Illuminating identity with mortuary features at Slade Ruin (AZ Q:15:1 [ASM]), a Pueblo III site in east-central Arizona

Summary

Aggregation characteristic of prehistoric east-central Arizona archaeological sites influenced residential and regional identities during the Pueblo III (1100-1300 A.D.) period. Some aspects of these identities can be explored by focusing on mortuary feature and osteological data. In 1991, a total of 101 burial features were mapped and excavated at Slade Ruin (AZ Q:15:1 [ASM]) located on private land in Eager, Arizona to avoid contamination from a nearby hydrocarbon spill. This cemetery sample provided representative data to test the hypothesis that mortuary behavior and health at Slade Ruin indicates multiple complex identities of adults and fewer identities of infants and children. A preliminary mortuary analysis was conducted by collecting feature variables including burial position, orientation, and artifact association as determined from feature records in addition to osteological variables including age, sex, pathology, and indications of trauma. Results from Spearman correlation and chi-square analyses reveal significant patterns related to the processes of constructing multi-faceted and fluctuating identities in the broader Mogollon region of the Southwest. Abundant ceramic associations, variable body positions and orientations, extensive spinal osteophytosis, and severe dental pathologies indicate developing and changing social and biological identities throughout the life course.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage