Chapter 5

Mortuary Location Trends in the Mesa Verde Region

This chapter provides descriptive information regarding the mortuary location

categories, or mortuary context types (MCT), that were selected for Pueblo II

and Pueblo III primary burials in the Montezuma County study area. The

objectives of this chapter are two-fold. The first is to provide a detailed

description of the occurrence and distribution of mortuary contexts observed in

substantially excavated Pueblo II and Pueblo III habitation sites of the Mesa

Verde region (MVR) of southwest Colorado. The second goal is to evaluate use

of surface room floors as a mortuary context to complete the falsification of the

Persistent Community Hypothesis: “The Wallace Ruin room burials occurred

throughout the AD 1150-1300 time span. The deceased came from the local

(<7 km radius) persistent community; a surface room floor location is merely an

amplification of that community's pre-existing mortuary tradition.”

As the reliability of a scientific interpretation rests upon the quality of the

evidence (Ziman, 1991), a review of the literature demonstrates that there is

firstly a scholarly need for a comprehensive and thorough examination of the

mortuary evidence from the MVR study area before any sound inferences, or

interpretations, can be drawn regarding the range and frequency of mortuary

locations accessed between roughly AD 900 to 1300, let alone evaluate how

Wallace Ruin fits into the picture. Currently, there is over-reliance upon

localised findings and sketchy knowledge. For example, the commonly held

view that the frequency of intramural burial locations increased during the

Pueblo III Period (Karhu, 2000:32; Morris, 1939:115; Schlanger, 1992:25) is

largely unsubstantiated. Martin and Akins (2001:224) make strong arguments 1

for the need to investigate variant mortuary practices, using the orderly

positioning of the skeletons from Site Morris 41 (ibid., 231) as an example of a

normative practice. Yet, even they do not mention that this former Chaco great

house has Pueblo III burials within its surface rooms (Morris, 1939). Nor do

these scholars refer to probably the most divergent mortuary setting in the

Northern San Juan Region: the burial rooms of Aztec Pueblo (Morris, 1924),

which housed the largest and most richly-accompanied Pueblo III burial

population discovered to date. Conceivably, since the use of surface rooms at

these two sites is not highlighted, there is a reasonable chance other

researchers reporting on less well-known sites in the MVR have also not

explicitly documented the presence of burials on a surface room floor.

Consequently, the significant problems to be resolved are whether the

frequency and distribution of room floor contexts are distinctive compared to the

selection of other mortuary contexts by major temporal period. In other words,

are there Pueblo II precedents for the use of surface room mortuary contexts? If

so, what scale by numbers of sites, residences, rooms, and burials? Are

individuals in surface rooms within room fill, on floors, or in subfloor pits? What

other locations were accessed during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III Periods, and

what is their relative frequency in respect to surface room burials? Also, is there

evidence that the age or sex of the individuals is associated with the use, or

avoidance, of specific mortuary locations? Although demographic information is

not necessarily essential for falsifying Hypothesis Two, these data provide

additional evidence to evaluate the possibilities that socio-economic

considerations, i.e., status, or cultural metaphors influenced decisions regarding

the selection of a particular mortuary location.

2

OF BURIALS, MORTUARY CONTEXTS, AND RESIDENCES

As applied by archaeologists, the term burial has multiple meanings (Brown,

1971; Duday, 2009; Knüsel and Gowland, 2006; Murphy, 2008; Parker

Pearson, 2003; O’Shea, 1984; Williams, 2006). It can refer to the material

evidence, namely the physical remains of the body or the place of disposal.

However, it is also applied to such unobservable actions as the disposal of the

body or even funerary rites occurring in locations distant from the place of

disposal. A further complication is that archaeologists may use burial to

describe a single individual as well as multiple individuals (Karhu, 2000;

Stirniman et al., 2005). Following Duday (2006:33; 2009:14), the phrase

“primary burial deposit” (or deposition) refers to a specific kind of physical

deposit produced when a body that is “still in a state of anatomical integrity” is

disposed of during a “simple funeral.” Such deposits also include any items

associated with the corpse, whether personal items (clothing, jewellery) or

grave inclusions. The term “primary burial” then refers to the skeletonised

remains of a single individual within a primary burial deposit in which the

skeleton is in a position and location is indicative of the deliberate and patterned

placement of a corpse, followed by in situ decomposition.

In its strictest sense the word “burial” refers to an inhumation in which a corpse

is “buried” in native ground. This study makes use of a broader usage in which

this term is restricted to formal disposal processes through which the “dead are

removed from the living” (Parker Pearson, 2003:5). Accordingly, not included in

this analysis are non-burials: articulated human remains, often evidencing peri-

mortem skeletal damage, in body positions and contexts that strongly point to

the absence of mortuary considerations. Also excluded are small articulated

3

units and clusters of dis-articulated skeletal elements, even if they have been

assigned a burial number by the investigating archaeologist. Although

Southwest archaeologists sometimes term such deposits as “secondary”

(Brisbin and Brisbin, n.d.; Swannack, 1969:171; Lister 1965:107; Stirniman et

al., 2005:5.2), this usage does not imply the presence of the second phase of a

formal, “compound mortuary program” (Sprague, 2005:63-70) or “double

funeral” (Duday, 2009:14) as exemplified by ossuary burial practice (Ubelaker,

1974:8). Rather, these MVR bone clusters are largely interpreted as an informal

disposal in a “second” location following the accidental disturbance of the

primary burial context during the construction of new rooms or extramural

features. Possibly, this subsequent disposal again involved some sort of

mortuary rites, but the evaluation of this potential is beyond the scope of this

study. Likewise, since analysis involves a diachronic consideration of Pueblo II

and Pueblo III practices, evidence from individuals who cannot be assigned to

either period is not incorporated. Given these restrictions, as this chapter deals

with primary burials only, the term burial is used for simplicity’s sake.

Although every physical deposit entails a location, the range of places

construed as suitable for the formal disposal of a human corpse can vary

substantially by both community and culture (Huntington and Metcalf, 1991;

Parker Pearson, 2000). Such mortuary contexts can range from formal, highly

organised cemeteries to isolated graves, scaffolds, or interment within a tree

trunk, to name just a few. Although Ancestral Puebloans of the Northern San

Juan Region did not inter their dead in cemeteries, they made use of a variety

of locations within the confines of their residences (Schlanger, 1992:1). While

“residential burial” can refer to intramural areas only, this study makes use of

the definition offered by Adams and King (2011: 3), in which the term refers to

4

“burials within houses as well as in outdoor living areas, where everyday

domestic activities occur and where a clear spatial relationship between the

living area and the domestic structures exist.” To reiterate, an Ancestral Pueblo

house, which is equivalent to a kiva-unit, is comprised of three major

components. The two intramural sections consist of the roomblock and a pit-

structure, whereas the extramural zone contains the midden, the courtyard or

plaza, and any associated small subsurface pits.

Previous research in the Mesa Verde Region

To date, there is no in-depth, formal analysis of Ancestral Pueblo mortuary

patterns at the regional scale within the Montezuma County study area, nor

within most of its precincts. As is the case with all but a few of the more than

300 references interrogated during the course of this archival investigation,

mortuary evidence is addressed on a site-by-site basis, and furthermore, the

data provided is simply descriptive. The few studies that entail an explicit

evaluation of patterns associated with formal burials, including interpretation

within a theoretical context, involve communities situated at some distance from

Wallace Ruin (Bradley, 1998; 2002; Karhu, 2000; Stodder, 1987). Regrettably,

the multi-disciplinary volume Ancient Burial Practices in the American

Southwest (Mitchell and Brunson-Hadley, 2001) does not include any new

information regarding the Mesa Verde region of southwest Colorado.

Furthermore, the contributions that pertain to Ancestral Puebloan groups of the

Northern San Juan Region are further examinations of previously published

studies regarding Chaco Canyon (Akins, 1987) and the La Plata Valley (Martin

et al., 1995).

5

Considering the long history of archaeological research in the southwest

Colorado, it is curious that the number of publications that centre upon

Ancestral Pueblo mortuary practices can be counted on one hand. Stodder

(1987) offers such an intensive analysis of the biological and mortuary evidence

regarding 66 individuals from Basketmaker III, Pueblo I and Late Pueblo II sites

that were excavated during the Dolores Archaeological Project (DAP), perhaps

the largest archaeological project conducted in the United States (Lipe 1998).

Although her study established the benchmark for Mesa Verde region

bioarchaeological studies, it primarily concerns the earliest Ancestral Pueblo

occupation of the River (Dolores) Locality during the Basketmaker III and

Pueblo I Periods. Only 12 burials are from the Pueblo II Period and there are no

Pueblo III burials.

Karhu (2000) provides a similar investigation of the human remains from

adjacent Sites 5MT1 and 5MT3 of Yellow Jacket Hamlet of the eastern McElmo

Dome. This is an extremely important source of information since the 101

primary burials constitute the largest burial population discovered in the MVR,

surpassing the 66 individuals located during the DAP project (Stodder, 1987).

However, as noted by Karhu (ibid.:12), though these sites were completely

excavated by the University of Colorado Museum Field School over a 37 year

time-span, data quality is sometimes compromised since most burials, usually

in a poor state of preservation, were excavated by students of varying levels of

experience. Further complications involve inconsistencies in field practices, data

recording, and research approaches. Even so, both Stodder’s and Karhu’s

contribute a wealth of descriptive data as well as efforts to place these remains

within broader cultural and interpretive contexts. Each researcher follows

6

Binford (1971), in which mortuary and biological evidence are construed as

measures of socioeconomic status.

Schlanger’s (1992) unpublished yet seminal manuscript addresses temporal

and locational variability in Ancestral Pueblo mortuary practices of the Northern

San Juan Region in which she also adopts the New Archaeology approach to

mortuary analysis as advanced by Saxe (1970). She relates the decisions of

buriers to a complicated cultural milieu involving personal and community

mobility, land tenure, environmental contingencies, and circumstantial options.

Schlanger also provides new information on mortuary evidence from 28 sites

situated within the La Plata Valley of northern New Mexico, but the strength of

this work, and relevance to this study, lies in her extensive interpretive

treatment of Ancestral Pueblo mortuary locations, including surface room floors.

The integration of Pueblo traditions and viewpoints contributes a culturally-

situated interpretive layer.

Even when the occurrence of primary burials in surface rooms is noted in MVR

site reports, little attention is given to interpreting formal burials in a surface

room floor context. Schlanger (1992) provides a rare exception, but her

consideration pools mortuary data associated with the floors of surface rooms

and subsurface structures. Unfortunately, this work does not provide additional

mortuary location evidence for the MVR study area, nor is it in actuality an

intensive regional analysis. Rather, due to sample size considerations (ibid., 18-

19), the mortuary evidence is limited to that from the La Plata Valley, Stodder’s

(1987) DAP results and the human remains from Chaco Canyon (Akins, 1987).

Large blocks of the MVR thus have no in-depth or considered examinations of

burial practices, even in more recent large-scale excavation projects.

7

Considering the extent of research excavations within MVNP (Lister, 2004)

since 1950, it is surprising that there is neither a synthetic nor interpretive

analysis of the comparatively abundant, and well-excavated, mortuary

evidence. The data used in this analysis are drawn from 15 sites and nearly 200

primary burials, although these are only samples of the total located.

During the 1990s, Soil Systems, Inc. conducted extensive, large-scale,

intensive excavations at 42 sites the Ute Mountain Ute Irrigated Lands

Archaeological Project within the Sleeping Ute Mountain piedmont area

(Billman, 1998). This effort produced exceptionally strong evidence regarding

Pueblo II and III mortuary location preferences. Since one of the project

objectives entailed removing burials that would have been destroyed by field

construction, surface rooms and extramural areas, including middens and

courtyards/plazas, were stripped to sterile to expose subsurface features, and

subfloor test units were placed in subsurface structures (Birnie et al., 1998:60-

62). Mortuary findings are described on a site-by-site basis. Although Lambert

(1999) provides a synthesis of population health of the 63 human remains

recovered from 12 sites, there is no counterpart regarding mortuary evidence.

Barnett (1992) and Dice (1993) provides syntheses of the mortuary evidence

obtained by Complete Archaeological Service Associates during their

excavation and testing of numerous sites located within the construction zone of

an irrigation system that traverses large sections of the study area. However,

these efforts effectively cluster sites based on their location within a specific

construction zone rather than by a potential community affiliation.

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (crowcanyon.org) has conducted

numerous excavations of Pueblo II and III sites of the McElmo Dome. This

8

author (1998; 2002a; 2002b; 2003) participated in this research and contributed

bioarchaeological analyses that makes use of mortuary evidence. However, the

only multi-site treatment of human remains involves the interpretation of the

seeming absence of mortuary ritual (non-burial) associated with episodes of

violence (Kuckelman, 2002; Kuckelman et al., 2000).

Finally, Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants conducted large-scale

excavations and testing at Indian Camp Ranch, a private housing development

located west of Cortez, and in sites located within various construction right-of-

ways. Their site-specific reports (woodscanyon.net) provide descriptions of all

human remains located. No formal burials were located at Hanson Pueblo,

5MT3976, but Dice (1993b) provides a focused analysis of the disarticulated

bones with peri-mortem damage that were found within its Pueblo II kiva.

METHODS

Construction of the Mesa Verde Region Mortuary Location Database (MLD)

The information that forms the basis of this evaluation was obtained by this

author during archival research conducted at multiple southwest Colorado

libraries: the Anasazi Heritage Center, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center,

Mesa Verde Research Center, Center for Southwest Studies of Fort Lewis

College, Primtech Enterprises, and Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants.

Additional material comes from online scholarly or administrative resources.

Since the presence of human remains is not necessarily listed in a document’s

table of contents, this data acquisition process involved reading through every

published and unpublished report or manuscript, i.e. “grey literature”, that

involved excavation research within the Montezuma County-Mesa Verde region

study area. The primary reference used to obtain this evidence is identified in

9

the relevant master table, but additional sources are included in the

bibliography.

This master Mortuary Location Database, or MLD, (Appendix MVR) lists 277

Pueblo II and Pueblo III sites within Montezuma County and a small section of

southwest Dolores County. The bulk of these sites entail human remains

reported to the Colorado Office of Historical Preservation and listed in OAHP

database. This author added information from another 20 to 30 sites, some

because of first-hand knowledge of sites that had not been included in the

OAHP list but also to ensure that each geographic and cultural locality, as

defined in Chapter 3, are represented by several sites, when possible. Roughly

180 of these sites are listed simply because human remains were reported

during the course of an archaeological survey. Another 40 or so sites involve

information obtained during limited testing, site monitoring, targeted recovery

efforts by professional land managers, the retrieval of human remains from non-

professional collectors, or archaeological endeavours for which the necessary

documentation is not available.

In total, approximately 80 sites are sufficiently excavated for an appraisal of the

range of mortuary locations accessed by their inhabitants. The requisite

information was obtained for 66 sites, ten of which have both a Pueblo II and

Pueblo III residential component. This means that mortuary data is compiled

from more than 80% of the sites having the potential to provide more than

incidental evidence. The information pertaining to the primary burials from these

sites are compiled in various databases: the Pueblo II database (P2MLD) and

the Pueblo III database (P3MLD) compile information by site whereas the

BMLD contains contextual and demographic data by primary burial. The details

10

of the excavation extent of these 66 sites are provided in Appendix TBD. Sites

which are largely to completely excavated are labelled EE for extensively

excavated, and sites in which at least several surface rooms are tested or

excavated are identified as AE, or adequately excavated. Given this study’s

focus on interpreting the surface room burials of Wallace Ruin, even sites which

are substantially excavated but which do not have surface rooms, such as Site

9863 of the Ute Locality (Hungerford et al., 2002), are not included in this

analysis. This restrictive scheme also means that mortuary data from sites

undergoing limited excavation (LE) are used only in very special circumstances,

as will be explained in the relevant section. Unfortunately, as a result, much of

the data obtained by Crow Canyon Archaeological Center researchers during

their years of work on late Pueblo III sites is not suitable for this particular study.

This decision also eliminates from consideration several sites in which the

bioarchaeological analyses were performed by this researcher.

In keeping with the classification system employed in the residential proximity

analysis, in this analysis, sites identified as Pueblo II/III are grouped with Pueblo

II sites. Ideally, it would be beneficial to evaluate mortuary trends by the more

refined groupings of Early and Late, but historical inconsistencies in the

application of regional chronological systems, methodological problems

associated with determining residence construction dates, and the difficulty in

dating a specific mortuary context from ceramic vessels of long-standing or

overlapping use precludes such refinements.

As is often the case in archaeological research, some deviations from this

preferred approach are required. Due to this project’s emphasis on interpreting

the burial rooms of Wallace Ruin, sites in which primary burials are reported in

11

a surface room mortuary context are included regardless of the excavation

approach. So, even though research at Site 5MT8119 involved limited testing,

its mortuary evidence is included in the P2MLD since this is one of only two

sites within the 7 km Lakeview Locality. Also, the residential midden was either

not investigated, or only very lightly tested in several sites. Fortunately, this is

not a critical impediment to this analysis since the pervasive use of a midden

mortuary context across time and space is so thoroughly documented in the

Mesa Verde region.

Allocations to household units are based upon the interpretations provided by

relevant researcher when available, or by a building’s proximity to a kiva. In

cases in which there is insufficient architectural information to identify specific

residential units with confidence, a household unit is assigned an arbitrary

designation that captures data from distinctly separate sections of a site. So, for

example, even though the Pueblo III component of 5MV34 (O’Bryan, 1950: 62-

80) comprises three kiva-units, the mortuary contexts from Rooms 9, 12 and 13

in the western half of the site are assigned to 5MV34.1, those in Rooms 32, 36,

and 43 of the eastern section are allocated to 5MV34.5, and no mortuary

contexts are allocated to 5MV34.3.

Departures from the residential focus of this analysis pertain to such extramural

mortuary contexts as the residential midden and subsurface burial pits in sites

with multiple domiciles. Primary burials in such contexts are thus allocated per

site since it is often impossible to make a secure association between a specific

residence and a particular burial. However, burials in extramural pits that are in

close proximity to a domicile are allocated to that specific residential unit.

12

Although this study centres upon residential units, the burials associated with

Pueblo II occupations of Chacoan great houses are included on the basis that

each contained at least one residence during that time span. Even though

hearsay accounts and some documents indicate that Pueblo II and Pueblo III

burials were found at the third Lakeview Group site of Haney Ruin, this

information is not included due to uncertainties about proveniences of

associations. Based on information provided by archaeologist Susan Ryan

(pers. comm, 2010), this site was commercially mined in the 1980s by the

landowners and a third party in an attempt to locate and sell vessels found with

burials. Reportedly, the third party, long suspected for unlawful looting of

Ancestral Pueblo burials on federal lands, conducted much of the excavation by

backhoe. Suffice to say, none of these individuals had professional

archaeological or osteological training, nor experience obtained working as a

volunteer under professional supervision. Although notes were taken by one of

the landowners, and Mesa Verde Black-on-white vessels have been sold, it is of

concern that there is, reportedly, only one photograph of a burial. More

troubling, when showing Bruce Bradley a video of their work made for

commercial purposes, the other landowner advised Bradley (pers. comm,

2010,) that a grouping of items portrayed as from a single burial was fabricated

for dramatic purposes.

That there was some use of Haynie Ruin after AD 1180 is indicated by the

presence of numerous Mesa Verde Black-on-white sherds. This evidence,

though not in an undisturbed archaeological context, has the virtue of involving

the independent observations of highly trained archaeologists from Crow

Canyon Archaeological Center (Glowacki, pers. comm, 2010). By the time these

“mining” operations took place, the sale of Ancestral Pueblo pottery had

13

become much scrutinised by federal and legal authorities. Thus, it cannot be

overlooked there may have been a financial and legal impetus to associate pots

with burials found on private land, possibly even those found elsewhere.

Ultimately, even though this researcher has significant concerns regarding the

credibility of the information from Haynie Ruin, this is not to say that the

information provided is not legitimate, albeit no doubt inaccurate on several

levels. Although it is not proper to accord a hearsay account with the credibility

attributed to formal archaeological endeavours, the possibility that Haney Ruin

also functioned as non-residential mortuary facility for multiple primary

depositions after AD 1180 cannot be dismissed categorically.

Mortuary Context Types (MCT)

In archaeological terms, a mortuary context refers to the vertical and horizontal

location (provenience) of a primary burial deposit within a site, though it can

also include associated items and architectural features. The presence of non-

perishable grave inclusions provides an additional indicator of a deliberate

mortuary program, but in Ancestral Pueblo groups the absence of such is not

unusual. As defined in this thesis, the term mortuary context type(s), or MCT,

refers only to the locational attribute of a mortuary context. Specifically, it

pertains to categories of place.

The major analytical categories used in these databases consist of ten mortuary

context types that are associated with the three major components of a typical

Ancestral Pueblo domicile as defined in the Chapter 3, along with selected

locational and demographic data. Each MCT is thus evaluated in terms of

occurrence by residence (kiva-unit) and by primary burials. Since one of the

chief difficulties encountered during this process involved the problem of

14

ambiguous terminology, these MCT are defined as used in this study in the

glossary provided in Appendix G. In brief, those associated with the roomblock

comprise the three vertical proveniences of surface room fill, surface room floor,

and surface room subfloor, otherwise referred to as room fill, room floor, and

room subfloor. The second major domicile component consists of the large,

one-room habitable structures, or subsurface structures, in which the floor and

walls are either partly or completely below ground level, whether a kiva, pit

room or pit house. The location categories associated with such subsurface

structures comprise subsurface structure fill, floor, and subfloor MCT. The

Architectural Feature MCT is clustered with the subsurface structure group

since most of these small architectural elements, such as niches, southern

recesses, and tunnels, are associated with kivas. The third cluster comprises

MCT that are, generally, in extramural locations. These consist of the

extramural midden, storage feature, and subsurface burial pit (grave) MCT.

Eleven MCT containing more than one primary burial were identified during a

pattern analysis collected by a thorough interrogation of the documentary

evidence. The talus context is subsumed into the subsurface burial pit MCT

since this geomorphic feature is not present throughout the study area. Nine

MCT were used in the Pueblo II Period and all ten were accessed during the

Pueblo III Period. The range of MCT independently identified during this

investigation essentially replicates the categories employed by Karhu (2000:21)

in her appraisal of the mortuary behaviours of Sites 5MT1 and 5MT3 of the

Yellow Jacket community. The only significant difference is that the method

applied here does not take into account whether a pit is observed for

depositions in a fill or midden context since this information is inconsistently

reported in the literature. These categories are also similar to the seven used by

15

Schlanger (1992:19) in her study of Ancestral Pueblo mortuary practices of the

northern San Juan Basin and the eight types employed by Stodder (1987:352)

in her appraisal of mortuary evidence obtained during the Dolores River Project.

Locational Categories

The results of the residential analysis performed in Chapter 4 strongly indicates

that there was no persistent residential community near Wallace Ruin by AD

1180, either within the culturally-based 2 KM or the 7 KM Lakeview Localities.

However, it cannot be ruled out that the use of a surface room floor as a formal

burial location was part of the mortuary program in more distant communities.

Given that Wallace Ruin’s status as a former Chaco Outlier, the potential exists

that people, or their descendants, with a connection to the great house during

its Pueblo II heyday could have lived anywhere within the Mesa Verde region by

AD 1180. Moreover, since Mesa Verde Black-on-white pottery designs cannot

be connected to a specific household even within a two-residence site

(Glowacki, 2006), it is not possible to associate the Wallace Ruin skeletal

remains accompanied by this item to a particular site or MVR sub-region.

Therefore, to understand the Pueblo III mortuary context of Wallace Ruin

requires fine-grained information to document patterns of mortuary behaviour

by temporal period and in terms of residential units, communities, geographic

and cultural localities, and the MVR region, as defined in Chapter 2.

Demographic Categories

In their influential study of the cultural factors which underpin mortuary ritual,

Metcalf and Huntington (1991) provide numerous examples regarding the

selection of mortuary options which are either influenced or based upon the age

or sex of the deceased. Similar results abound in the archaeological literature

16

(Andrews and Bello, 2006; Knüsel and Gowland, 2006, Gowland, 2006;

Mitchell, 1992; O’Shea, 1984; Stoodley, 2000; Sullivan and Rodning, 2011).

Extant Puebloan groups are generally reluctant to share specific information

regarding mortuary behaviours (Dozier, 1970), especially regarding the

deposition of children (Bradley, 1998: 149). In a significant departure, San Juan

Pueblo member and anthropologist Alfonso Ortiz (1969: 50-59) applies the

structuralist approach advocated by Van Gennep (1960) and Levi-Strauss

(1963) in his detailed discussion of funerary rituals in relation to symbolic

associations between Tewa cosmology and rites of passage. Illuminating as this

is in terms of Tewan conceptual metaphors and world view, the only mortuary

detail provided is that an adult is interred in a grave. Although the unbroken

continuity of Ancestral Pueblo and historic Puebloan viewpoints cannot be

assumed, the organisation of historic Puebloan communities in terms of sex and

age categories is well documented (Babcock, 1991; Beaglehole, 1935; Dennis,

1940; Dozier, 1966; 1970; Goldfrank, 1945; Ortiz, 1969). The questions then

arise as to whether age and sex distinctions in post-AD 900 Ancestral Pueblo

mortuary practices can be traced in the archaeological record, and also if there

is credible evidence that such distinctions are associated with any of the

Ancestral Pueblo conceptual metaphors identified by Ortman (2009).

With minor adjustments, the age and sex groups denoted in Table 5. 1 are

derived from Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains

(Buikstra and Ubelaker, 1994:9), hereafter Standards. This classification system

is the most appropriate for comparative purposes as it is the one employed by

most Mesa Verde region researchers since the 1990s (Bradley, 1998; 2002;

Kuckelman and Martin, 2007). Most notably, this includes Karhu’s work

(2000:44) regarding the human remains in the Yellow Jacket community sites of 17

5MT1 and 5MT3. Her thorough bioarchaeological and mortuary analyses

provide the bulk of the comparative information used herein. Karhu’s age range

is adopted since it eliminates the overlapping years present in the Standards

categories. To minimise confusion, substitute abbreviations are used for the

Adolescent and (Indeterminate) Adult age groups. The few burials classed as

Possible Male or Possible Female are labelled as such in the relevant

database, but their data are pooled with the Male or Female categories to boost

sample sizes.

Table 5.1: List of age and sex groups, abbreviations, and chronological spans as defined in Standards (Buikstra and Ubelaker,1994) and Karhu (2000).Estimation of Age (years) Determination of Sex

Infant I <0-3 y Male MChild C 4-12 Possible Male M?Adolescent T 13-19 Ambiguous AMSubadult S <0-19 Possible Female F?Young Adult YA 20-34 Female FMiddle Adult MA 35-49 Undetermined UOld Adult OA 50+Indeterminate Adult IA 20-50+Older Adolescent-Adult T-IA 15+Undetermined U

Although other classification schemes offer a more fine-grained categories,

particularly regarding infants (Lewis, 2007), numerous factors argue against

their use in this particular project. Some of the more salient considerations that

hinder age-group refinements involves inconsistently defined age ranges

(Cattanach, 1980:147, Rohn, 1971:89; Wheeler Smith, 2009:84), the lack of

estimated chronological age data in published or grey literature, and the

frequently poor condition of the skeletal remains. Methodological inconsistency

is a significant factor in the estimation of age at death of older adult skeletons, a

weakness that is further compromised by failures to identify the techniques

18

applied (Cattanach, 1980; Martin, 1929; Rohn, 1971; Reed, 1944; Swannack,

1969; Wheeler Smith, 2009). Age and sex estimates made in the early years of

Ancestral Pueblo research by archaeologists having little or no biological

training (Fewkes, 1909; Nordenskiöld, 1979 (1893); Prudden, 1914; 1918) are

also problematic. Ultimately, although great strides have been made in recent

years towards consistent standards for age estimations, and many of the

primary burials located after 1950 have been evaluated by a skilled physical

anthropologist, inter-observer variation is nevertheless substantial enough in the

Pueblo II and III Mortuary Location Databases to warrant the broader categories

recommended in Standards.

Pueblo II Mortuary Contexts

The Pueblo II Mortuary Location Database contains data on the 229 primary

burials observed in 50 residences situated within 42 sites. Summary locational

and demographic information is provided in Table 5.2, and Figure 5.2 provides

a map of the distribution of these P2MLD sites within the various geographic

and arbitrary localities of the study area. The lightly tested Site 5MT8119 of the

7 km Lakeview Locality is both mapped and listed in the summary Table 5.2,

but its mortuary data are not included in any statistical analyses.

19

Table 5.2: Locational and demographic data from Mesa Verde region Pueblo II mortuary contexts, by residence or site*.

