Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-89wxm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T04:29:25.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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
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

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
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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

REFERENCES

Ayliffe, Linda K., and Allen R. Chivas 1990 Oxygen Isotope Composition of the Bone Phosphate of Australian Kangaroos: Potential as a Palaeoenvironmental Recorder. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54:26032609.Google Scholar
Brothwell, Don R. 1981 Digging Up Bones. 3rd ed. British Museum, London.
Bryant, J. Daniel, and Philip N. Froelich 1995 A Model of Oxygen Isotope Fractionation in Body Water of Large Mammals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 59:45234537.Google Scholar
Bryant, J. Daniel, Boaz Luz, and Philip N. Froelich 1994 Oxygen Isotope Composition of Fossil Horse Phosphate as a Record of Continental Palaeoclimate. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 107:303316.Google Scholar
Bryant, J. Daniel, Paul L. Koch, Philip N. Froelich, William J. Showers, and Bernard J. Genna 1996 Biologic and Climatic Signals in the Oxygen Isotope Composition of Eocene-Oligocene Equid Enamel Phosphate. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 126:7589.Google Scholar
Buikstra, Jane, and Douglas Ubelaker 1994 Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series No.44. Arkansas Archeological Survey, Fayetteville.
Cabrera, Rubén 1993 Human Sacrifice at the Temple of the Feathered Serpent: Recent Discoveries at Teotihuacan. In Teotihuacan: Art from the City of the Gods, edited by Kathleen Berrin and Esther Pasztory, pp. 100107. Thames-Hudson, New York.
Cabrera, Rubén, and Oralia Cabrera 1991 El Proyecto Templo de Quetzalcoatl: Plantemientos generales y resultados preliminares. Arqueología 6:1931.Google Scholar
Cabrera, Rubén, and Oralia Cabrera 1993 El significado calendárico de los entierros del Templo de Quetzalcoatl. In II Coloquio Pedro Bosch-Gimpera, edited by María Teresa Cabrero, pp. 277297. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.
Cabrera, Rubén, and Carlos Serrano 1999 Los entierros de la Pirámide del Sol y del Templo de Quetzalcóatl, Teotihuacan. In Prácticas funerarias en la Ciudad de los Dioses: Los enterramientos humanos de la antigua Teotihuacan, edited by Linda Manzanilla and Carlos Serrano, pp. 345397. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.
Cabrera, Rubén, Saburo Sugiyama, and George L. Cowgill 1991 The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project at Teotihuacan: A Preliminary Report. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:7792.Google Scholar
Carlson, John B. 1991 Venus-Regulated Warfare and Ritual Sacrifice in Mesoamerica: Teotihuacan and the Cacaxtla “Star Wars” Connection. Center for Archaeoastronomy Technical Publication 7, College Park, MD.
Cerling, Thure E., and Zachary D. Sharp 1996 Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Fossil Tooth Enamel Using Laser Ablation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 126:173186.Google Scholar
Cid, José Rodolfo, and Liliana Torres Sanders 1999 Patrones de mutilación dental en el sector oeste de Teotihuacan. Estudios de antropología biológica IX:281294.Google Scholar
Clayton, Robert N., and Toshiko K. Mayeda 1963 The Use of Bromine Pentafluoride in the Extraction of Oxygen from Oxides and Silicate for Isotopic Analysis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 27:4352.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael 1981 Religion and the Rise of Mesoamerican States. In The Transition to Statehood in the New World, edited by Grant Jones and Robert Kautz, pp. 157171. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Coggins, Clemency 1983 An Instrument of Expansion: Monte Alban, Teotihuacan, and Tikal. In Highland–Lowland Interaction in Mesoamerica: Interdisciplinary Approaches, edited by Arthur Miller, pp. 4968. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.
Cowgill, George L. 1992 Toward a Political History of Teotihuacan. In Ideology and PreColumbian Civilizations, edited by Arthur A. Demarest and Geoffrey W. Conrad, pp. 87114. School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, NM.
