Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T11:17:29.296Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Punctured Human Bones of the Laurel Culture from Smith Mound Four, Minnesota

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael Torbenson ,
Arthur Aufderheide  and
Elden Johnson
Michael Torbenson
Affiliation:
Paleobiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812
Arthur Aufderheide
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812
Elden Johnson
Affiliation:
Institute for Minnesota Archaeology, Minneapolis, MN 55414
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Punctured human long bones have been reported at numerous midwestern sites, but none have as large a concentration as Smith Mound Four (21KC3). This northern Minnesota mound was built by the people of the Laurel culture and dates to A.D. 565. Analysis of the bones suggests that they were perforated on the basis of inherited group affiliation for purposes that did not involve marrow extraction and may have related to ideas of spirit release.

Resumen

Resumen

Huesos largos humanos perforados han sido encontrados en numerosos sitios del medio oeste de los Estados Unidos, pero ninguno de ellos ha producido tantos como Smith Mound Four (21KC3). Este montículo del norte de Minnesota fue construído por gente de la cultura Laurel y data del año 565 D.C. El análisis de los huesos sugiere quefueron perforados en base afiliaciones grupales hereditarias con fines que no involucraban la extracción de la médula y que podrían estar relacionados con ideas sobre la liberación del espíritu.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , July 1992 , pp. 506 - 514
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1992 

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

Reference Cited

Bass, W. M. 1987 Human Osteology. 3rd ed. Special Publication No. 2. Missouri Archaeological Society, Columbia, Missouri.Google Scholar
Bennett, K. A. 1987 A Field Guide for Human Skeletal Identification. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.Google Scholar
Budak, M. 1984 Experiment in Laurel Culture Burial Practices. Minnesota Archaeologist 34(1): 31-57.Google Scholar
Bushnell, D. I., Jr. 1927 Burials of Algonquians, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi. Bulletin No. 83. Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. 1949 Recent Investigations in Fort Randall and Oahe Reservoirs, South Dakota. American Antiquity 14: 300-310.Google Scholar
Densmore, F. 1970 Chippewa Customs. Reprinted. Ross and Haines, Minneapolis. Originally published 1929, Bulletin No. 86, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Dorman, R. M. 1881 The Origin of Primitive Superstitions. Lippincott, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Greenman, E. 1937 The Younge Site. Occasional Contributions No. 6. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Hultkrantz, A. 1953 Conceptions of the Soul Among North American Indians. Carlson, Stockholm, Sweden.Google Scholar
Johnson, E. 1964 20 New Radiocarbon Dates from Minnesota Archaeological Sites. Minnesota Archaeologist 26(2): 35-49.Google Scholar
Johnson, E. 1973 The Arvilla Complex. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.Google Scholar
Krogman, W., and Iscan, M. Y. 1986 The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.Google Scholar
Leechman, D. 1951 Bone Grease. American Antiquity 16: 355-356.Google Scholar
Lofstrom, T. 1987 The Rise of Wild Rice Exploitation and its Implication for Population Size and Social Organization in Minnesota Woodland Period Populations. Minnesota Archaeologist 46(2): 3-9.Google Scholar
Mason, R. 1981 Great Lakes Archaeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Metraux, A. 1947 Mourning Rites and Burial Forms in South America. America Indigena 7: 22-23.Google Scholar
Neuman, R. W. 1967 Radiocarbon-Dated Archaeological Remains on the Northern and Central Great Plains. American Antiquity 32: 471-486.Google Scholar
Obey, W. 1962 Red River Aspect Remains. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Obey, W. 1975 The Arvilla People. Minnesota Archaeologist 33(3): 1-33.Google Scholar
Ossenberg, N. S. 1974 Origins and Relationships of Woodland Peoples: The Evidence of Cranial Morphology. In Aspects of Upper Great Lakes Anthropology, edited by Johnson, E., pp. 15-39. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.Google Scholar
Peale, T. 1978 Uses of Brains and Marrow of Animals Among the Indians of North America. Minnesota Archaeologist 37(2): 56-57.Google Scholar
Prufer, O. H., and Shane III, O. C. 1976 The Portage-Sandusky-Vermillion River Region in Ohio. In The Late Prehistory of the Lake Erie Drainage Basin, edited by Brose, D., pp. 282-304. Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland.Google Scholar
Stoltman, J. 1973 The Laurel Culture in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.Google Scholar
Trigger, B. G. 1990 The Huron: Farmers of the North. 2nd ed. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Vehick, S. 1977 Bone Fragments and Grease Manufacturing: A Review of Their Archaeological Use and Potential. Plains Anthropologist 22: 169-182.Google Scholar
Wilford, L. 1933 Smith Mounds Site Report. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Wilford, L. 1950 The Prehistoric Indians of Minnesota. Minnesota History 32: 163-167.Google Scholar