Revisiting the Mortuary Function of Chultunes

Summary

Excavations at Mul Ch’en Witz uncovered a series of chultunes just below the escarpment on which the ceremonial core of La Milpa is located. Of the six chultunes identified during the 2017 field season, Chultun 3 has produced the most cultural material. In addition to several complete vessels excavated, human bone fragments were recovered. The remains, found next to the chultun capstone, revive questions surrounding the mortuary function of chultunes. Dennis Puleston, among others, considered the mortuary use to be both secondary and infrequent. Thus, the presence of burials in chultunes was consigned to a marginal position in the attempt to understand chultun function. While the mortuary use of chultunes is indeed secondary, recent work has found it to occur far more frequently than acknowledged. If human burials in chultunes occur regularly, there must be a logical link between the primary and secondary uses. This presentation explores that relationship.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21428