Cowgill, George L. 1997 State and Society at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Annual Review of Anthropology 26:129161.Google Scholar
Crowson, R.A, William J. Showers, E.K. Wright, and Thomas C. Hoering 1991 Preparation of Phosphate Samples for Oxygen Isotope Analysis. Analytical Chemistry 63:23972400.Google Scholar
Demarest, Arthur, and A. Foias 1993 Mesoamerican Horizons and the Cultural Transformation of Maya Civilization. In Latin American Horizons, edited by Don S. Rice, pp. 147191. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.
Drucker, R. David 1974 Renovating a Reconstruction: The Ciudadela at Teotihuacan, Mexico: Construction Sequence, Layout and Possible Uses of this Structure. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.
Elliot, J.C. 1997 Structure, Crystal Chemistry and Density of Enamel Apatites. In Dental Enamel, edited by D.J. Chadwick and G. Cardew, pp. 5480. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Firsching, F. Henry 1961 Precipitation of Silver Phosphate from Homogeneous Solution. Analytical Chemistry 33:873887.Google Scholar
Fricke, Henry C., and James R. O'Neil 1996 Inter- and Intra-tooth Variation in the Oxygen Isotope Composition of Mammalian Tooth Enamel Phosphate: Implications for Palaeoclimatological and Palaeobiological Research. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 126:9199.Google Scholar
Gómez, Sergio 1998 Nuevos datos sobre la relación de Teotihuacan y el occidente de México. In Antropología e historia del occidente de México: XXIV Mesa redonda de la Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, pp. 14611493. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Mexico City.
Grove, David C. 1987 Torches, “Knuckle Dusters” and the Legitimization of Formative Period Leadership. Mexicon 9:6065.Google Scholar
Hassig, Ross 1988 Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Hassig, Ross 1992 War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Hillson, Simon 1996 Dental Anthropology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Koch, Paul L., D.C. Fisher, and D. Dettman 1989 Oxygen Isotope Variation in the Tusks of Extinct Proboscideans: A Measure of Season of Death and Seasonality. Geology 17:515519.Google Scholar
Kohn, Matthew J. 1996 Predicting Animal δ18O: Accounting for Diet and Physiological Adaptation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60:48114829.Google Scholar
Kohn, Matthew J., Margaret J. Schoeninger, and John W. Valley 1996 Herbivore Tooth Oxygen Isotope Compositions: Effects of Diet and Physiology. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60:38893896.Google Scholar
Levinson, Alfred A., Boaz Luz, and Yehoshua Kolodny 1987 Variations in Oxygen Isotopic Compositions of Human Teeth and Urinary Stones. Applied Geochemistry 2:367371.Google Scholar
Longinelli, Antonio 1984 Oxygen Isotopes in Mammal Bone Phosphate: A New Tool for Paleohydrological and Paleoclimatological Research? Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48:385390.Google Scholar
Longinelli, Antonio, and A. Peretti Paladino 1980 Oxygen Isotope Composition of Water from Mammal Blood: First Results. Mass Spectrometry in Biomedical, Medical and Environmental Research 1:135139.Google Scholar
López Austin, Alfredo, Leonardo López Luján, and Saburo Sugiyama 1991 The Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan: Its Possible Ideological Significance. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:93105.Google Scholar
Luz, Boaz, Yehoshua Kolodny, and Michal Horowitz 1984 Fractionation of Oxygen Isotopes between Mammalian Bone-Phosphate and Environmental Drinking Water. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48:16891693.Google Scholar
Massler, Maury, Isaac Schour, and H.G. Poncher 1941 Developmental Pattern of the Child as Reflected in the Calcification Pattern of Teeth. American Journal of Diseases of Children 62:3367.Google Scholar
McArthur, J.M., and A. Herczeg 1990 Diagenetic Stability of the Isotopic Composition of Phosphate-Oxygen: Paleoenvironmental Implications. Phosphorite Research and Development, Geological Society Special Publication No. 52, pp. 119124. London.
Millon, René 1981 Teotihuacan: City, State and Civilization. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 1, Archaeology, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, pp. 198243. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Millon, René 1992 Teotihuacan Studies: From 1950 to 1990 and Beyond. In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, edited by Janet C. Berlo, pp. 339429. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.
Pasztory, Esther 1988 A Reinterpretation of Teotihuacan and Its Mural Painting Tradition. In Feathered Serpents and Flowering Trees: Reconstructing the Murals of Teotihuacan, edited by Kathleen Berrin, pp. 4577. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Pasztory, Esther 1993 An Image Is Worth a Thousand Words: Teotihuacan and the Meanings of Style in Classic Mesoamerica. In Latin American Horizons, edited by Don S. Rice, pp. 113145. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.
Price, T. Douglas, Linda Manzanilla, and William D. Middleton 2000 Immigration and the Ancient City of Teotihuacan in Mexico: A Study Using Strontium Isotope Ratios in Human Bone and Teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:903913.Google Scholar
Quade, Jay, Thure E. Cerling, John C. Barry, Michele E. Morgan, David R. Pilbeam, Allan R. Chivas, Julia A. Lee-Thorp, and Nikolaas J. van der Merwe 1992 A 16-Ma Record of Paleodiet Using Carbon and Oxygen Isotopes in Fossil Teeth from Pakistan. Chemical Geology 94:183192.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn 1987 Los barrios foráneos de Teotihuacan. In Teotihuacan: Nuevos datos, nuevas síntesis, nuevos problemas, edited by Emily McClung de Tapia and Evelyn C. Rattray, pp. 243273. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.
Rattray, Evelyn 1993 The Oaxaca Barrio at Teotihuacan. Monografías Mesoamericanas No. 1. Universidad de las Américas-Puebla, Cholula.
Reinhard, Ella, Trinidad de Torres, and James R. O'Neil 1996 18O/16O Ratios of Cave Bear Tooth Enamel: A Record of Climate Variability during the Pleistocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 126:4559.Google Scholar
Romero, Javier 1986 Catálogo de la colección de dientes mutilados prehispánicos, IV parte. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.
Sanders, William T., Jeffrey Parsons, and Robert Santley 1979 The Basin of Mexico. Academic Press, New York.
Scott, E.C. 1979 Dental Wear Scoring Technique. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 51:213218.Google Scholar
Serrano, Carlos, and Enrique Martínez 1989 Nuevos patrones de mutilación dentaria en Teotihuacan. Estudios de antropología biológica IV:585598.Google Scholar
Serrano, Carlos, Martha Pimienta, and Alfonso Gallardo 1991 Los entierros del Templo de Quetzalcoatl. Patrón de distribución por edad y sexo. Arqueología 6:5367.Google Scholar
Serrano, Carlos, Martha Pimienta, and Alfonso Gallardo 1993 Mutilación dentaria y filiación étnica en los entierros del Templo de Quetzalcoatl, Teotihuacan. In II Coloquio Pedro Bosch-Gimpera, edited by María Teresa Cabrero, pp. 263276. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.
Serrano, Carlos, Martha Pimienta, and Alfonso Gallardo 1997 Mutilaciones e incrustaciones dentarias en un entierro colectivo del Templo de Quetzalcóatl, Teotihuacan. Estudios de antropología biológica VI:295308.Google Scholar
Shemesh, Aldo 1990 Crystallinity and Diagenesis of Sedimentary Apatites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54:24332438.Google Scholar
Shemesh, Aldo, Yehoshua Kolodny, and Boaz Luz 1988 Isotope Geochemistry of Oxygen and Carbon in Phosphate and Carbonate of Phosphorite Francolite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 52:25652572.Google Scholar
Smith, B.H. 1984 Patterns of Molar Wear in Hunter–Gatherers and Agriculturalists. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 63:3956.Google Scholar
Sokal, Robert, and F.J. Rohlf 1995 Biometry: The Principles and Practice of Statistics in Biological Research. 3rd ed. W.H. Freeman, New York.
Spence, Michael W. 1992 Tlailotlacan, a Zapotec Enclave in Teotihuacan. In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, edited by Janet C. Berlo, pp. 5988. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.
Spence, Michael W. 1996a A Preliminary Report on the Nonmetric Traits of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl Skeletons. Unpublished manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario.
Spence, Michael W. 1996b Commodity or Gift? Teotihuacan Obsidian in the Maya Region. Latin American Antiquity 7:2139.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1997 Further Morphological Analyses of the Quetzalcoatl Series. Unpublished manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario.
Spence, Michael W. 2001 Los restos humanos de la segunda temporada de excavaciones en la Pirámide de la Luna. Report to Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.
Stuart-Williams, Hilary LeQ., and Henry P. Schwarcz 1995 Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Silver Orthophosphate Using a Reaction with Bromine. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 58:38373841.Google Scholar
Stuart-Williams, Hilary LeQ., and Henry P. Schwarcz 1997 Oxygen Isotope Determination of Climatic Variation Using Phosphate from Beaver Bone, Tooth Enamel and Dentine. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 61:25392550.Google Scholar
Stuart-Williams, Hilary LeQ., Henry P. Schwarcz, Christine D. White, and Michael W. Spence 1996 The Isotopic Composition and Diagenesis of Human Bone from Teotihuacán and Oaxaca, Mexico. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 126:114.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo 1989 Burials Dedicated to the Old Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan, Mexico. American Antiquity 54:85106.Google Scholar
Sugiyama, Saburo 1991 Descubrimientos de entierros y ofrendas dedicados al Templo Viejo de Quetzalcoatl. In Teotihuacan 1980–1982: Nuevas interpretaciones, edited by Rubén Cabrera, Ignacio Rodríguez, and Noel Morelos, pp. 275326. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.
Sugiyama, Saburo 1995 Mass Human Sacrifice and Symbolism of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid in Teotihuacan, Mexico. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.
Taube, Karl A. 1992 The Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Cult of Sacred War at Teotihuacan. RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 21:5387.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. Hull, Quebec.
Ubelaker, Douglas H. 1978 Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis and Interpretation. Aldine, Chicago.
White, Christine D., Fred J. Longstaffe, and Kimberley R. Law 2001 Revisiting the Teotihuacan Connection at Altun Ha: Oxygen-isotope Analysis of Tomb F-8/1. Ancient Mesoamerica 12:6572.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Fred J. Longstaffe, and Kimberley R. Law 2004 Exploring the Effects of Environment, Physiology and Diet on Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Ancient Nubian Bones and Teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:223250.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Michael W. Spence, and Fred J. Longstaffe 2000 The Identification of Foreigners in Mortuary Contexts Using Oxygen-Isotope Ratios: Some Mesoamerican Examples. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, San Antonio
White, Christine D., Michael W. Spence, Fred J. Longstaffe, and Kimberley R. Law 2000 Testing the Nature of Teotihuacán Imperialism at Kaminaljuyú Using Phosphate Oxygen-isotope Ratios. Journal of Anthropological Research 56:535558.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Michael W. Spence, Fred J. Longstaffe, Hilary Stuart-Williams, and Kimberley R. Law 2002 Geographical Identities of the Sacrificial Victims from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan: Implications for the Nature of State Power. Latin American Antiquity 13:217236.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Michael W. Spence, Hilary Le-Q. Stuart-Williams, and Henry P. Schwarcz 1998 Oxygen Isotopes and the Identification of Geographical Origins: The Valley of Oaxaca versus the Valley of Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:643655.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Jocelyn Williams, and Fred J. Longstaffe 2002 Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Bone Phosphate: An Additional Tool to Investigate Weaning in the Maya Postclassic. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology, Ottawa.
Wright, Lori E., and Henry P. Schwarcz 1998 Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotopes in Human Tooth Enamel: Identifying Breastfeeding and Weaning in Prehistory. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 106:118.Google Scholar
Yurtsever, Yuecel, and Joel R. Gat 1981 Atmospheric Waters. In Stable Isotope Hydrology: Deuterium and Oxygen-18 in the Water Cycle, Technical Report Series, No. 210, edited by Joel R. Gat and Roberto Gonfiantini, pp. 103142. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.