Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T03:05:05.022Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE MOON PYRAMID, TEOTIHUACAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2007

Michael W. Spence  and
Grégory Pereira
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Beginning with Building 4, each new version of the Moon Pyramid in Teotihuacan was initiated with a major sacrificial event. These events invariably included human victims, males ranging in age from about 14 to 60 or more years (Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) = 37). Many display cranial modification and dental decoration. In the earliest offering, Burial 2, the lone human was merely one element in a complex tableau. In subsequent sacrifices, the human victims increased in number and became a major focus of the event. There was also a growing dichotomy among them, with numbers of decapitated victims being included in the sacrifices. Skeletal elements from the pyramid fill suggest still other rituals involving human crania (MNI = 11), but the context of these is not yet clear.

Resumen

Desde la cuarta etapa constructiva de la Pirámide de la Luna, cada ampliación de este monumento mayor de Teotihuacan dio lugar a la realización de ofrendas mayores. En estos depósitos, contamos con los restos de varios individuos de sexo masculino cuya edad variaba entre 14 y 60 años. Las características bio-culturales de estos personajes sugieren que muchos de ellos eran extranjeros a la ciudad.

Fueron, en su mayoría, víctimas sacrificiales. En dos casos (Entierros 4 y 6), las víctimas fueron claramente decapitadas. En otros (Entierros 2, 3, y 6), no se pudo determinar con certeza la forma que tomó el sacrificio. Sin embargo, el carácter simultáneo del depósito y el hecho que sus integrantes tuvieron las manos juntadas en la espalda apunta hacia un ámbito sacrificial. En cuanto al Entierro 5, si los datos contextuales no son incompatibles con un tratamiento de este tipo, el carácter atípico del depósito no permite descartar otras explicaciones.

Otros aspectos indican ciertas diferencias. En el depósito más temprano, el Entierro 2, el único humano formaba parte de un dispositivo complejo en que los animales ocupaban un lugar importante. En los entierros subsecuentes, los humanos parecen ocupar un papel más importante. Notamos igualmente que varios depósitos revelan una diferenciación más o menos marcada entre los integrantes.

Finalmente, el análisis de los materiales incluidos en los rellenos de la pirámide muestra la existencia de otros rituales relacionados con cráneos humanos cuyo contexto es poco claro.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , Spring 2007 , pp. 147 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

