Trophies of Violence: The Manufacturing and Processing of Human Trophy Heads at Uraca

Summary

Human trophy heads appear in the iconography of prehistoric Andean ceramics, weavings, and statuary as early as the Late Formative (400 BC – AD 100), and actual trophy heads are not uncommon bioarchaeological finds in south-coastal Peru. Human trophy heads were prepared by cleaving the head from the body, cutting the occipital and parietal bones to remove the brain, drilling holes in the frontal bone, and threading that hole with a carrying cord for display. At the Middle Horizon cemetery of Uraca in the Middle Majes Valley (Arequipa, Peru), eleven trophy heads were recently excavated from two sectors: Sector I, located near the ritual petroglyph field of Toro Muerto, and Sector II, located farther to the north. We examine differences in cutmark type, number, and location between sectors in order to shed light on the changing contexts of violence in the Middle Horizon Majes. We also examine the spatial distribution of trophy head styles from published samples in southern Peru to determine whether Uraca styles are more consistent with Wari, Nazca, or local traditions. Lastly, lithic artifacts from both sectors are examined to explore whether they may have been involved in trophy head manufacture.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Mortuary Assemblages from Uraca, an early Wari-era Cemetery in the Majes Valley of Arequipa, Peru   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage