibiting trauma due to edged metal weapons. It is concluded that some of the observed cases are probably due to metal weapon wounds inflicted by the Spanish explorers.     

Kana Tamata or Feasts of Men: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Identifying Cannibalism in Prehistoric Fiji

By integrating osteological, taphonomic, archaeological and stable isotopic data, we test for cannibalism in the Lau Group, Fiji and discuss the potential underlying cause(s) and context(s) of this behaviour. First, we compare taphonomic and element representations of human skeletal material from two contexts in Fiji, examining human bone fragments from archaeological sites, including middens and burials in the Lau Island Group. Fourteen sites produced human remains. Only two of those sites included distinct human burial contexts, but in the remaining 12 sites, the human bone was recovered from middens or contexts where midden was mixed with possible secondary burials. A total of 262 number of identified specimens per species, representing an estimated 15 minimum number of individuals make up the Lau human assemblage. Second, we analysed bones contained in 20 individual human burials from four different sites that are housed at the Fiji Museum for comparative purposes. Third, we examine previously published stable isotopic (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) analysis of bone collagen to gauge protein consumption of likely cannibalised humans in midden contexts and potential cannibals from primary burials. We model a cannibalistic diet category within the context of isotopically measured Pacific Islands food groups and apply an isotopic mixing model to gauge plausible dietary contributions from six sources including human flesh. Isotopic mixing models of the Lauan samples illustrate a high diversity in reconstructed diets. The percent contribution of human flesh is low for all individual Lauans. We conclude that mortuary rituals evidenced by sharp‐force trauma may suggest non‐nutritive and non‐violent practices that may have included the consumption of small amounts of human flesh. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comment on the Analysis of Two Skeletons from Terqa,Syria

Recently, a report on two human skeletons from an Early Bronze Age tomb excavated at Tell Ashara, Syria has been published in International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. One individual was identified as a warrior following these criteria: (i) size and robustness of bones, (ii) cut marks on the humerus, (iii) reduction of the ulnar styloid process, both interpreted as healed weapon‐related trauma, (iv) well‐developed muscle insertions, and (v) degenerative joint disease. Actually, none of these five criteria support the conclusion because of the following reasons: (i) not necessarily all tall and robust men become warriors, (ii) the post mortem origin of cut marks on the humerus is more likely than sharp force trauma, (iii) there are several possible causes of the unusual ulnar styloid shape other than weapon‐related trauma, (iv) the interpretation of musculoskeletal stress markers and (v) degenerative joint disease lacked control for age, sex and body size. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trauma to the Skull: A Historical Perspective from the Southern Levant (4300BCE–1917CE)

Background: Although the southern Levant is commonly perceived as having been a violent region throughout history, few studies have explored the pattern and intensity of skull trauma through time in the general population. The aim of this study is to follow changes in traumatic injury patterns in the southern Levant, over an extensive period of 6,000 years. Methods: 783 archaeological skulls from the Tel Aviv University osteological collection were examined for evidence of trauma. The specimens were divided into three periods: Chalcolithic‐Bronze‐Iron Age (4300–520 BCE), Hellenistic‐Roman‐Byzantine Period (332 BCE‐640 CE), and Early and Late Arab Period (640–1917 CE). The characteristics of injury on each skull were recorded. Results: A high frequency (25%) of traumatic lesions to the skull was evident among historic populations of the southern Levant, a rate that did not fluctuate significantly over 6,000 years. The most common pattern of trauma was minor circular depressed injuries. Most of the injuries were located on the parietal or frontal bones. Traumatic lesions were more frequent in males than in females, and in mature individuals than in adolescents and children, during all periods. Conclusions: The rate of trauma in the southern Levantine populations was shown to be considerably higher than in other archaeological populations worldwide. The fact that no significant differences in trauma rates were found over time implies that socio‐economical shifts (from agrarian to urban populations) had little impact on the local populations’ aggressive behavior. In contrast, changes in type of injury, from blunt force trauma to sharp force trauma and eventually projectile trauma, reflects changes in weaponry over time. The accumulated characteristics of cranial trauma pattern (type, location, side, size, sex, age) suggest that most of the individuals studied were not engaged directly in warfare. Rather, most injuries seem to be due to blows given during interpersonal violent encounters. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Indo-European Warfare

Abstract

The Indo-European languages comprise the largest language family in the world and by the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age occupied a broad expanse of Eurasia from Ireland to western China and India. The inherited vocabulary of the Indo-European languages provides us with an image of the prehistoric language(s) that was spoken at least from the late Neolithic onwards and sheds light on the actual names of weapons, types of defensive architecture, terms for aggressive behaviour, trauma, institutions and poetic diction associated with warfare. In addition, there is also a body of ethnographic and mythological data that purports to provide a picture of the social organization and attitudes toward warriors shared by the earliest Indo-Europeans.     

A PROVENANCE STUDY OF TANG SANCAI FROM CHINESE TOMBS AND RELICS BY INAA*

In order to group specimens of Tang Sancai of unknown provenance to the different kilns according to their chemical compositions, we studied the elemental abundance patterns of Tang Sancai body samples from different tombs, relics and kilns by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Our results indicated that the development process of Tang Sancai in the Prospering Tang period could be divided into at least two phases, with ad 705 or so as the boundary between them. The results of factor analysis showed that the red‐bodied samples were more likely to be produced near Xi’an, whereas the white‐bodied Tang Sancai wares dating to before ad 705 were most probably produced at Huanye Kiln (also known as ‘Gongxian’ Kiln), and the figures were very likely made at an undiscovered kiln near Luoyang or an undiscovered part of Huangye Kiln. Among the white‐bodied samples dated from ad 705 to ad 755, both types of figures and wares were mainly produced near Xi’an and Luoyang.     

A bioarchaeological study of a Western Basin tradition cemetery on the Detroit River

Archaeological monitoring of construction in a Windsor city park on the Detroit River led to the discovery of an isolated cemetery containing the remains of eight individuals assigned to the Late Woodland Western Basin Tradition. At the request and consent of the contemporary First Nation community, tissue samples from five individuals were subjected to radiocarbon dating, mtDNA, and stable isotope analysis to confirm cultural affiliation and further understand the subsistence practices of these people. Radiocarbon dating placed the cemetery at the transition from the Younge phase (AD 900–1200) to the Springwells phase (AD 1200–1400). The stable carbon and nitrogen isotope results provide an unexpected but fuller understanding of Late Woodland Western Basin Tradition subsistence. All individuals were as enriched in carbon as those found on Iroquoian horticulturalist sites to the east, suggesting a very high reliance on maize. Nitrogen isotope values indicate that the protein component of the diet was comprised largely of high trophic level food sources, likely fish. An in situ osteological analysis identified a high number of carious lesions in the visible teeth, also suggesting a diet high in carbohydrates. The mtDNA findings support the antiquity of the Western Basin presence in Northeast North America through genetic links with the Hind Site, an Archaic site in southern Ontario. These results underscore the importance of such studies for providing novel insight into the archaeological histories and lifeways of this distinct Late Woodland tradition. This study also emphazises the need to work with descendant communities to provide them with information on the past that reflects their distinct heritage in the lower Great Lakes region.     

A re-assessment of Basketmaker II cave 7: massacre site or cemetery context

Our ongoing investigation of early maize farming in the American Southwest has entailed stable isotope analysis and accelerator radiocarbon dating of Basketmaker II remains from sites in the Four Corners region. Here we report radiocarbon dates on a large mortuary assemblage excavated by Richard Wetherill in 1893 from a burial cave in southeastern Utah. It has long been thought that all individuals interred in Cave 7 were massacred in a single violent attack given embedded projectiles and evidence for blunt force trauma. However, accelerator radiocarbon dates on purified bone collagen (n = 96) do not lend strong support to this argument, even among the subset of individuals with clear evidence for violent injuries. Moreover, nearly 80% of Cave 7 burials examined in the study show no evidence of perimortem trauma and no adult females or subadults under the age of 12 appear to have suffered violent deaths. Rather than an anomalous single-event massacre, the Cave 7 radiocarbon dataset suggests that raiding and intra-group, male/male violence was episodic among Basketmaker groups in southeastern Utah. Population densities were relatively high and individuals interred in Cave 7 and elsewhere in the region were heavily dependent on maize agriculture, a prehistoric economic strategy typically characterized by high amplitude fluctuations in productivity. Variability in the array of grave goods accompanying Cave 7 male burials and elsewhere suggests competitive social differentiation likely heightened during periods of resource shortfall leading to intra-group conflict, raiding and perhaps ritualized acts of violence.     

Life on the Edge of the Arctic: The Bioarchaeology of the Keldudalur Cemetery in Skagafjörður,Iceland

Burials were examined from the late Viking Age early medieval Christian cemetery at the farm of Keldudalur in the Skagafjörður region, Northern Iceland. The cemetery likely served a single household for about 100–120 years, from the beginning of the 11th century AD to the turn of the 12th century. Cemetery inhabitants represent a population that lived through the transitional period when Christianity was established in Iceland. The changes are visible in the mortuary record with the changeover from outlying pagan graves to enclosed Christian cemeteries situated on the farmsteads. Keldudalur is one of the numerous early Christian family cemeteries that littered the 11th century Skagafjörður landscape. The burials included 53 well‐preserved skeletons of 27 adults and 26 subadults. Various factors such as fluctuating climate and environmental conditions, and seasonal or periodical availability of resources have the potential for impacting human diet and health over time. To assess the health status of the burials, data were collected for a number of health status indicators such as stature estimation, developmental enamel defects, porotic hyperostosis, infectious disease, trauma, degenerative joint diseases, dental caries, calculus and tooth loss. Results suggest that inhabitants of Keldudalur experienced periodic stress and rigorous living conditions. Infant mortality was great, although if individuals survived childhood, the age expectancy was fairly high. There was no obvious evidence for interpersonal violence or endemic infectious disease. However, the common occurrence of growth disturbances, generalised periostitis, trauma and degenerative joint disease all point to a number of stressors in the lives of the people at Keldudalur, which is suggestive of a resilient people living and adapting to a harsh and periodically resource scarce subarctic environment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.