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VICTIMS OF THE VICTIMS: Human trophies worn by sacrificed soldiers from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2004

Michael W. Spence ,
Christine D. White ,
Fred J. Longstaffe  and
Kimberley R. Law
Michael W. Spence
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
Christine D. White
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
Fred J. Longstaffe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
Kimberley R. Law
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
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Abstract

The large series of sacrificial victims excavated from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid (ca. a.d. 200) includes 72 males identified as soldiers. Although most of these wore pendants of imitation human maxillae, four soldiers each had between seven and eleven real human maxillae. Dental dimensions indicate that most, and perhaps all, of these trophies were from males. Dental attrition levels suggest a broader and flatter age profile for the pendants than for the soldiers, with a significantly higher mean age. The oxygen-isotope ratios in the dental phosphate of the pendant teeth, which indicate the geographic origins of those individuals, point to their derivation from three different regions, one of them probably in or near the Basin of Mexico itself. Apparently the soldiers had fought in more than one campaign, and the early interactions of Teotihuacan with more distant societies had sometimes involved an element of violence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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