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

References

Berdan, Francis 1982 The Aztecs of Central Mexico: An Imperial Society. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Brothwell, Don R. 1981 Digging up Bones, 3rd ed. British Museum, London.Google Scholar
Bruzek, Jaroslav 1991 Fiabilité des procédés de détermination du sexe à partir de l'os coxal. Implications à l'étude du dimorphisme sexuel de l'Homme fossile. Ph.D. dissertation, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris.Google Scholar
Bruzek, Jaroslav, Castaex, Dominique, and Majó, Tona 1996 Proposition d'une nouvelle métode de diagnose sexuelle. Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris. 8(3–4):491–502.10.3406/bmsap.1996.2465CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buikstra, Jane, and Ubelaker, Douglas 1994 Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series No.44. Arkansas Archeological Survey, Fayetteville.Google Scholar
Cabrera Castro, Rubén 1999 Las prácticas funerarias de los antiguos teotihuacanos. In Prácticas funerarias en la Ciudad de los Dioses. Los enterramientos humanos de la antigua Teotihuacan, edited by Manzanilla, Linda and Serrano, Carlos, pp. 503–539. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Cid, J. Rodolfo, and Romano, Arturo 1997 Pulidores de posible uso ceremonial de cráneos humanos prehispánicos de Teotihuacan, México. Estudios de Antropología Biológica VII:135–143.Google Scholar
Cid, J. Rodolfo, and Torres, Liliana 1999 Los entierros del occidente de la ciudad. In Prácticas funerarias en la Ciudad de los Dioses. Los enterramientos humanos de la antigua Teotihuacan, edited by Manzanilla, Linda and Serrano, Carlos, pp. 285–344. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L., Altschul, Jeffrey, and Sload, Rebecca 1984 Spatial Analysis of Teotihuacan : A Mesoamerican Metropolis. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, edited by Harold, Hietala, pp. 145–195. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
del Angel, Andres, and Cisneros, Hector 2004 Technical Note: Modification of Regression Equations Used to Estimate Stature in Mesoamerican Skeletal Remains. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 125:264–265.10.1002/ajpa.10385CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferembach, Denise, Schwidetzky, Ilse, and Stloukal, Milan 1979 Recommandations pour déterminer l'âge et le sexe sur le squelette. Bulletin et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris 6/XIII:7–45.10.3406/bmsap.1979.1945CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galloway, Alison 1999 Broken Bones: Anthropological Analysis of Blunt Force Trauma. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield.Google Scholar
Gómez, Sergio 1990 La función social del sacrificio humano en Teotihuacan: Un intento para formalizar su estudio e interpretación. In La época clásica: Nuevos hallazgos, Nuevas ideas, edited by Cardós, A., pp. 147–161. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
González, Luis Alfonso, and Salas, María Elena 1999 Los entierros del centro político-religioso y de la periferia de Teotihuacan de la temporada 1980–1982. In Prácticas Funerarias en la Ciudad de los Dioses: Los Enterramientos Humanos de la Antigua Teotihuacan, edited by Manzanilla, Linda and Serrano, Carlos, pp. 219–246. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
González, Luis Alfonso, and Salas, María Elena 2001 Evidencias de sacrificio humano en Teotihuacan. Arqueología 26:37–47.Google Scholar
Iglesias, María Josefa 2003 Problematical Deposits and the Problem of Interaction: The Material Culture of Tikal during the Early Classic Period. In The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction, edited by Braswell, Geoffrey, pp. 167–198. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Kidder, Alfred V., Jennings, Jesse, and Shook, Edwin 1946 Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala Publication No. 561. Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro, and Fialko, Vilma 1990 New Perspectives on Old Problems: Dynastic References for the Early Classic at Tikal. In Vison and Revision in Maya Studies, edited by Clancy, Flora and Harrison, Peter, pp. 33–66. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Loth, Susan, and İşcan, Mehmet Yaşar 1989 Morphological Assessment of Age in the Adult: The Thoracic Region. In Age Markers in the Human Skeleton, edited by İşcan, Mehmet Yaşar. pp 105–136. Charles C. Thomas Publishers, Springfield, IL.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, C. Owen, Meindl, Richard, Pryzbeck, Thomas, and Mensforth, Robert 1985 Chronological Metamorphosis of the Auricular Surface of the Ilium: A New Method for the Determination of Adult Skeletal Age at Death. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 68:15–28.10.1002/ajpa.1330680103CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manzanilla, Linda 2006 Estados corporativos arcaicos. Organizaciones de excepción en escenarios erxcluyentes. Cuicuilco 36:13–45.Google Scholar
McKern, Thomas W., and Stewart, T.D. 1957 Skeletal Age Changes in Young American Males. Technical Report EP-45. Quartermaster Research and Development Center, Natick, MA.Google Scholar
Meindl, Richard, and Lovejoy, C. Owen 1985 Ectocranial Suture Closure: A Revised Method for the Determination of Skeletal Age at Death Based on the Lateral-anterior Sutures. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 68:57–66.10.1002/ajpa.1330680106CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pereira, Grégory 2000 Informe sobre los restos humanos procedentes del Entierro 3 de la Pirámide de la Luna, Teotihuacan. Report to the Directors of the Moon Pyramid Project, Teotihuacan Research Laboratory, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Pereira, Grégory 2001 Informe sobre los restos humanos procedentes del Entierro 4 de la Pirámide de la Luna, Teotihuacan. Report to the Directors of the Moon Pyramid Project, Teotihuacan Research Laboratory, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Pereira, Grégory 2003 Informe sobre la excavación de los restos humanos procedentes del Entierro 5 de la Pirámide de la Luna, Teotihuacan. Report to the Directors of the Moon Pyramid Project, Teotihuacan Research Laboratory, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Pereira, Grégory, and Chávez, Ximena 2006 Restos humanos en el Entierro 6 de la Pirámide de la Luna. In Sacrificio de Consagración en la Pirámide de la Luna, edited by Sugiyama, Saburo and López Luján, Leonardo, pp. 53–60. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, and Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Pereira, Grégory, Spence, Michael W., and White, Christine D. 2004 Análisis preliminar de los restos humanos encontrados en el Entierro 5 de la Pirámide de la Luna, Teotihuacan. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology Montreal.Google Scholar
