Prehistoric Cannibalism in the Mancos Canyon, Southwestern Colorado

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Abstract
Salvage excavation of an early Pueblo III village ruin (site designation 5MTUMR 2346) in the Mancos Canyon, southwestern Colorado, has yielded a large number of human remains which exhibit indications of cannibalism. While reports of cannibalism are not unknown in Southwestern archaeological literature, they appear somewhat infrequently. The remains from the Mancos Canyon include 33 individuals, mostly young adults, whose completely fragmented bones show evidences which indicate that intentional and patterned human actions were responsible for dismembering the bodies prior to being interred. The burials were found in the rooms of the pueblo, all in multiple individual deposits representing from 2 to 11 persons. All the long bones are splintered, showing primarily a spiral type fracture caused by a twisting or prying apart of the bones with evidence that some of the shafts were prepared for fracture, presumably for extraction of the marrow. Butchering or cut-marks occur on several bone fragments, nearly always lying at right angles to the axes of tendons and ligamentous attachments. Evidence of direct contact with fire is present, a few bones being thoroughly calcined, but small scorched areas are predominate. Large percentages of certain bones are absent, perhaps indicative of butchering techniques. Although the skulls are all broken and scattered, no evidence of violent death is seen in the remains. Finally, no magico-religious significance is seen in the remains, and while it cannot be stated for certain, obligatory or emergency ration cannibalism is apparently represented in the Mancos Canyon skeletal series.