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Did the ancient Anasazi people of the Southwest - once believed to be a model society - actually practice ritual cannibalism? And if so, why? The New Theory For years, the Anasazi were believed to have been a peaceful, democratic people. Yet Anasazi bones uncovered in Chaco Canyon show disturbing signs of violence. Christy Turner, an anthropology professor at Arizona State University, says these strange marks are signs of ritual cannibalism, and he's developed a rigorous set of scientific criteria to prove it. He has found burns on the backs of skulls that indicate that they have been cooked in fires as well as anvil abrasion and breakage marks where bones have been smashed apart with stones. He has also noted cut marks at the ends of joints that show where tough tendons were cut with stone knives. The lengths the bones were broken into and the "pot polish" that marks them are signs that the bones were cooked in pots and their marrow was removed. But why? Climatic analysis indicates that the Anasazi lived in a time of plenty. What could have made them eat their own? |
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