Mortuary Context Type

Residence Locality No. Burials Age Group Sex Source

5MT11555.H VL; 24LL 1 OA F B. Bradley, 20105MT4126, IJP VL; LG 2 C U Brisbin & Brisbin, n.d.5MV1088 ML; 24LL 2 I, IA U Lister & Smith, 19685MT6970,WRgh VL; LG 3 I U Bradley, this volume5MT4126, IJP VL; LG 1 C U Brisbin & Brisbin, n.d.5MT2836 ML 1 U U Reed, 19845MT6970,WRgh VL; LG 1 C U Bradley, this volume5MT2148 RL; 24LL 3 I, C, MA U, F Reed, 19795MT2544 CL 1 I U Morris, 19915MT, Site 3 CL 1 IA M? Martin, 19385MT8651 UL 1 MA M Leonard, 20055MV34.2 ML; 24LL 1 OA F O'Bryan, 19505MT10991 VL; 24LL 1 OA F Wheeler Smith, 20095MT3.Hs1 CL; 24LL 1 I U Karhu, 20005MT9934.HA1 UL 2 T, MA U, M McAndrews et al., 20055MT9934.HA3 UL 1 OA F McAndrews et al., 20055MT9943.HA2 UL 1 YA F Stirniman et al., 20055MV1595.A ML; 24LL 1 IA F? Swannack, 1969

5MT11555.H VL; 24LL 1 OA M Bradley, 20105MT2433 CL 1 IA F Morris, 19865MT7723 UL 2 C, U U Errickson, 19935MT9942 UL 1 IA F McAndrews et al., 2005

5MT11555.G VL; 24LL 1 I U C. Bradley, 19985MT3.Hs1 CL; 24LL 1 I U Karhu, 20005MT3.Hs2 CL; 24LL 2 C, YA U, F Karhu, 20005MT3.Hs3 CL; 24LL 1 1 U Karhu, 20005MT7723 UL 1 I U Errickson, 19935MT8766 CL; 24LL 1 C U Fetterman & Honeycutt, 19855MT8827 CL 1 I U Kuckelman, 19885MT1.C1 CL; 24LL 5 C, YA, MA U, AM, M, F Karhu, 20005MT3.Hs2 CL; 24LL 1 C U Karhu, 20005MV1595.B ML; 24LL 1 MA F Swannack, 1969 5MT10991 VL; 24LL 3 C, MA U, M Wheeler Smith, 20095MT2336 DL; 24LL 2 YA F Dohm & Gould, 19865MT3.Hs2 CL; 24LL 1 I U Karhu, 20005MT4126, IJP VL; LG 5 I, C U Brisbin & Brisbin, n.d.5MT8899 VL; 7LL 4 C, IA U, M, F Barnett, 19925MT8938 VL; 24LL 4 I, C, T, IA U, F Barnett, 19925MT9924 UL 1 MA M Stirniman, 20055MV1104 ML; 24LL 1 C U Lister & Breternitz, 19685MV1229 ML; 24LL 2 C, YA U, F Rohn, 19715MT6970, WR VL; LG 4 I, C, IA U Bradley, this volume5DL.27 CL 4 C, IA U, M, F Guthe, 19495MT, Site 3 CL 3 I, IA U, M Martin, 19385MT10010 UL 3 C, IA, OA U, M, F Leonard et. al., 20055MT123 CL 2 T, IA U, F Ryan, 20045MT1566 CL 8 A M, F von Bonin, 19365MT2836 ML 4 I, C, A U, M? Reed, 19845MT3 CL; 24LL 13 I, C, YA, MA, OA U, M, F Karhu, 20005MT7723 UL 1 C U Errickson, 19935MT8119^ VL; 7LL 1 U U Federal Register, 6/15/20115MT8651 UL 1 MA F Leonard, 20055MT8943 UL 5 C, YA, MA, IA U, M, F, F? Errickson, 19935MT9924 UL 9 I, C, YA, MA, OA U, M, F Stirniman, 20055MT9934 UL 2 C, MA U, F McAndrews et. al, 2005a

Surface Room Fill

Surface Room Floor

Surface Room Subfloor

Subsurface Structure

Fill

Sub. Structure Floor

Sub. Struct. Subfloor

Extramural Midden

Subsurface Burial Pit*

Other Architectural

Storage Feature

20

5MT9942 UL 1 T F McAndrews et al., 2005b5MT9943 UL 6 C, YA, MA, IA U, M, F Stirniman et al., 20055MTUMR, Site1 ML 4 I U Reed, 19845MTUMR, Site7 ML 5 I, A U Reed, 19845MV1 ML; 24LL 2 A M O'Bryan, 19505MV1088 ML; 24LL 1 C U Lister & Smith, 19685MV1104 ML; 24LL 5 C, A, U U Lister & Breternitz, 19685MV1229 ML; 24LL 1 YA F Rohn, 1971

Ext. Midden 5MV1452 ML; 24LL 31 I, C, YA, MA, OA, IA U, M, F Hayes & Lancaster, 19755MV1595 ML; 24LL 20 I, T, YA, MA, IA U, M, F Swannack, 19695MV16 ML; 24LL 3 I, C, IA U Lancaster & Pinkley, 19505MV499 ML; 24LL 7 I, C, MA U, M,F Lister, 19645MV866 ML; 24LL 12 I, YA, MA, OA, IA U, M, F Lister, 19665MV808 ML; 24LL 2 U U Fewkes, 19165MV875 ML; 24LL 1 YA F Lister, 1966

^Limited excavation but in the 7 km LL. 5MT6970,WRgh= Wallace Ruin great house; IJP=Ida Jean Pueblo

Fig.5.2: The locations of P2MLD sites within the Mesa Verde region study area, by geographic and cultural locality.

Forty-two P2MLD residential units are extensively excavated and seven are

adequately excavated for the needs of this study. The Wallace Ruin and Ida

Jean Pueblo great houses of the Lakeview Group are categorised as

adequately excavated. All surface rooms in the west wing of the Wallace Ruin

21

great house are completely excavated but as yet no Pueblo II kivas, the plaza

or extramural areas adjacent to the building have been excavated or tested and

the extramural midden is only lightly tested. At Ida Jean Pueblo, just three of its

55 surface rooms, four work areas on the western side of the room block, a

kiva, and the lower courtyard have been completely excavated by professional

archaeologists (Brisbin and Brisbin, n.d.).

Pueblo II MCT Distribution and Frequency

The distribution and frequency of P2MLD mortuary context types by residences

(kiva units) and primary burials are displayed in Table 5.3, arrayed by the three

major residential components. At least one P2MLD primary burial (excluding the

individual from 5MT8119) is present in nine of the MCT, albeit rarely in most

cases. No individual is in a subsurface structure subfloor context. The available

information documents that in terms of the range of context types accessed per

residence, buriers made use of just 70 of a potential 500 MCT proveniences,

calculated as the number of residences (50) times the 10 potential MCT.

Surface Room MCT

Significant to this study, a surface room floor MCT is very unusual in P2MLD

sites, being observed in only three residences (4%) and constituting a maximum

of five primary burials (2%). Two of these residences are in the Lakeview

Group, and the third is many kilometres to the south. These low rates match the

frequencies of room fill depositions by residences and primary burials, and it

also equals the rate of occurrence for burials in a room subfloor MCT. However,

the room subfloor context is twice as common as a floor or fill location.

22

The only incontrovertible surface room floor mortuary contexts involve the infant

HR 7 at Wallace Ruin and Burial 3, a young child, of Ida Jean Pueblo. Each

rests upon thin layers of silt fill of a depth less than 5 cm above a prepared floor

surface. A floor context allocation of the three remaining individuals is

inconclusive or suspect. Another two Wallace Ruin infants are in direct contact

with prepared floor surfaces in two other rooms, but one or both could be in a

subfloor context. The individual from Site 5MT2436, of undetermined age and

sex, may be neither floor-associated nor a primary burial.

Mortuary Context Type

S. Room Fill 3 0.04 5 0.02

S. Room Floor 3 0.04 5 0.02

S. Room Subfloor 6 0.09 8 0.04

Sub. Structure Fill 6 0.09 7 0.03

Sub. Structure Floor 4 0.06 5 0.02

Sub. Structure Subfloor 0 0.00 0 0.00

Other Architectural 7 0.10 8 0.04

Storage Feature 3 0.04 7 0.03

Sub. Burial Pit* 9 0.13 23 0.10Extramural Midden* ^ 29 0.41 160 0.70

Total 70 1.00 228 1.00

* Site; Not including 5MT8119

No. %

Residences

No. %

Burials

Table 5.3: The distribution of Pueblo II mortuary context types, by number and frequency of P2MLD residences* and primary burials.

Even though these three depositions are, conservatively, identified as floor-

associated, these allocations are at best uncertain. Due to their very small size,

incomplete preservation, or disturbance by animal burrowing, it is possible that

foetal-neonates HR 8 and HR 12 from Wallace Ruin were deposited within very

shallow and unobserved, or destroyed, subfloor pits. Moreover, as will be 23

addressed in the next chapter, HR 8 could date to the Pueblo III Period. The

last deposition involves an individual of non-described age or sex. From Reed’s

(1984:408) account, it does not seem that any articulated units are present.

Several bones are on the floor of a surface room, but these elements may be

intruded from the overlying room fill that contains more bones from this person.

There are no grave goods. The ends of several bones are scorched, but Reed

advises that the evidence is insufficient to determine if this damage was

accidental or intentional. That these bones are not in their original deposition

location is suggested by the absence of evidence that the floor or fill were

exposed to fire. This burial seems the least likely of all to be floor-associated but

is deemed as such mainly because the description provided is too sketchy to

refute such a determination.

Two individuals assigned a surface room fill context also warrant discussion, in

large measure because they too are associated with a Chaco great house.

Brisbin and Brisbin (n.d.) describe the location of Burial 3 of Ida Jean Pueblo as

“nearly one inch off the floor in the silt layer” with no mention of a burial pit.

These key details differ from their descriptions of the mortuary circumstances of

Burials 2 and 4, who are in the same room as Burial 3. In contrast, these two

children are in scooped-out or shallow pits intruded into a pre-existing silt

deposit of unspecified thickness. The most conservative approach would be to

consider Burials 2 and 4 as floor-associated, but both are allocated to a fill

context since each is in a pit, and unlike Burial 3, the Brisbins make no

reference regarding the underlying floor.

Moreover, even though the inclusion of IJP Burials 2 and 4 as floor burials

provides a 3% rate of occurrence by primary depositions, this frequency is still

24

less than those observed for surface room subfloor and subsurface structure

floor locations. The low percentages of room floor locations, however

calculated, are also comparable to those of the remaining minor mortuary

contexts. The term minor refers only to the scale of usage, with no implication

intended regarding a location’s potential social or symbolic value.

Regardless of the accuracy of the vertical allocations within surface rooms, the

use of a surface room mortuary context of any type is unusual. The total

number of mortuary locations in a surface room context of any type comprises

18 primary depositions from 12 residences. Only Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean

Pueblo are represented by more than one surface room MCT. Surface room

contexts at Ida Jean Pueblo are, apparently, restricted to the use of a single

room. In contrast, three rooms are used at Wallace Ruin, including an

incontrovertible subfloor burial pit for HR 9 that was cut through the floor that

HR 12 either rests upon or intrudes into. Accordingly, Wallace Ruin and Ida

Jean Pueblo are the only Pueblo II sites having primary depositions in multiple

surface room mortuary contexts, and the use of more than one room floor

occurs only at Wallace Ruin.

The breakdown by major residential component demonstrates no strong

preference for a surface room location compared to the use of subsurface

structures, whether calculated by number of residences or primary burials.

Eighty-three (83) per cent of the burials, in 59% of the residences, are located

in a residential midden, grave or storage pit. The remainder are more or less

evenly distributed between surface rooms versus subsurface structure MCT.

The prevalence of a floor context is consistent between these two intramural

zones, but surface room use is slightly more common when all three vertical

25

contexts are taken into account. However, all but one of the eight burials in an

Other Architectural MCT is associated with a kiva. Consequently, even though

there are no subfloor depositions in a subsurface structure, the inclusion of

Other Architectural data provides slightly higher results compared to surface

rooms, whether by numbers of residences or primary burials.

Other Residential MCT

This investigation confirms the reliability of the common archaeological

inference that an extramural midden location was highly preferred in the Mesa

Verde region during the Pueblo II Period (Afton, 1971; Lister, 1966:96),

especially since many sites with reports of midden burials are excluded from

this analysis on methodological grounds. Still, by frequency of burials, a midden

context is seven times more common than the next most accessed MCT, the

burial pit, and around 20 times more prevalent than the remaining mortuary

context types.

Multiple MCT per residence

Findings obtained from studies of mortuary practices from MVR sub-localities

(Karhu, 2000:32; Stodder, 1987:352) and other regions of the Northern San

Juan Basin (Martin and Akins, 2001:224; Schlanger, 1992:19) demonstrate that

the use of more than one mortuary context within an Ancestral Pueblo site is not

uncommon. Yet, 69% (34/49) of the P2MLD residences make use of only a

single MCT, and no residence has depositions in more than three of the ten

potential mortuary locations. Slightly above half (18) of the single-loci domiciles

have primary burials in an extramural midden only. In three residences, only a

surface room subfloor context is used, but there are no domiciles in which the

only deposition involves a surface room floor or fill location. Otherwise, the

26

selection of MCT in single-locus sites is not patterned, with the five remaining

categories distributed thusly: burial pit (4); subsurface structure floor and other

architectural (3 each); subsurface structure fill and storage feature (2 each);

subsurface structure subfloor (none).

This non-specific distribution of the less common mortuary contexts is replicated

in the 15 residences in which either two or three types were accessed per

residence. As documented in Table 5.4, the array of locations with at least one

primary deposition also supports the preference for an extramural midden

location, though it is less pronounced for those residences possessing three

context types. This tally probably does not capture the complete distribution

since the Ida Jean Pueblo midden was not excavated and the numerous 5MT3

midden depositions are assigned to a single domicile. For the most part, the

intramural components of these 15 domiciles are largely if not completely

excavated, so there high level of confidence regarding the use of those loci.

Table 5.4: The occurrence of Mesa Verde region mortuary context types, by P2MLD residence or site* in which more than one category is observed.

Residence Room Fill

Room Floor

Room Subfloor

Substr Fill

Substr Floor

Substr Subfloor

Other Arch.

Storage Feature

Burial Pit*

Ext. Midden*

2 Types5MT, Site 3 X X5MT10991 X X5MT11555.G X X5MT8651 X X5MT9943.HA2 X X5MT2836 X X5MV1088 X X5MV1104 X X5MV1229 X X5MV1595.A X X

3 Types5MT3.Hs1 X X X5MT3.Hs2 X X X5MT4126, IJP X X X5MT6970.WRgh X X na na na na X5MT7723 X X X

27

Distribution of mortuary context types by localities

Geographic Localities

The analysis of the use of mortuary context types by and between geographic

zones is problematic given the small numbers involved, especially considering

that there are significant differences in excavation strategies. Still, including

tested Site 5MT8119, the distribution of the 71 MCT observed in P2MLD

residential sites demonstrates no particular preference by geographic zone for a

particular location or for a suite of contexts. Rather, as documented in Table

5.5, the total number of context types are essentially proportional with estimated

sub-regional site densities (Varien, 1999a).

CL ML RL UL VL Total LVG 2LL 7LL 24LL TotalS. Room Fill 0 1 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 2 3S. Room Floor 0 1 0 0 2 3 2 0 0 0 2S. Room Subfloor 2 1 1 1 1 6 1 0 0 2 3

Sub. Structure Fill 1 1 0 3 1 6 0 0 0 3 3Sub. Structure Floor 1 0 0 2 1 4 0 0 0 1 1Sub. Structure Subfloor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Other Architectural 5 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 5 5

Storage Feature 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 3Sub. Burial Pit* 1 2 1 1 4 9 1 0 1 6 8Extramural Midden* 5 14 0 9 2^ 30 1 0 1^ 12 14

Total 17 21 2 17 14 71 6 0 2 34 42 Includes Site 5MT8119

Table 5.5: The distribution of Mesa Verde region Pueblo II mortuary contexts per geographic and cultural locality, by P2MLD residence or site*.

Geographic Localities Lakeview LocalitiesMortuary Context Types

Although the Mesa Locality contains the greatest number of MCT, the Valley

Locality (VL) constitutes the most complete array, lacking only a primary

deposition in a subterranean structure subfloor pit or storage feature. The

Canyons Locality (CL) has the second-highest number of context types

observed, yet no depositions in a surface room fill or floor location. The very few

28

mortuary contexts observed in the River Locality (RL) is to be expected

considering that this zone was very lightly populated after AD 900. Even though

the Ute Locality (UL) and the VL have the same number of observed MCT,

there is less variability in the options selected in the southwest quadrant of the

Mesa Verde region with just four types selected. Intra-site excavation bias is not

a factor as almost all of these UL sites are substantially excavated.

Lakeview Localities

Nearly two-thirds (42/71) of the observed Pueblo II MCT are situated within an

arbitrarily-defined cultural locality having its centre in the Lakeview Group of the

Valley Locality. A total of three context types are utilised in the Lakeview Group

sites of Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean Pueblo, though only the surface room floor

context is duplicated. No primary depositions are reported for a residential site

within the 2LL residential locality, but primary burials are described in two sites

southeast of Wallace Ruin within the 7LL community resource locality. The four

individuals from Site 5MT8899 are in separate burial pits, and test excavations

at Site 5MT8119 exposed one primary deposition in the residential midden.

However, relatively few sites in either of these two arbitrary localities have been

excavated or tested, and the OAHP database contains no reports of human

remains observed during archaeological surveys of the eastern Montezuma

Valley. The 34 mortuary contexts allocated to the 24LL, which do not include

those in the smaller Lakeview localities, are from sites situated exclusively

within its western and southern precincts. All but a few of these MCT are

located near the outer perimeter of the 24LL zone, but those at Mitchell Springs

Pueblo (5MT10991) and 5MT8938 are within 10 km of Wallace Ruin (Fig 5.2).

29

Demographic Structure

Age

Of the 228 primary depositions that comprise the Pueblo II Mortuary Location

Database skeletal population, 223 are in a sufficient condition for a reliable

estimation of age. The distribution of individuals by age class and mortuary

context type is tabulated in Table 5.6. Unfortunately, even when the numbers

per context allow more fine-grained analyses, the available documentary

evidence is insufficient for the appraisal of possible differences in mortuary

options for younger versus older children, with many reports designating any

individual between the ages of about two to twelve simply as a “child.”

Mortuary Context Type I C T YA MA OA IA U Total S:A Age Ratio

Surf. Room Fill 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 5 3:2Surf. Room Floor 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 4:0Surf. Room Subfloor 2 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 8 4:4

Sub. Structure Fill 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 7 2:5Sub. Structure Floor 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 5 1:3Sub. Structure Subfloor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0:0Other Architectural 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 8 7:1

Storage Feature 0 3 0 1 3 0 0 0 7 3:4Sub. Burial Pit 3 10 1 3 1 0 5 0 23 14:9 156Extramural Midden 38 23 11 19 23 7 36 3 160 72:85 85

Total 53 44 13 25 30 12 46 5 228 110:113 97

Table 5.6: The age distribution of Pueblo II primary dispositions from P2MLD residences, by age class and mortuary context type.

The number of individuals who can only be classed as Indeterminate Adult can

also hinder the production of a reasonably accurate mortality curve that

captures risk or age-grading throughout the lifespan. Rather than eliminating

indeterminate Adults from consideration, and also to increase sample sizes for

statistical analyses, Stodder (1987) re-allocated indeterminate Adults to the 30

Young, Middle and Old Adult categories on a proportional basis. This method is

used here though advanced demographic analyses are not part of this

research. On the other hand, a disadvantage of an arbitrary re-allocation, which

is based on the assumption that all factors are equal, is that it may obscure

differential risk, or mortuary patterning, through adulthood. As a case in point,

the burial pit profile has no Old Adults even though at least one of the five IA

may actually belong to this age group. Since no one of that age range is

reported in the literature for this MCT, a strict use of the proportional approach

means that no individuals is re-allocated to this age group.

Conversion of the raw numbers to frequencies enables the comparison of age

profiles to the mortality pattern that is pervasive in non-industrial groups (Weiss,

1973:26, 42-49) and developing countries (Coale and Demeny, 1966; Zhao,

2007:91). Such an age structure is characterised by a very high infant death

rate (usually between 30 and 50 per cent) that gradually declines through

childhood and then reaches lowest mortality around 14 years of age. This nadir

is followed by a marked rise in young adulthood, after which death rates drop

slowly throughout adulthood. Subadult mortality ranges from 30 to 70 per cent.

Figure 5.3 displays the age structures of the primary burials in total and by

selected MCT, excluding individuals classed as Unknown. The P2MLD curve

documents mortality for these 223 burials whereas the Latin American pattern

represents one of the four macro-clusters of model life table patterns derived

through United Nations (1982:12) research in developing countries. The LA

curve reflects sex-specific mortality rates (qx) based on a life expectancy of 40

years, which is the most appropriate option for pre-antibiotic societies

(Sheridan, 2001). Due to the sketchy information on infants and children, this

31

Fig. 5.3: Mortality by age class by selected Mesa Verde region P2MLD mortuary context type and in comparison to the Latin American Model Mortality Pattern. The Latin American pattern is adapted from United Nations, 1982: Figs I and II.

UN profile integrates data from the Coale and Demeny West life table (1966),

which is calculated from life at 10 years of age (lqxw). Although the West table

includes data from industrialised countries, it is nevertheless the most

applicable of the five Coale-Demeny life table “families” to small-scale societies

(Sheridan, 2001; Zhao, 2006). Analyses of age group structures per MCT are

limited to the midden and burial pit contexts since these are the only ones that

have more than eight primary burials. However, the extremely disproportionate

number of subadults (7:1) in the Other Architectural context merits a brief

explanation. This MCT include tunnels of sufficient size to contain an adult

corpse, but four of the architectural features comprise post holes and wall

32

niches with dimensions that would preclude the deposit of corpses larger than

that of small infants. The P2MLD mortality curve follows the major demographic

trends described above. This pattern, which includes a near 25% frequency for

infants suggests that this burial population is relatively unaffected by selection

bias at deposition, preservation conditions or archaeological excavation

strategies. Moreover, the subadult frequency of 49% (110/223) is consistent

with data reported for non-industrial societies (Weiss, 1973) and numerous

European archaeological groups (Lewis, 2007). Although inconsistencies in age

range definitions create difficulties for comparisons of demographic trends

observed in other Ancestral Pueblo groups, this MVR mortality curve is broadly

similar to those reported for Grasshopper Pueblo (Hinkes, 1983) and Pueblo

Grande (Sheridan, 2001). The problem of sample size is somewhat mitigated at

these two sites since each has a burial population of at least 300 individuals. In

marked contrast, Stodder (1987:364) infers that very poor preservation

conditions are a factor in the non-representative mortality profile of burials

located during the Dolores Archaeological Project. The DAP profile, in which

36% of the individuals and 75% of the adults are classed as young adults, is

substantially skewed by the very low frequency (5%) of infants.

Surface Rooms

Fortunately, dependable estimates of age are available for four of the five

primary depositions in a surface room floor context. Although they are few in

number, it may be noteworthy that each is less than eight years of age, whereas

at least one adult is present in the other eight contexts having at least one

primary deposition. Moreover, this result is in slight contrast to the depositions

33

in surface room fill, where the number of individuals observed is also five,

though comprising both younger and older individuals.

Yet, though the numbers of all but two MCT are inadequate for credible

frequency analysis, evaluation by residential component hints at age-grading for

subadults in the use of surface rooms. Eleven of the 17 burials in a surface

room MCT are less than 20 years of age, for a 65% rate of occurrence. The

53% rate of occurrence for subadults (10/19) in subsurface structures is

essentially equivalent to that of adults, as is the 48% (89/187) subadult

frequency in the extramural component. In each instance, the occurrence of

subadults is in line with mortality trends in developing societies and other

archaeological groups, although that of the surface room is near the upper limit

of the range identified by Weiss.

Other Residential MCT

The P2MLD age distributions are greatly dominated by depositions in an

extramural midden context, wherein a total of 160 individuals are present

amongst 28 sites scattered across the Mesa Verde region. Accordingly, this

comparative wealth of numbers of individuals and sites provides a much more

meaningful demographic profile than those associated with other contexts,

though the data regarding 23 individuals in a burial pit MCT provide information

that is suggestive. Not surprisingly, the extramural midden context nearly

duplicates the P2MLD mortality curve since this MCT contains the most primary

burials by far. This distribution diverges only in having a slightly lower frequency

of burials in the Child age group. This result provides evidence that the

extramural midden was construed as the most appropriate mortuary location for

34

individuals of all ages, in addition to being the place most preferred in terms of

frequency of use by residence and number of primary burials.

In contrast, the age structure of the burial pit MCT is divergent in several

respects. This may well be a product of the small sample size but, setting that

problem aside, the most notable departure from the P2MLD and Latin American

mortality curves involves burials allocated to the Child stage. The 10 members

of this age group constitute nearly half of the individuals interred in a burial pit.

However, four of these children, plus one of the infants, are from Ida Jean

Pueblo. Since no older individuals have been located at that site during formal

research, this dichotomy could imply that age-grading played a role in mortuary

location decisions at this site. Such a culturally-based motive could have a

disproportionate effect on the regional age structure given the small number of

individuals associated with this MCT. At a larger scale, the evaluation of grave

depositions by geographic location indicates that this spike is influenced by but

is not specific to the mortuary program of one or two communities. The

remaining child burials come from another five sites dispersed over two

geographic localities, with the closest residences some three km distant from

each other.

Sex

A determination of sex was achieved for 105 individuals. These burials are

located in eight MCT, of which seven are populated by fewer than 11

individuals. As is customary in bioarchaeological research, the distribution of

males versus females is evaluated in terms of the sex ratio (M/F x 100) rather

than by frequency analysis. Either way, this should not be problematic given the

small number of individuals in nine of the MCT. However, due to the problem of

35

sample sizes, sex ratios are calculated just for this P2MLD subgroup, the

midden and burial pit MCT, and by residential component; possible males and

possible females are allocated to the apt category. A score of 100 denotes a

balanced distribution, results less than 100 indicate a preponderance of

females, a score of 0 means females only, and scores greater than 100

describe skews toward males.

As indicated in Table 5.7, both males and females are well-represented in the

P2MLD population. This distribution of 49 males and 56 females, which includes

four possible females and 2 possible males, provides a sex ratio of 88. This

result thus differs from the essentially balanced sex ratio (approaching 50%

males) that is typical of non-industrial societies (Weiss, 1973:58). However, the

extent to which this moderate skew towards females represents the reality is

open to question. The sex of 17 adults (YA, MA and IA) is either undetermined

or ambiguous (1), and the age and sex of another 6 burials is also unknown.

This is often due to the poor preservation of bones, but methodological

weakness is also a factor. Of these 17 burials, one (IA) is in surface room fill, a

second (YA) is in a large storage pit, and the remaining 15 individuals (YA, MA,

and IA) are in an extramural midden. Consequently, even though the numbers

observed in the minor MCT are quite small, the proportions of males to females

are largely unaffected by this particular problem.

The sharp rise in young adult mortality in P2MLD age structure more closely

resembles the female rather than the male curve of the Latin American mortality

pattern. However, this steeper incline in the Latin American female curve is due

to lower female subadult mortality rather than differential risk for young adult

36

females compared to young adult males. This is not the case for P2MLD

adolescents, who have a very female-dominated sex ratio of 29.

Table 5.7: The distribution of P2MLD primary dispositions of mature skeletal development by age, sex and mortuary context type.

Mortuary Context TypeT M

T F

YA M

YA F

MA M

MA F

OA M

OA F

IA M

IA F

Total M:FSex

RatioSurf. Room Fill 1 1 0:1

Surf. Room Floor 0 0:0

Surf. Room Subfloor 1 1 1 1 4 2:2

Sub. Structure Fill 1 1 2 1 5 1:4

Sub. Structure Floor 1 2 3 1:2

Sub. Structure Subfloor 0 0:0

Other Architectural 1 1 0:1

Storage Feature 1 2 3 1:2

Sub. Burial Pit 1 3 1 2 3 10 3:7 43

Extramural Midden 2 6 8 9 12 9 3 4 16 9 78 41:37 111

Subtotal 2 7 8 14 16 12 4 8 19 15 105 49:56 88

Undetermined/AM Sex 17

Total 12424

11

45

2 22 0

123011

Surface Rooms

No primary burial in a room floor context has a determination of sex. The four

individuals from Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean Pueblo are too young for this

assessment, and neither the age nor sex of the burial from 5MT2836 is

reported. There is no preference for males or females when considering all

surface room MCT.

Other Residential MCT

Of the two most populated MCT, males are slightly more common than females

in extramural middens, but this sex ratio (111) is particularly uncertain for the

reasons noted above. The subsurface burial pit MCT has roughly twice as many

females as males, providing a sex ratio of 43. This calculation is secure in that

37

there are no individuals of undetermined sex, or unknown age and sex, in this

MCT. However, the question remains as to whether this preponderance of

females is due to sampling error. The arbitrary decision to allocate individuals to

a midden context when a subsurface burial pit is associated with a midden

deposit could also alter this result.

These generally miniscule sample sizes makes it difficult to draw secure

inferences regarding possible associations between the sex of the deceased

and a particular mortuary context type, including differential use by major

residential component. Even so, both sexes are present in those contexts

represented by more than two individuals. This circumstance points to the

possibility that the low numbers of adolescents and adults in the minor contexts

are associated with the infrequent use of these locations for individuals of this

age rather than a preference associated with the sex of the deceased.