Pereira, Grégory, Bustos, Diana, Chávez, Ximena, Alfaro, Martha Elena, and Nuñez, Luís Fernando 2005 Informe sobre la excavación de los restos óseos procedentes del Entierro 6 de la Pirámide de la Luna, Teotihuacan (Temporada 2004). Report to the Directors of the Moon Pyramid Project, Teotihuacan Research Laboratory, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Phenice, T.W. 1969 A Newly Developed Visual Method of Sexing the Os Pubis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 30:297–302.10.1002/ajpa.1330300214CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Romero, Javier 1986 Catálogo de la colección de dientes mutilados prehispánicos, IV Parte. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sempowski, Martha 1994 Mortuary Practices at Teotihuacan. In Mortuary Practices and Skeletal Remains at Teotihuacan, edited by Sempowski, Martha and Spence, Michael W., pp. 1–311. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Serrano, Carlos, Pimienta, Martha, and Gallardo, Alfonso 1991 Los entierros del Templo de Quetzalcoatl: Patrón de distribución por edad y sexo. Arqueología 6:53–67.Google Scholar
Serrano, Carlos, Pimienta, Martha, and Gallardo, Alfonso 1997 Mutilaciones e incrustaciones dentarias en un entierro colectivo del Templo de Quetzalcóatl, Teotihuacan. Estudios de Antropología Biológica VI:295–308.Google Scholar
Serrano, Carlos, Vázquez, Rosaura Yépez, and de la Calle, Manuel Rivero 2003 La deformación cefálica intencional en los habitantes prehispánicos del barrio Teotihuacano de la Ventilla. Exploración 1992–1994. In Contextos arqueológicos y osteología del barrio de la Ventilla, Teotihuacan (1992–1994), edited by Serrano, Carlos, pp. 103–113. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Shkrum, Michael, Green, Robert, and Nowak, Edwin 1989 Upper Cervical Trauma in Motor Vehicle Collisions. Journal of Forensic Sciences 34:381–390.10.1520/JFS12648JCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spence, Michael W. 1994 Human Skeletal Material from Teotihuacan. In Mortuary Practices and Skeletal Remains at Teotihuacan, edited by Sempowski, Martha and Spence, Michael W., pp. 315–427. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 2001 Los restos humanos de la segunda temporada de excavaciones en la Pirámide de la Luna. Report to the Directors of the Moon Pyramid Project, Teotihuacan Research Laboratory, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W., and Gamboa, Luis 1999 Mortuary Practices and Social Adaptation in the Tlailotlacan Enclave. In Prácticas funerarias en la Ciudad de los Dioses. Los enterramientos humanos de la Antigua Teotihuacan, edited by Manzanilla, Linda, and Serrano, Carlos, pp. 173–201. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W., and To, Denise 2000 Los restos humanos de la primera temporada de excavaciones en la Pirámide de la Luna. Report to the Directors of the Moon Pyramid Project, Teotihuacan Research Laboratory, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W., Michael, Shkrum, Alison, Ariss, and Regan, John 1999 Craniocervical Injuries in Judicial Hangings: An Anthropologic Analysis of Six Cases. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 20:309–322.10.1097/00000433-199912000-00001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spence, , Michael, W., Christine, D. White, Fred, Longstaffe, and Law, Kimberley 2004 Victims of the Victims: Human Trophies Worn by Sacrificed Soldiers from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 15:1–15.10.1017/S0956536104151018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storey, Rebecca 1992 Life and Death in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan: A Modern Paleodemographic Synthesis. University of Alabama Press, Tucsaloosa.Google Scholar
Suchey, Judy, and Katz, Daryl 1998 Applications of Pubic Age Determination in a Forensic Setting. In Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains, 2nd ed., edited by Kathleen, Reichs, pp. 204–236. Charles C. Thomas Publishers, Springfield, IL.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo 2005 Human Sacrifice, Militarism, and Rulership: Materialization of State Ideology at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.10.1017/CBO9780511489563CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo, and Castro, Rubén Cabrera 2007 The Moon Pyramid Project and the Teotihuacan State Polity: A Brief Summary of the 1998–2004 Excavations. Ancient Mesoamerica 18(1):109–125.10.1017/S0956536107000053CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo, and Luján, Leonardo López 2007 Dedicatory Burial/Offering Complexes at the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan: A Preliminary Report of 1998–2004 Explorations. Ancient Mesoamerica 18(1):127–146.10.1017/S0956536107000065CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo, Castro, Rubén Cabrera, and Luján, Leonardo López 2004 The Moon Pyramid Burials. In Voyage to the Center of the Moon Pyramid: Recent Discoveries in Teotihuacan, pp. 20–30. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Trodden, Bonnie 1982 A Radiographic Study of the Calcification and Eruption of the Permanent Teeth in Inuit and Indian Children. Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper 112. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa.10.2307/j.ctv171xrGoogle Scholar
Ubelaker, Douglas H.. 1989 Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis and Interpretation. Taraxacum, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Walker, Phillip, Cook, Della Collins, and Lambert, Patricia 1997 Skeletal Evidence for Child Abuse: A Physical Anthropological Perspective. Journal of Forensic Sciences 42:196–207.10.1520/JFS14098JCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, , Christine, D. 1996 Sutural Effects of Fronto-Occipital Cranial Modification. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 100:397–410.10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199607)100:3<397::AID-AJPA7>3.0.CO;2-R3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, Christine D., Spence, Michael W. , Longstaffe, Fred J., Stuart-Williams, Hilary, and Law, Kimberley R. 2002 Geographical Identities of the Sacrificial Victims from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid Teotihuacan: Implications for the Nature of State Power Latin American Antiquity 13:217–236.10.2307/971915CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Christine D., Price, Douglas T., and Longstaffe, Fred J. 2007 Residential Histories of the Human Sacrifices at the Moon Pyramid Teotihuacan: Evidence from Oxygen and Strontium Isotopes. Ancient Mesoamerica 18:159–172.10.1017/S0956536107000119CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Tim D. 1992 Prehistoric Cannibalism at Mancos 5MTUMR-2346. Princeton University Press, Princeton.10.1515/9781400852925CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Lori 1997 Intertooth Patterns of Hypoplasia Expression: Implications for Childhood Health in the Classic Maya Collapse. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102:233–247.10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199702)102:2<233::AID-AJPA6>3.0.CO;2-Z3.0.CO;2-Z>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed