El tratamiento mortuorio atípico entre los Primeros Agricultores del Desierto de Sonora

Authors

  • Jordan A. Wilson

Keywords:

Atypical burials, normative burials, non-normative burials, archaeothanatology, EAP.

Abstract

While evidence of sex-based violence in the prehistoric Southwest has typically focused on skeletal trauma, the di?erential mortuary treatment of females of reproductive age has, in some circumstances, been interpreted as an act of sex-based hostility towards the dead. Women uncovered in these atypical burial contexts, predominantly of childbearing age, have been variously interpreted as captives, migrants, or executed witches. This paper examines Early Agricultural period (2100 BC-AD 50) burials of women from the La Playa archaeological site in northern Sonora, Mexico. The burials are analyzed using an archaeothanatological approach, which considers anthropogenic and environmental processes that a?ect mortuary contexts and allows for a more nuanced interpretation of past funerary behavior. Results of this analysis suggests that, compared to normative burials and the non-normative burials of men and children, the atypical mortuary treatment specifically of women of childbearing age at the La Playa site could have been an intentional form of sexual and political signaling. This form of signaling may have been intended to intimidate and control potential sexual partners and reinforce male dominance in a culture that emphasized the concept of male “honor.” 

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Published

2023-07-27

How to Cite

A. Wilson , J. (2023). El tratamiento mortuorio atípico entre los Primeros Agricultores del Desierto de Sonora. Noroeste De México, (4), 216–247. Retrieved from https://www.revistas.inah.gob.mx/index.php/noroestedemexico/article/view/19641

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