Demographic analysis by major residential component hints at a possible sex-

based sorting in one residential component only. Again ignoring the problem of

sample size, subsurface structure depositions demonstrate a strong skew (2:7)

towards females. The proportion of males to females is essentially balanced in

surface rooms, though this information is anecdotal since a determination of sex

was possible for five individuals only. Fortunately, the data from the extramural

zone are more robust, with 45 males and 46 females providing a nearly

balanced sex ratio of 98. However, 92% of the males are in this residential

component versus four males in three intramural MCT. In contrast, a still high

82% of the females are in extramural zone contexts, but the remaining 10 occur

in five different intramural contexts. When data from all subsurface locations is

pooled (room subfloor, subsurface structure, storage pit, grave, or other

38

architectural feature), the skew towards females is pronounced (8:18), as is

demonstrated by the sex ratio of 44. This ratio is duplicated in the distribution of

males to females (4:9) in the four intramural subsurface MCT (surface room

subfloor and subsurface structure) with human remains. To summarise, there is

a strong preference for extramural locations for both sexes, but there may be

some sorting for females in subsurface intramural locations.

Pueblo III Mortuary Contexts

Thirty-three P3MLD sites, comprised of 50 residences, are sufficiently

excavated for an appraisal of the full range of potential mortuary contexts.

Forty-four residential sites are extensively excavated and six are adequately

excavated for the purposes of this study. In addition, the evidence obtained

from a single room at Site 5MV640 is included in evaluations of MCT

distributions because it involves the use of a surface room floor. Summary

locational and demographic data are provided in Table 5.7. Wallace Ruin and

Ida Jean Pueblo are the only excavated, former Chaco great house sites in the

MVR with one or more verifiable Pueblo III primary burials. However, since

these depositions are associated with the post-abandonment, non-residential

use of these two sites, their mortuary data are not included in tables or

statistical analyses pertaining to residential burial patterns. Nevertheless, the

information from Ida Jean Pueblo is discussed below and that from Wallace

Ruin in a subsequent chapter. The spatial distribution of all 36 sites is displayed

in Figure 5.4.

39

Fig. 5.4: The locations of P3MLD sites in the MVR study area, by geographic and cultural locality.

Distribution and frequency by mortuary context type

All ten mortuary context types were employed at least once in P3MLD

residences. The distribution and frequency of P3MLD mortuary context types

by residences (kiva units) and primary burials are displayed in Table 5.9,

arrayed by the three major residential components. Calculated by occurrence

per residence, just 89 of a possible 500 (50 residences X 10 MCT) were

selected for these 255 primary burials. Although such low sums mean that

inferences must be drawn with caution, for the most part the figures from these

MCT are more substantial than their Pueblo II counterparts.

40

Table 5.8: Locational and demographic data from Mesa Verde Region Pueblo III mortuary contexts, by residence and site*.

MCT Residence LocalitiesNo. Rooms/ Unit Type

No. Indivs.

Age Group Sex Reference

5MT1.B CL; 24LL 1 1 I U Karhu, 2000

5MT3.17 CL; 24LL 4 5 I, C, YA U, F Karhu, 2000

5MT3.65 CL; 24LL 1 1 I U Karhu, 2000

5MT3.73 CL; 24LL 1 1 MA F Karhu, 2000

5MT765.1206 CL; 24LL 1 1 YA F? Kuckelman & Martin, 2007

5MTUMR, S.7 ML 1 1 I U Reed, 1944

5MV1200.C ML; 24LL 1 1 I U Cattanach, 1980

5MV1200.F ML; 24LL 1 2 I, U U Cattanach, 1980

5MV1200.H ML; 24LL 1 1 C U Cattanach, 1980

5MV1228 ML; 24LL 3 5 I, C, YA, OA U, M, F Rohn, 1971

5MV1285.A ML; 24LL 1 1 I U Nichols, 1972

5MV34.5 ML; 24LL 1 1 IA M O'Bryan, 1950

5MT10991 VL; 24LL 3 3 C, A, OA U, M, F Dove, 1997; Wheeler Smith, 2009

5MT2346 ML 1 1 U U Nordby, 1974

5MV34.5 ML; 24LL 1 2 YA, OA M O'Bryan, 1950

5MV640^ ML; 24LL 1 4 I, IA U Nordenskiold, 1893; Fewkes, 1909

5MT1.B CL; 24LL 1 1 I U Karhu, 2000

5MT3.5 CL; 24LL 1 1 I U Karhu, 2000

5MT3.17 CL; 24LL 2 5 T, YA U, M, F, PF Karhu, 2000

5MT3.27 CL; 24LL 3 3 I, YA U, M Karhu, 2000

5MT3.65 CL; 24LL 1 1 C U Karhu, 2000

5MT3.73 CL; 24LL 3 5 I, C, YA U, PM, AM Karhu, 2000

5MT8651 UL 1 1 C U Leonard, 2005

5MTUMR, S.7 ML 1 1 I U Reed, 1944

5MV1200.J ML; 24LL 1 1 C U Rohn, 1971

5MV1285.A ML; 24LL 1 1 I U Nichols, 1972

5MV34.1 ML; 24LL 2 3 C, IA M O'Bryan, 1950

5MV34.5 ML; 24LL 1 1 I U O'Bryan, 1950

5MT1.E CL; 24LL kiva 2 I, OA U Karhu, 2000

5MT123 CL kiva 1 IA U Ryan, 2003

5MT3.5 CL; 24LL kiva 1 C U Karhu, 2000

5MT3.46 CL; 24LL mealing room 3 I, T, YA U, F Karhu, 2000

5MT9541 UL pit room 1 T F Kleidon, 2005

5MV1200.D ML; 24LL kiva 1 IA F Cattanach, 1980

5MV1200.K ML; 24LL kiva 1 I U Cattanach, 1980

5MT10991, R.1 VL; 24LL kiva 1 I U Prudden, 1914

5MT13403 CL pit room 2 C, U U Luebben, 1982

5MT2564 UL kiva 1 I U Billman & Robinson, 2003

5MT7704 UL pit room 1 YA F Errickson, 1993

5MT2544 CL mealing room 1 I U Morris, 1991

5MT3.27 CL; 24LL mealing room 2 YA, MA F Karhu, 2000

5MT3.46 CL; 24LL mealing room 2 I, YA U, F Karhu, 2000

Sub.

Stru

ct.

Fl

oor

S. S

truct

.

Subf

loor

Surf

ace

Roo

m

Fi

llSu

rf. R

oom

Fl

oor

Surf

ace

Roo

m

Subf

loor

Subs

urfa

ce S

truct

ure

Fill

41

5MT1.C2 CL; 24LL s. recess 2 I, C U Karhu, 2000

5MT1.E CL; 24LL s. recess 1 C U Karhu, 2000

5MT2715 UL tunnel 1 C U Luebben, 1985

5MT3.99 CL; 24LL pit/tunnel 1 MA F Karhu, 2000

5MT3.27 CL; 24LL tunnel; pit/wall 2 YA, MA M, F Karhu, 2000

5MT3.46 CL; 24LL pit/post holes 1 I U Karhu

5MT765.1004 CL; 24LL k. corner room 6 I , C, T U Bradley, 1998

5MV1200.B ML; 24LL k. corner room 1 IA U Cattanach, 1980

5MV1452 ML; 24LL vent shaft 1 C U Hayes & Lancaster, 1975

5MT10207.A UL iso. structure 1 YA M Errickson, 1993

5MT3.65 CL; 24LL subsurface pit 2 T, IA U, M Karhu, 2000

5MT3.17 CL; 24LL subsurface pit 4 C, YA, MA U, AM Karhu, 2000

5MT3.27 CL; 24LL subsurface pit 1 YA F Karhu, 2000

5MT3.73 CL; 24LL subsurface pit 2 C, YA U, F Karhu, 2000

5MT3.46 CL; 24LL subsurface pit 3 I, T, MA U, PF, M Karhu, 2000

5MT9943. A1 UL subsurface pit 3 C, T U Stirniman, 2005

5MT2343/5 ML recessed vessel 1 I U Reed, 1944

5MV522.A ML; 24LL granary 1 IA U Fewkes, 1920

5MT1.C2 CL; 24LL 1 I U Karhu, 2000

5MT10991 VL; 24LL 1 IA M Wheeler Smith, 2007

5MT3.17 CL; 24LL 3 I, C, AD U, PF Karhu, 2000

5MT3.46 CL; 24LL 1 YA M Karhu, 2000

5MT3.73 CL; 24LL 1 I U Karhu, 2000

5MV1228 ML; 24LL 4 C, YA, IA U, M Rohn, 1971

5MV1229 ML; 24LL 15 I, C, YA, MA, IA U, M, F Rohn, 1971

5MV1285 ML; 24LL 8 I, C, IA, U U, M, F? Nordenskiold, 1979

5DL, SP CL 9 C, IA U Prudden, 1918

5MT10991 VL; 24LL 2 U U Dove et al., 1997

5MT10991R1 VL; 24LL 1 IA U Prudden, 1914

5MT2 CL; 24LL 1 U U Wilshusen & Lekson, 2003

5MT2519 CL 3 T,YA U, F Morris, 1991

5MT3 CL; 24LL 8 I, C, T, YA, IA U, M, F Karhu, 2000

5MT4104 CL 23 U U Martin, 1929

5MT765 CL; 24LL 1 I U Bradley, 1998

5MT8943 UL 1 YA F Errickson, 1993

5MT9933 UL 1 YA M Kleidon, 2005

5MT9943 UL 4 I, C, T, MA U, F Stirniman et al., 2005

5MT2343/5 ML 4 I, C, T, IA U, F Nordby, 1974

5MT2346 ML 2 U U Nordby, 1974

5MT2831 ML 1 IA M Reed, 1984/1985

5MV1200 ML; 24LL 24 I, C, T, IA U, M, F Cattanach, 1980

5MV1229 ML; 24LL 17 I, C, T, IA U, M, F Rohn, 1971

5MV1285 ML; 24LL 1 C U Nordenskiold, 1979

5MV1452 ML; 24LL 3 C, YA M Hayes & Lancaster, 1975

5MV34 ML; 24LL 5 T, IA U, M, F O'Bryan, 1950

5MV499 ML; 24LL 2 IA M, F Lister, 1964

^Room 9

Stor

age

Feat

ure

Subs

urfa

ce B

uria

l Pit

Ext

ram

ural

Mid

den

Oth

er A

rchi

tect

ural

42

Mortuary Context Type

Surf. Room Fill 12 0.14 21 0.08

Surf. Room Floor 4 0.05 10 0.04

Surf. Room Subfloor 12 0.14 24 0.09

Sub. Structure Fill 7 0.08 10 0.04

Sub. Structure Floor 4 0.05 5 0.02

Sub. Structure Subfloor 3 0.03 4 0.02

Other Architectural 9 0.10 16 0.06

Storage Feature 9 0.10 18 0.07

Sub. Burial Pit* 8 0.09 34 0.13

Extramural Midden* ^ 20 0.23 113 0.44

Total 88 1.00 255 1.00

^ Room 9

No. % No. %

Residences Burials

Table 5.9: The distribution of Pueblo III mortuary context types, by number and frequency of P3MLD residences* and primary burials.

Surface Room MCT

A floor allocation is secure for only five of the primary burials listed in Table 5.8.

These individuals comprise an adult and a child from Site 5MT10991, an

individual of unknown age and sex from 5MT2346, and two adult males from

5MV34. The associations of four burials from 5MV34 are probable, and that of

one individual from 5MT10991 is possible. In addition to these, both Wallace

Ruin and Ida Jean Pueblo have at least one floor-associated primary burial

deposit.

A mixed strategy of intensive and test excavations revealed three Pueblo III

individuals on the floors of three rooms constructed during the Pueblo II

occupation of Mitchell Springs Pueblo, 5MT10991. Each is allocated to a single

43

residential unit since a Pueblo III room block has not been excavated during

recent archaeological research. The semi-flexed skeleton of an adult male in

Room 13 was, apparently, covered with dirt at deposition, and the semi-flexed

remains of a child are in Room 9. Both individuals are accompanied by grave

goods suggestive of an Early Pueblo III timeframe. The allocation of a third

primary burial is less certain. The fully flexed skeleton of an older adult female is

in a test trench that reveals the floor of a Pueblo II building. Several flat rocks

are under her head, and she is accompanied by a corrugated jar and black-on-

white bowl of a non-specified ceramic style. Unfortunately, this mortuary context

is not otherwise described, so it is not evident if this is a surface room or a

subterranean structure. Conservatively, all three depositions are assigned a

surface room floor context. The remains of two individuals are on the floor of

Room 1 of Site 5MT2346, a small, multi-component habitation situated south of

Mesa Verde in Mancos Canyon, so within Ute Mountain Ute Tribal lands. This

site is renowned in the archaeological literature (see White, 1992) due to

compelling evidence of intense post-mortem processing of the corpses of

multiple individuals at the end of its Pueblo II occupation. However, there is no

evidence of peri-mortem trauma in the remains of the five primary burials

associated with the Pueblo III residence. Burial 1 is in situ and accompanied by

numerous vessels, but the bones of Burial 9 are highly disturbed and distributed

across the floor surface. Unfortunately, no information is provided regarding the

positioning of Burial 1, nor is there demographic data for either individual.

Burial 1 is allocated to a room floor mortuary context but the information from

Burial 9 is inadequate for such a determination.

At 5MV34, the skeletons of two individuals are on the floor of Room 36, a

Pueblo III surface room associated with Kiva V (i.e., R5). An older adult male is

44

roughly in the centre of the room, supine with knees flexed to the northwest,

and he is accompanied by four Mesa Verde Black-on-white mugs. A young

adult male with two Mesa Verde Black-on-white mugs is in the southwest corner

of the room, also supine but with knees oriented to the southeast.

At first glance, O’Bryan’s (1950:Fig.25 p. 66) plan map of 5MV34 burial

locations at Site gives the impression that there are a substantial number of

primary depositions within the surface rooms of this medium-sized, multiple-

component residence. Potentially, such a distribution provides a second site

that is reasonably comparable to Wallace Ruin mortuary patterns, in addition to

Site 5MT3. In actuality, once these depositions are sorted by temporal period

and the bone clusters from disturbed depositions are eliminated from

consideration, the Pueblo III surface room population identified in Table 5.10

involves just seven individuals in five rooms. This is the only P3MLD habitation

with a primary burial in all three surface room contexts, yet no room has more

than one MCT. Overall, 5MV34 mirrors the Pueblo III preference for a subfloor

mortuary location in terms of surface room contexts, but it is not notably similar

to Wallace Ruin regarding the frequency of floor depositions.

Residence Room IDRoom Fill

Room Floor

Room Subfloor

5MV34.1 9 15MV34.1 13 25MV34.5 32 15MV34.5 36 25MV34.5 43 1

Total 5 1 2 4

Table 5.10: The distribution of Pueblo III primary burials in Site 5MV34 surface rooms.

45

Much of Spruce Tree House (5MV640) had been despoiled and plundered for

vessels and other artefacts prior to Fewkes’ (1909) efforts in the early 1900s to

excavate and stabilise the site in as an interpretive resource for the newly-

established Mesa Verde National Park. During two decades of looting, an

incalculable number of mortuary contexts were removed or disturbed. A rare

exception to this early-days information void is provided in the first scholarly

description of the site by the botanist Gustav Nordenskiöld (1979 [1893]), who

records the discovery of the skeletons of three infants on the floor of a sealed

room (Room 9) that he did not excavate entirely. Some 15 years later, Fewkes

(1909: Mortuary Room) located the skeleton of a fourth individual, an adult of

undetermined sex with unspecified grave goods, when he completed the

excavation of this chamber. In his report, Fewkes refers to the infants located by

Nordenskiöld, then goes on to say:

Evidently the doorway of this room had been walled up and there are indications that the burials took place at intervals, the last occurring before the desertion of the village. The presence of burials in the floors of rooms in Spruce-tree House was to be expected, as the practice of thus disposing of the dead was known from other ruins of the Park; but it has not been pointed out that we have in this region good evidence of several successive interments in the same room.

Unfortunately, Fewkes provides neither evidence nor arguments for this

interpretation, and it is by no means certain how to interpret “in the floors” as

opposed to “on the floors.” This is not a typographical error since he repeats this

phrase in his report on Cliff Palace (1911). Possibly, it implies a succession of

floors or use surfaces. On the other hand, this descriptor could refer to what are

now termed subfloor burials. Conservatively, all four of the Room 9 burials are

assigned a surface room floor context.

46

During formal archaeological investigations, Brisbin and Brisbin (n.d.) located

the semi-flexed skeleton of an adult male with a Mesa Verde Black-on-white

vessel on a surface room floor of Ida Jean Pueblo (5MT4169). A less

compelling hearsay account raises the possibility that one or more primary

depositions in another surface room were located during pot-hunting

endeavours. For some decades, non-professional collectors targeted the

contents of several surface rooms of Ida Jean Pueblo. When archaeologist Joel

Brisbin undertook research excavations in the early 1970s, he sought out

information regarding what had been found or observed previously. Brisbin

located an individual who provided scant details regarding the, alleged,

discovery of a “burial room” in the 1940s or 1950s from which numerous pots

were removed. Since Ida Jean Pueblo is on private land, both the intrusions and

the acquisition of this collection would have been lawful. Apparently, there are

no records that can substantiate this claim, nor are there any additional details.

All parties involved in the acquisition of this assemblage are now deceased.

However, Brisbin was permitted to photograph 13 Mesa Verde Black-on-white

bowls and jars. This photograph, now in the possession of the Anasazi Heritage

Center, is labelled in Brisbin’s handwriting: “a collection of vessels removed in

mass from a burial room on the S. east corner of NMc #8. This was done 25 to

30 years prior to the beginning of our excavations.” The use of the term “burial

room”, along with the number of pots in the assemblage, raises the possibility

that multiple individuals were deposited in one or more rooms at Ida Jean

Pueblo after AD 1180.

Brisbin’s information is construed here as a legitimate possibility since there

would have been scant impetus by the owner of the pots to misrepresent their

provenance. The acquisition of Ancestral Pueblo pots was less controversial in

47

the 1970s than just a decade later, regardless of where obtained, and there

was, apparently, no underlying financial motive. Still, this information is too

sketchy to be included in formal tabulations or statistical analyses.

Accordingly, even when including the depositions of less certain mortuary

provenience, a surface room floor mortuary location is rare in P3MLD domiciles,

whether calculated by frequencies of residences (5%), burials (4%), or in

comparison to other mortuary context types. Of the 10 potential MCT, only a

subsurface structure subfloor context is less common than a room floor location

when calculated by residences; however, the room floor context shares this

penultimate position with the subsurface structure floor MCT. By order of the

most to least common MCT by primary burials, the room floor and subsurface

structure fill contexts share the 8th position. In contrast, the room subfloor MCT

is the third most common MCT by number of burials whereas the room fill MCT

is in fourth position. Both of these context types are in second position when

calculated by residence, but, as discussed below, they may actually hold third

and fourth positions by both burials and residences.

Regardless of which rankings are correct, room fill and subfloor depositions are

decidedly more prevalent than those on a room floor, occurring at roughly twice

the rate of floor MCT however these figures are calculated. That the subfloor

depositions outnumber floor burials is particularly noteworthy. Billman (1998)

explicitly mentions that entire room subfloor areas were excavated to sterile in

the investigations of the Ute Piedmont sites at Cowboy Wash, but the extent of

subfloor excavations, if any, is not described for several P3MLD sites (Prudden,

1914; 1918; Martin, 1929; Leubben, 1982; Nordby, 1974). Thus, whilst it is clear

that both fill and floor contexts at those sites are completely investigated, it may

48

be that some subfloor depositions have been overlooked. If so, the numerical

discrepancy between the room floor versus subfloor contexts may be even

larger. Keeping in mind that the P3MLD mortality profile follows the expected

trends for non-antibiotic societies, it seems that this increase in the use of

surface room fill and floor contexts is to some extent concomitant with a

moderate decline in the use of residential middens.

When considering all surface room mortuary contexts, 32% of the residences

have a primary deposition in at least one of the three potential MCT, comprising

55 primary depositions from 20 different domiciles. In four residences, as well

as non-residential Ida Jean Pueblo, a primary deposition is recorded in a room

floor location only. However, one of these is Spruce Tree House, and it is

entirely likely that burials would have been located in other MCT if the site had

not been so badly looted prior to the commencement of formal excavations.

Eight residences have varying combinations of two different surface room MCT.

The non-residential use of Wallace Ruin involves the use of floor and subfloor

locations; possibly, the infant in rubble fill was deposited after the Pueblo III use

of the site. Residence 5MV34.5 is the only domicile in which a Pueblo III burial

is present in all three surface room categories.

Other Residential MCT

An extramural midden location is again favoured whether calculated by

residences or by primary depositions. Subsurface burial pits are in second

position by frequency of burials but only a middle ranking by residence. Yet,

since several Pueblo III sites are villages, the extramural midden and burial pit

rates are skewed by a method that allocates primary depositions in such loci by

49

site rather than by residence. Considering the 15 depositions in graves at Site

5MV1229, arbitrary re-assignment of two burials to each of its eight houses

essentially doubles the number of residences and thereby elevates this context

into second position over the surface room fill and subfloor locations, each of

which is represented by 12 domiciles. A comparable adjustment for burials

located in village middens would produce similar results, though whether these

adjusted frequencies would attain the levels observed in Pueblo II sites is

questionable given the Pueblo III shift to the use of surface rooms.

As detailed in Table 5.7, depositions associated with subsurface structures are

in a variety of locations, including kiva main chambers, kiva corner rooms,

southern recesses of kivas, ventilator shafts, mealing rooms, pit rooms, and

tunnels. Unlike P2MLD depositions, there is at least one primary deposition in

each of the three vertical structure proveniences. In regard to the three major

residential components, primary depositions are observed in surface room

contexts more often than in subsurface structures, whether counted by

residential units (28:23) or, especially, by number of primary burials (55:35).

However, this P3MLD burial population is definitely skewed towards disposal in

an extramural zone MCT versus an intramural location (165:90).

Multiple MCT per residence

Although slightly more than half (27) of the P3MLD residences have primary

burials in a single MCT, a few domiciles have as many as five. Possibly, given

their potential use of an extramural midden or subsurface burial pit context, a

few households in villages and hamlets may have made use of six or seven

MCT. One-third of the depositions in single-context residences are in a midden;

the remainder are distributed fairly evenly across a wide range of contexts, with

50

no MCT numbering more than three. Those residences in which depositions are

observed in two or more MCT are identified in Table 5.11, with no adjustments

made for site-based allocations for middens and graves.

Midden contexts dominate the distribution in multiple-MCT residences, even

without arbitrary, but probably realistic, allocations of midden and grave MCT.

The distributions in domiciles with three or five MCT are too small for pattern

analysis, and that of the residences having four MCT is just large enough to be

suggestive. The majority of the residences have burials in two MCT. This

distribution is the only one of sufficient size for credible inferences. Even so,

apart from the typical preference for an extramural midden burial location, there

is no particular pattern of use for either the 2 MCT or 4 MCT distribution.

It is not surprising that residences with three or more MCT are situated in multi-

component sites. The range of MCT used is most pronounced in the Site 5MT3,

a complex which is unusual in the Mesa Verde region in terms of size and

longevity (Wilshusen and Mobley-Tanaka, 2005:4). This small village, or hamlet,

consists of three large Pueblo II domiciles, or Houses, which were subsequently

overlain by nine Pueblo III residences. A substantial number of Pueblo III

depositions were intruded into abandoned or obscured architectural structures

or features, either deliberately or perhaps unintentionally. For example, 12 of

the 18 P3MLD burials in a storage feature are from 5MT3, but several of these

depositions are in bell-shaped storage pits constructed during the Pueblo II

occupation of this hamlet (Mobley-Tanaka, 2005). As most P3MLD residences

are single-component sites, they have no such pre-existing features available

for use as a Pueblo III mortuary location.

51

ResidenceRoom Fill

Room Floor

Room Subfloor

Substr Fill

Substr Floor

Substr Subfloor

Other Arch.

Storage Feature

Burial Pit

Ext. Midden

2 MCT

5MT1.B X X5MT1.C2 X X5MT1.E X X5MT10991.R1 X X5MT3.5 X X5MT3.99 X X5MT765.1004 X X5MT9943 X X5MTUMR, S7 X X5MT2343/45 X X5MT2346 X X5MV1200.B X X5MV1228 X X5MV1229A X X5MV1452 X X5MV34.1 X X

3 MCT5MT10991 X X X5MT3.65 X X X

4 MCT5MT3.17 X X X X5MT3.27 X X X X5MT3.73 X X X X X5MV1285A X X X X5MV34.5 X X X X

5 MCT5MT3.46 X X X X X

Table 5.11: The distribution of Mesa Verde region mortuary context types, by P3MLD residence or site* in which more than one category is observed.

Distribution of mortuary context types by localities

Geographic Localities

At least one mortuary context type is observed in four of the five geographic

localities as defined in this study, and they occur in numbers consistent with

estimated Pueblo III population densities (Varien 1999a). With few exceptions,

52

these contexts occur in the western and southern parts of the study area. No

primary depositions are observed in the River Locality, and each of the five

MCT observed in a Valley Locality residence are confined to the expansive

Mitchell Springs Ruin Group. Although a single surface room floor context is

identified in Table 5.12, this entry refers to the deposition in a 5MT10991 test

trench that is potentially on a subsurface structure floor. The Canyons Locality

(CL) has the greatest number of MCT observed, and the only type missing is a

surface room floor context. In slight contrast, each surface room MCT is

observed in the Mesa Locality (ML), but no primary depositions have been

found in a subsurface structure floor or subfloor context. Most of these ML

residences are in the large cliff-dwelling villages at the southern end of Mesa

Verde, including Spruce Tree House (5MV640) with its four presumed floor-

associated depositions, but Site5MV34 is situated just two or so km from its

north rim.

Mortuary ContextsTypes CL ML RL UL VL Total LVG 2LL 7LL 24LL Total

S. Room Fill 5 7 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 11 11S. Room Floor 0 3 0 0 1^ 4 0 0 0 3 3S. Room Subfloor 6 5 0 1 0 12 0 0 0 10 10

Sub. Structure Fill 4 2 0 1 0 7 0 0 0 5 5Sub. Structure Floor 1 0 0 2 1 4 0 0 0 1 1Sub. Structure Subfloor 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 2Other Architectural 6 2 0 1 0 9 0 0 0 8 8

Storage Feature 5 2 0 1 0 9 0 0 0 6 6Sub. Burial Pit* 4 3 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 8 8Extramural Midden* 6 9 0 3 2 20 0 0 0 11 11

Total 40 33 0 10 5 88 0 0 0 65 65

Table 5.12: The distribution of Mesa Verde region Pueblo III mortuary contexts per geographic and cultural locality, by P3MLD residence or site*.

Geographic Localities Lakeview Localities

Does not include non-residential mortuary use of Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean Pueblo.

Possibly, the comparatively low number of total MCT observed in the Ute

Locality (6/10) is related to the small size and limited occupation spans of these

53

ten P3MLD residences. As evidenced at Site 5MT3, since hamlets and villages

tend to be more enduring than farmsteads (Varien, 1999a), they provide more

opportunities for the use of abandoned buildings and extramural features for

mortuary purposes. However, the equivalent large villages of Cowboy Wash

Pueblo (5MT7740) and Yucca House (5MT4359) of the Ute Locality are

unexcavated. In addition, the slightly reduced range of MCT selected may also

reflect differences in domicile size, construction materials or possibly community

tradition. In the UL, farmsteads generally follow Pueblo II architectural

characteristics, typically involving an earthen pit structure accompanied by a

small roomblock (Billman and Breternitz, 2006). For example, a child at Site

5MT8651 is in pit cut through the floor of a one or two-room building. This is the

only primary deposition in a surface room context of any type in the P3MLD

residences of the Ute Locality. The lack of a room floor deposition in this

geographic locality is not remarkable given the paucity of this MCT in more

populated regions of the MVR. However, the absence of primary depositions in

surface room fill is notable since it is contrary to the trends observed in CL and

ML residences, but this again could be due to the dearth of full-fledged

roomblocks. Perhaps, the use of abandoned surface rooms for rubbish and

mortuary purposes at Sites 5MT3 and 5MV34 may have been less of a logistical

constraint than in Ute Locality farmsteads. As a case in point, such contexts at

5MT3 are also non-existent prior to the construction of its numerous masonry

surface rooms. A third possibility is that the absence of primary depositions in a

surface room fill or subfloor location, as well as other MCT, reflects cultural or

social difference between inhabitants of the UL versus other MVR communities.

Errickson (1994:497-498) submits that the high proportion of Chuska Black-on-

54

white sherds within the small sites of the Cowboy Wash community points to an

immigration of individuals from the Chuska Mountains of northern Arizona.

Lakeview Localities

The Pueblo III mortuary contexts discovered at Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean

Pueblo of the Lakeview Group involve a non-residential use of these former

great houses. No MCT are recorded in a residential site within the 2 km

Lakeview Locality or the 7 km Lakeview Locality, including during

archaeological surveys. The full complement of mortuary context types is

present in residences located within the 24 km Lakeview Locality. Surface room

floor contexts are the third least common location, surpassing only subsurface

structure floor and subfloor locations. Notably, surface room fill and floor

contexts are three to four times more common than a room floor location.

Nearly 75% (65/88) of the MCT observed in the P3MLD are within this largest

Lakeview locality, though most are situated near its perimeter. The more

significant concentrations are in either the Yellow Jacket community or amongst

the cliff-dwelling villages near the southern end of Mesa Verde. The 22 primary

depositions distributed amongst the Mitchell Springs Ruin Group (5MT10991

and 5MT10991, Ruin 1), 5MV34 and 5MV499 are rare exceptions to this spatial

pattern. Each of these individuals died after AD 1180, based on the associated

Mesa Verde Black-on-white vessel or sherds, but tree-ring dates and ceramic

seriation indicate that all four of these residential sites were abandoned by the

early AD 1200s (O’Bryan, 1950: 74-75; Lister, 1964:88; Wheeler Smith,

2009:128).

