A Biocultural Approach to Human Burials From Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Author(s): Nancy J. Akins

Year: 1986

Summary

The study of human remains offers a unique perspective on prehistory. Environmental reconstructions can approximate the constraints of life in a particular area, but the examination of the human remains can measure the success of a population's adaptation to those conditions. Mortuary practices are a part of the cultural system that has seldom been studied by Southwestern archeologists. Too often biological and cultural aspects are treated as independent topics. The biological analyses do not take cultural and environmental aspects into consideration, and the archeologists' interpretations of biological and paleopathological information are superficial. Fortunately, such oversight is dwindling, as we come to realize that adaptation is both biological and cultural. This report uses both perspectives, augmented by the recent research on Chaco Canyon.

Cite this Record

A Biocultural Approach to Human Burials From Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Nancy J. Akins. Reports of the Chaco Center ,Number 9.: National Park Service. 1986 ( tDAR id: 378057) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8ZG6T33

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Chacoan

Material
Human Remains

Site Name
Judd's Rooms • Pepper's Rooms • Pueblo Bonito

Site Type
Cemetery • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Tomb

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Bioarchaeological Research • Heritage Management

Geographic Keywords
Chaco Canyon • Chaco Canyon National Monument • New Mexico (State / Territory)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -108.108; min lat: 35.802 ; max long: -107.765; max lat: 36.235 ;

Record Identifiers

NADB document id number(s): 2155265

NADB citation id number(s): 000000010143

File Information

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