Demographic Structure

Age

55

Of the 255 primary depositions that populate the P3MLD, the skeletal remains

of 222 are in sufficient condition for an estimation of age. The distribution of

these individuals by age class and mortuary context type is depicted in Table

5.13. As with the P2MLD burials, individuals in the Indeterminate Adult age

group are re-allocated to fine-grained Adult categories on a proportional basis

for frequency analysis. Fortunately, most of the MCT have two or fewer IA

burials, and those of unknown age or sex are also uncommon apart from those

in the midden MCT. With these adjustments, the mortality curve depicted in

Figures 5.5a-c is generally consistent with trends observed in pre-antibiotic

populations.

Mortuary Context Type I C T YA MA OA IA U Total S:A

Surf. Room Fill 10 3 0 4 1 1 1 1 21 13:7Surf. Room Floor 3 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 10 4:5Surf. Room Subfloor 9 5 1 7 0 0 2 0 24 15:9

Sub. Structure Fill 3 1 2 1 0 1 2 0 10 6:4Sub. Structure Floor 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 3:1Sub. Structure Subfloor 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 4 1:3Other Architectural 6 5 1 1 1 0 2 0 16 12:4

Storage Feature 2 4 3 4 4 0 1 0 18 9:9Burial Pit* 9 7 1 5 2 0 8 2 34 17:15Midden* 16 16 11 12 8 2 20 28 113 43:42

Total 61 43 19 37 16 6 40 33 255 123:99Does not include the non-residential use of Ida Jean Pueblo or Wallace Ruin

Table 5.13: The distribution of Pueblo III primary dispositions from P3MLD residences or site*, by age class and mortuary context type.

The 27% frequency of infants is within the normal range for such societies as is

the 55% frequency of subadults. Although the P3MLD Young Adult frequency

of 27% is less than the DAP rate of 40%, it is higher than the more typical 19%

rate of occurrence in the P2MLD burial population. There is no physical

56

evidence suggestive that the death of any of these individuals is related to

violence, but even lethal wounds can leave no trace on the skeleton (CJK’s new

book?). Possibly, this result is somewhat inflated by the proportional re-

allocations of adults of indeterminate age.

I C T YA MA OA-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70% Surface Room MCT

P3MLD, N=222Surf. Room Fill, N=20Surf. Room Floor, N=9Surf. Room Subfloor, N=24

Age Groups

Prop

ortio

n

Fig 5.5a

I C T YA MA OA-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70% Subsurface Structure MCT

P3MLD, N=222Sub. Structure Fill, N=10Sub. Structure Floor, N=4Sub. Structure Subfloor, N=4Other Architectural, N=16

Age Groups

Prop

ortio

n

Fig. 5.5b

57

I C T YA MA OA-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70% Extramural MCT

P3MLD, N=222Storage Feature, N=18Sub. Burial Pit, N=32Ex. Midden, N=85

Age Groups

Prop

ortio

n

Fig 5.5c

___________________________________________________________________________

Fig 5.5a-c. Mortality profiles of P3MLD primary burials from residential sites per age class and grouped mortuary context types. The P3MLD mortality curve provides a comparative and integrative benchmark.

Surface Rooms

As shown in Figure 5.5a, each age structure for the three surface room MCT

generally follow the peaks and valleys of the P3MLD mortality curve. The dearth

of individuals in the Middle and Old Adult categories may also be slightly

inaccurate in that the Indeterminate Adults in the room floor and subfloor MCT

could belong to either, or both, of those age groups. The subfloor age structure

could be particularly biased by the use of a strict proportional scheme by which

the two IA burials are re-allocated to the already well-populated Young Adult

category. As uncertain as these adult distributions may be, it is evident that all

three surface room contexts contain a similar but disproportionately high

numbers of infants. Yet, though their 50% frequency in the room fill MCT is

nearly twice that of the Infant representation in the P3MLD age structure, this

rate is still within the normal range for pre-antibiotic societies.

Although adolescents are the only age group that is not represented in either of

the two floor contexts, and are present in just six MCT, this dearth could be due

58

to sampling error given the scarcity of teens (19) in the entire P3MLD

population. It is unlikely that their absence from most surface room and

subsurface structure contexts is due to differential preservation, especially given

the number of infants in these locations. A further consideration is that one or

both of the floor-associated individuals of undetermined age might be in his or

her teens.

Even with low numbers of adolescents, the Subadult:Adult age distribution

(32:21) is weighted towards youngsters, who comprise 60% of the depositions

in surface rooms. In comparison, even though extramural zone subadults

outnumber those from intramural contexts (54), the 51% frequency of these 69

individuals is the lowest rate of occurrence of the three residential components.

All told, this age-related evidence thus suggests that, following the adoption of

masonry architecture, surface rooms came to be viewed as a desirable

alternative mortuary location, particularly in the case of infants but for persons

of all ages as well during Pueblo III times.

Other Residential MCT

The subsurface structure profiles provided in Figure 5.5b are the most divergent

of three residential components, probably due in part to the very low numbers of

burials in the floor and subfloor contexts. Most notably, the subfloor context

involves the use of mealing rooms only, and the only individuals observed

comprise a mature adult and an infant interred with one of the two young adults.

That this adult-dominated age grouping is in some way associated with the sex

of these individuals is addressed in the section which follows.

In contrast, although almost every age class is represented in the Other

Architectural MCT, the age structure is definitely weighted towards infants and

59

subadults less than 15 years of age. There are no burials of undetermined age

in this MCT. Logistical constraints, such as the dimensions of small architectural

features, are not a factor. Of the 16 primary burials, three are within a southern

recess, one is in a ventilator shaft, three depositions are in tunnels, one burial

pit partly intrudes into former post holes, one subsurface burial pit intrudes into

a mealing room wall, and seven individuals are on the floor or in the fill of a kiva

corner room. Even though it has fewer subadults than either the surface room

or extramural residential components, the S:A age distribution (22:12) equates

to a subadult frequency of 65%, which is the highest rate of occurrence of the

three residential zones. This result is in large measure due to the presence of

six subadults in a single kiva corner room at Site 5MT765 (Sand Canyon

Pueblo). Of the 15 completely excavated corner rooms, only this one contains

primary burials. Possibly, this usage may involve the practice of a single family

or household.

Essentially, the three MCT age structures of the extramural component (Fig.

5.5c) generally adhere to the P3MLD distribution. Counter to surface room fill

and subfloor age structures, the extramural midden context contains

proportionately fewer infants than the P3MLD rate of occurrence, and moreover,

they occur at the same frequency as children. To some extent, this deviation

from the P3MLD and Latin American mortality structures could represent the

differential preservation of infant bones in intramural versus extramural

contexts. Although fill deposits can accumulate in unroofed buildings, a

reasonable inference is that skeletal preservation differences between the

cartilaginous bones of infants versus the ossified elements of older individuals

would, in many cases, be less of a factor in intramural locations as opposed to

the often extreme climatic conditions that affect extramural middens in

60

southwest Colorado. Yet, P2MLD infants in extramural deposits occur at the

expected rate of a typical pre-antibiotic profile, so an explanation of differential

preservation is by itself inadequate. In similar vein, young adults are present in

the P3MLD profile at about the expected rate, but, as with infants, their rate of

occurrence is lower than would be expected in a residential midden whilst

higher in surface rooms and subsurface structures.

Potentially, storage features were not deemed an appropriate burial location for

infants or children. With only two infants observed, this is the only MCT age

structure in which infant mortality occurs at the lowest frequency. Moreover, the

Infants group is the only age class that is not represented by a single primary

deposition in an extramural storage pit. One infant was deposited in sequence

within the trashy fill of a bell-shaped storage pit at residence 5MT3.75. In

Karhu’s view (2000:188), this multiple interment involved the initial deposition of

a young adolescent of immature skeletal development, followed by a mature

adult of ambiguous sex. An infant aged 1 to 2.5 years is above the level of the

adolescent at the level of the adult’s shoulder, but it is not certain if this

youngster was placed before or after the adult. It is thus unclear if this infant’s

mortuary locus is related to a cultural consideration involving storage features,

or, rather because of his or her social relationship with one of the other two

individuals. The second infant is in a vessel that was built into the floor of a

surface room. This individual is allocated to the storage feature MCT since

archaeologists commonly infer that such vessels functioned as an intramural

storage feature. However, the other possibility is that the buriers considered this

locus to be equivalent to a subfloor pit.

61

Although the number of children (4) in a storage pit MCT is consistent with older

age groups, it may be that storage features were not considered the appropriate

burial location for individuals of this age under normal conditions. Only one

deposit unquestionably involves a child as the single occupant of a bell-shaped

pit. A second child and a young adult female constitute a double burial in a

storage pit that is associated with a Site 5MT3 mealing room (Karhu, 2000:19,

192), but the identity of this MCT is ambiguous. From Karhu’s description, it is

probably a subsurface storage pit that intruded into mealing room fill, but there

is a chance that it is actually a subsurface structure subfloor pit. Even if it this is

an intrusive pit, this child may have been placed with the young adult because

of a familial or social relationship rather than due to cultural considerations. At

Site 5MT9943, the articulated corpses of the third and fourth children and a

young adolescent were eventually deposited in a subsurface storage pit after

lying in an exposed location. Each of these individuals has peri-mortem skeletal

trauma, consistent with evidence that this and other residences in the Cowboy

Wash area suffered a violent attack. Even though corpse disposal was delayed,

the probable association of grave goods provides grounds to identify this

grouping as a multiple primary burial deposit. However, given their cause of

death, this pit may have been construed simply as an expedient location under

very challenging social conditions. This is a distinct possibility since it is the only

storage pit with primary depositions of the more than twenty such features in

this multi-component cluster of sites (Billman and Robinson, 2003; 2005a;

2005b). Thus, if the single child in the bell-shaped storage pit represents

mortuary location decisions under normal conditions, then the use of storage

pits is definitely skewed towards individuals older than 12 years of age.

62

Otherwise, these results provide no compelling evidence that the age of the

deceased played a major role in the selection of nine MCT types or groupings

by age group or in terms of the relative frequency of subadults. At least one

infant and one young adult is observed in every MCT, whereas a minimum of

one child and one middle or old adult burial is present in eight of the ten

potential locations. The rather flat shape of the midden mortality curve is

perhaps the result of the increased use of surface rooms locations for infant

depositions.

Sex

Skeletal development and condition were sufficient for a determination of sex

for 82 of the 109 primary depositions judged to be of adequate skeletal

development and condition. This 44:38 sex distribution, which is documented in

Table 5.14, includes two possible males and eight possible females. The

P3MLD sex ratio of 116 is just slightly skewed toward males. This result thus

differs slightly from the more balanced sex ratios observed in small-scale

societies (Weiss, 1973:58), but it is quite similar to the overall, normalised score

of 110 that Sheridan reports for Pueblo Grande Pueblo (2001:197).

Unfortunately, as with the P2MLD results, the reliability of the P3MLD figures is

questionable since sex determinations for 27 individuals aged 15 or older either

were not or could not be made and, moreover, the age and sex of 32 more

burials is unknown. Not surprisingly, most of the individuals of undetermined

sex are from an extramural midden context where preservation conditions can

be quite poor. The problem of sample size is compounded by the inability to

determine the sex of all associated depositions of mature skeletal development.

As a result, it is often difficult to judge the extent to which the sex of the

63

deceased was significant in the selection of a particular MCT. While it is

imperative that these limitations are kept in mind, there are indications that the

segregation by sex was a factor in at least one residential component.

Mortuary Context Type T M

T F

YA M

YA F

MA M

MA F

OA M

OA F

IA M

IA F

Total M:F Sex Ratio

Surf. Room Fill 3 1 1 1 6 2:4

Surf. Room Floor 1 1 1 1 4 3:1

Surf. Room Subfloor 4 2 2 8 6:2

Sub. Structure Fill 1 1 1 3 0:3

Sub. Structure Floor 1 1 0:1

Sub. Structure Subfloor 2 1 3 0:3

Other Architectural 1 1 1 3 1:2

Storage Feature 1 1 2 2 6 3:3

Sub. Burial Pit 1 4 1 1 1 4 1 13 9:4 225

Extramural Midden 4 7 4 5 2 1 1 7 4 35 20:15 133

Subtotal 0 7 17 17 8 6 3 2 16 6 82 44:38 116

Undetermined Sex 27

Total 109

Table 5.14: The distribution of P3MLD primary dispositions of mature skeletal development by age, sex and mortuary context type.

161343

10 38 17 6 38

Analysis of the P3MLD sex distribution by age class provides additional insights

regarding differential mortality and mortuary location decisions concerning

individuals older than about 15 years of age. There are no male adolescents,

but it is possible that at least one male is present amongst the three teens of

undetermined sex and five others whose sex is unknown because of poor

skeletal preservation or unreported data. The Young Adult age group seems to

contain a disproportionately high number of individuals, but the sex ratio is a

completely balanced 100. Regardless of the categories of the four burials

whose sex could not be determined, this result suggests that risk factors in

young adulthood, in general, affected males and females equally even if the

64

specific types of risk, such as childbearing, varied by sex. This balanced pattern

is also present in the Middle and Old Adult age groups, each of which contains

few burials of undetermined sex. In contrast, the Indeterminate Adult sex ratio of

127 is skewed towards males, but this score is extremely suspect since this

group includes 16 individuals whose sex could not be determined. Indeed,

considering only the individuals in the specific Adult age groups (YA, MA, OA)

the sex ratio of 112 (28:25) is still weighted towards males, but, once again, the

presence of 61 individuals of undetermined sex in these age groups means that

the representativeness of this distribution is questionable. At face value, these

patterns suggest that there is no segregation by sex in terms of the P3MLD

residential mortuary program as a whole or during adulthood. Unfortunately,

evidence quality means that only provisional inferences can be drawn regarding

mortuary location decisions and the sex of adolescents. That adolescent males

would be specifically singled out for burial at a location beyond residential

boundaries is an unlikely scenario, and also inconsistent with evidence from

Grasshopper Pueblo (Hinkes, 1983) and Pueblo Grande (Sheridan, 2001).

Whether an egalitarian approach to mortuary decisions applies to even younger

individuals cannot be determined because of methodological limitations.

Surface Rooms

Three males and one female are associated with a surface room floor, but this

MCT also has one Indeterminate Adult of unknown sex and another individual

of unknown age and sex. In contrast, the four females outnumber the two males

in the room fill MCT, but this category also contains one individual of unknown

sex and age. The room subfloor MCT is also dominated by males, although this

65

6:2 distribution could be more, or less, emphatic since this context also includes

an adolescent and a young adult of ambiguous sex.

Although each of these MCT has fewer than 10 individuals of determined sex,

the total surface room distribution of 11:7 is sufficient for calculation of a

normalised age ratio. The score of 157 captures a significant skew towards

males, but in such a small sample, the presence of four individuals for whom a

determination of sex could not be made means that this score is insecure.

However, even if all four burials are female, the ratio of males to females would

be balanced at most.

Other Residential MCT

No P3MLD mortuary context type contains just males, but all of the mature

depositions in the three vertical subsurface structure contexts consist of

females, possible females, or individuals for whom a determination of sex is not

made. Two females and one male are in the Other Architectural MCT, but the

male is in a burial pit that cuts into the wall of mealing room of the 5MT3.27

residence. Possibly, this was a deliberate decision to associate this male with

this structure, but it is equally likely that this Pueblo II wall was no longer visible

from the ground surface by the time of the Pueblo III deposition. If this

association was accidental, then the subsurface burial pit is the more

appropriate MCT allocation.

Each of the four structure MCT contain no more than three burials of unknown

sex, but the pooling of data for this residential component provides a sex

distribution of 1:9 and thus a normalised sex ratio of 11. Such a result

documents an extreme skew towards females, but it may not be accurate. Of

the ten depositions in subsurface structure fill, three are females, three are of

66

undetermined sex, and the remaining individuals comprise three infants and a

child. The only mature individual on a subsurface structure floor is female, but

this MCT also includes an individual of unknown age and sex. The other two

burials in this MCT consist of two infants and a child. The sex determinations of

the three burials in a structure subfloor context are the most certain. At Site

5MT3, a mature adult probable female (Karhu, 2000:29) and a young adult

female are in separate pits cut into the floor at opposite sides of the same

mealing room in residence 5MT3.27. At nearby 5MT3.46 domicile, a young

adult female and an infant are a double burial in a mealing room subfloor pit.

Thus, only the structure subfloor MCT can be said to lack a male or possible

male with any confidence. So, even if all four individuals of undetermined sex

are actually male, the 5:9 distribution and sex ratio of 56 would still be

significantly skewed towards females.

The extramural residential component has more males than females, as

demonstrated by the 32:22 distribution by sex. This sex ratio of 145, in which

males constitute nearly 60% of the burials whose sex could be determined, is

still not quite as skewed towards males as is the case for the surface room

residential component. However, the extramural MCT has 19 individuals of

unknown sex in addition to another 29 burials of unknown age and sex. The

juxtaposition of allocations based on sex is particularly problematic with the

storage feature MCT. The 3:3 distribution is balanced, yet a determination of

sex could not be made for 40% of the burials in this context type. Subsurface

burial pits contain a slightly larger sample size (16), of which the sex of three

burials is unknown. The 225 sex ratio is extremely skewed towards males, but

since the sample size is small, it could be a much reduced 129 if the three

individuals of undetermined sex are female. The midden sex ratio of 133 is

67

perhaps more reliable since sample size is less of a problem. This result points

to a male-dominated use of extramural midden, but this result is again quite

provisional since this MCT contains 12 adults of unknown sex and 27

individuals of undetermined age and sex.

Assuming that the sex ratios by residential component are reasonably accurate,

the best case for segregation by sex involves the association of females with

subsurface structure MCT. If the MCT allocation of the male from 5MT3.27 is

incorrect, then there are no males amongst this group of burials whose sex

could be determined. Some 30% of the individuals in this MCT are of unknown

sex, but assuming that each one is male and including the Other Architectural

Male, the sex distribution (6:9) is still substantially weighted towards females.

Only the three depositions in the structure subfloor MCT can be said to lack a

male or possible male with confidence. Thus, although there are only nine

females in the subsurface structure MCT, the potential symbolic association of a

mortuary location within a mealing room location is addressed in Chapter Y.

DISCUSSION

The diachronic approach utilised in the preceding sections provides essential

information from now robust databases regarding the types, frequencies and

distribution of mortuary contexts used in the Mesa Verde region at the time of

the Pueblo II occupation of Wallace Ruin and then its re-use during the Pueblo

III Period. This endeavour also contributes essential information regarding the

age and sex of the deceased by mortuary context type per temporal period.

Comparison of the major trends between these chronological periods is

worthwhile on two accounts. Primarily, such analyses can hone in on evidence

68

of perpetuation or change in mortuary location choices through time or locality,

information which is needed to complete the falsification of Hypothesis Two. In

addition, the appraisal of demographic data may confirm, or dismiss, the

possibility that segregation by age or sex was a factor in the use of storage

features and subsurface locations.

Setting the problem of small sample sizes aside, the juxtaposition of mortuary

context type use by both residences (Fig. 5.6 ) and primary burials (Fig. 5.7)

demonstrates relatively little change in the frequencies of observed mortuary

locations from the Pueblo II to the Pueblo III Period. These results indicate

scant difference in the prevalence of surface room floor MCT by temporal

period, but there are four moderate diachronic variations pertaining to the use of

surface room fill and subfloor contexts, storage features, and the extramural

midden.

S. Roo

m Fill

S. Roo

m Floor

S. Roo

m Subflo

or

Sub. S

tructu

re Fil

l

Sub. S

tructu

re Flo

or

Sub. S

tructu

re Su

bfloo

r

Other A

rchite

ctural

Storag

e Feat

ure

Sub. B

urial

Pit*

Ex. Midd

en*

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

MCT Frequency by Residence

Pueblo II Pueblo IIIMortuary Context Types

Prop

ortio

n

Fig 5.6: The diachronic changes in frequency of P2MLD versus P3MLD Mesa Verde region mortuary context types by residence or site*.

69

S. Roo

m Fill

S. Roo

m Floor

S. Roo

m Subflo

or

S. Str

uctur

e Fill

S. Str

uctur

e Floo

r

S. Str

uctur

e Sub

floor

Other A

rchite

ctural

Storag

e Feat

ure

Sub. B

urial

Pit*

Ex. Midd

en*

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70% MCT Frequency by Primary Burials

Pueblo II

Mortuary Context Types

Prop

ortio

n

Fig 5.7: The diachronic changes in frequency of P2MLD versus P3MLD Mesa Verde region mortuary context types by primary burials.

The use of a surface room floor mortuary context is consistently rare in the

Mesa Verde region, however calculated. Of the 100 residences of the P2MLD

and P3MLD datasets having at least one primary burial, just seven have a

primary burial deposit on a surface room floor. Five of these residences are

fairly typical Ancestral Pueblo dwellings, but the Pueblo II depositions at

Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean Pueblo are associated with a residential component

of a Chaco great house. Moreover, these two sites are the only ones with floor

burials from both the Pueblo II and Pueblo III Periods, and also the only ones in

which a primary burial is present in more than one surface room. Potentially,

these particular circumstances apply to Haney Ruin of the Lakeview Group as

well.

With such small numbers, the slight difference in the rates of occurrence of the

surface room floor MCT by time period is not surprising. Even though the 4%

70

rate of occurrence of Pueblo III burials is twice that of Pueblo II burials, there

are just 10 floor depositions from a Pueblo III residential site. There is even less

disparity in the frequency of room floor MCT by temporal period when

evaluated by occurrence by residence. The Pueblo III 5% frequency just edges

the 4% rate of the Pueblo II Period. The inclusion of the purported mortuary

evidence from Haney Ruin of the Lakeview Group makes no difference in this

comparative analysis since both Pueblo II and Pueblo III burials are said to be

present in the surface rooms of this third Chaco great house.

Excluding the Pueblo III burials from Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean Pueblo, the15

burials on the floor of a residential surface room are from seven sites, and as

shown in Figure 5.8, most of these are at some distance from the Lakeview

Group and from each other. Mitchell Springs Pueblo is just beyond the

perimeter of the 7 km Lakeview Locality, and the remaining four domiciles are at

least 10 km apart each other, and at least 20 km walking distance from Wallace

Ruin, in the Mesa Verde geographic locality. Wallace Ruin and Ida Jean Pueblo

are the only two sites that are in close proximity, though Haney Ruin would

constitute another such site if the unsubstantiated mortuary information is

accurate.

71

Fig. 5.8: The locations of Mesa Verde region Pueblo II and Pueblo III residences with a surface room floor mortuary context, by geographic and cultural locality.

In contrast to this persistently infrequent use of surface room floors for a

mortuary locus, the evidence from surface room fill and subfloor contexts

indicates a noticeable, though still low-level, change between the Pueblo II and

Pueblo III Periods. As discussed previously, a case can be made that the

decrease in the frequency of use of the extramural midden in the Pueblo III

Period is essentially offset by the increase in the depositions in a surface room

fill and subfloor MCT. Karhu (2000:32) draws attention to this juxtaposition at

Site 5MT3, but she offers no motives for this moderate shift in location

selection. In the view of Mobley-Tanaka (2005:51), it is reasonable to interpret

rooms containing a substantial amount of rubbish as abandoned, and that

furthermore, this use of abandoned rooms is specifically related to the

availability of masonry rooms in the Pueblo III era as opposed to the less

substantial jacal buildings of the Pueblo II Period.

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An alternative perspective is offered here, in which the more pertinent

association involves cultural fill rather than architecture. As depicted in Table

5.15, the re-allocation of primary depositions demonstrates that a trashy fill

context is highly preferred regardless of location within a residence. The

number of P3MLD burial pits associated with trashy fill is artificially low given

that numerous depositions in graves at the large village sites are allocated to an

extramural midden context. Nevertheless, the total P3MLD frequency is

unchanged regardless of how burials are allocated between these two

extramural MCT.

Table 5.15: The distribution and frequencies of Pueblo II and Pueblo III primary burials associated with a rubbish deposit, by mortuary context type.

P2MLD P3MLD

Mortuary Context Type Number

%, N=228

Number %, N=255

Extramural Midden 159 0.70 113 0.44Surf. Room Fill 3 0.01 21 0.08Storage Feature 5 0.02 14 0.05Sub. Structure Fill 6 0.03 10 0.04Sub. Burial Pit 2 0.01 7 0.03Other Architectural 2 0.01Total 175 0.77 167 0.66

Thus, of the 255 P3MDL primary depositions, 167 are covered by or intruded

into rubbish, or have ashy, trashy fill mixed with the soils used for interments.

This revised 66% rate of occurrence almost equals the 70% frequency

observed for Pueblo II midden depositions, and it is similar to total P2MLD

frequency of 77% for all trash-associated MCT locations. When one includes

the recovery factors that especially affect midden depositions, the similarity of

these results is rather remarkable since it is not consistent with current scholarly

perceptions (Kuckelman and Martin, 2007; Martin and Akins, 2001; Schlanger,

73

1992). Possible symbolic implications regarding a mortuary location and ashy,

trash fill are addressed in Chapter X.

Possibly, even though subfloor depositions are not associated with rubbish, the

use of a surface room subfloor location may also be associated with masonry

building fabric. As a case in point, when considering the large number Pueblo II

and Pueblo III primary burials from 5MT1 (13) and 5MT3 (79) of the Yellow

Jacket community, the use of a subfloor MCT only occurs after the construction

of masonry roomblocks. However, that these room subfloor occur in seven sites

scattered across the MVR indicates that the choice of this context type is not

specific to the practices of a single community.

The rise in frequency of use of storage features during Pueblo III times is

primarily related to the use of abandoned Pueblo II bell-shaped pits in multi-

component sites. As discussed previously, the selection of this MCT at Site

5MT9943 may not represent mortuary location decisions made under normal

domestic conditions. Assuming so, seven of the 11 Pueblo II or Pueblo III

residences with a storage feature MCT are at Yellow Jacket Hamlet, and, for

the most part, they involve Pueblo III depositions in Pueblo II storage pits. It

thus appears that the variation in frequency of the storage feature MCT by

temporal period is largely influenced by the practices of a specific community.

Moreover, since most of these pits contained trashy fill, it is possible that this

deposition location was selected because of the nature of the fill rather than due

to an architectural association.

Primary Burials and MVR Great Houses

Few great houses have been excavated in the MVR, regardless of whether their

construction is of Chacoan or local derivation. Besides Wallace Ruin, the only

74

such buildings in which significant research excavations have been conducted

within surface rooms consist of Escalante Ruin (Reed, 1979), Far View Ruin

(Fewkes, 1916) and Lowry Ruin (Martin, 1936). Less extensive work has been

undertaken at Ida Jean Pueblo (Brisbin and Brisbin, n.d.) and Albert Porter

Pueblo (Ryan, 2004). Other than the primary burial depositions at Wallace Ruin

and Ida Jean Pueblo, no Pueblo II or Pueblo III primary burials have been

located within these large, monumental buildings. In addition, a substantial

building at Mitchell Springs that may have been a Chacoan great house was

mechanically razed to below ground level by looters prior to the instigation of

formal archaeological research (Wheeler Smith, 2009:1), but there is no oral

tradition to suggest that primary burials were located within its rooms either.

Age-Sex Structure

The pooling of demographic evidence from P2MLD and P3MLD burials, which

is detailed in Tables 5.16 and 5.17, does not alter the patterns described in

the diachronic analyses, in which the age structures generally follow the trends

observed in non-antibiotic societies. In fact, since most of the minor contexts

contain small numbers of P2MLD primary depositions, the overall demographic

patterns are close approximations of the P3MLD profiles. Surface room floors

are slightly biased towards infants and children, but the presence of at least five

adults argues against age sorting for this MCT as a fundamental, MVR mortuary

practice. The storage feature MCT is shy of infants, but sampling bias and

differential preservation perhaps offer more plausible scenarios than age

grading. Possibly, the inclusion of the sole infant in the subsurface structure

subfloor MCT is due to a social relationship with the adult female with whom he

or she is interred.

75

The total proportion of males to females is remarkably balanced, but this result

is decidedly uncertain given that the sex of 47 primary depositions 15 years of

age or older is undetermined. Males are slightly more common in surface room

floor and subfloor locations, but comparatively more females are in surface

room fill. The overall surface room sex ratio of 130 is skewed towards males,

but not enough to suggest that surface rooms, per se, were viewed as the more

appropriate location for males. However, even though the grouping of Pueblo II

and III data from subsurface structures raises the normalised sex ratio from 11

to 19, this result still represents a sex distribution that is very strongly skewed

towards females.

Mortuary Context Type I C T YA MA OA Total S:A % SSurf. Room Fill 11 5 0 5 1 3 25 16:9 0.64Surf. Room Floor 6 2 0 2 0 3 13 8:5 0.62Surf. Room Subfloor 11 7 1 9 3 1 32 19:13 0.59

Sub. Structure Fill 4 1 3 3 1 5 17 8:9 0.47Sub. Structure Floor 2 2 0 1 0 3 8 4:4 0.50Sub. Structure Subfloor 1 0 0 2 1 0 4 1:3 0.25Other Architectural 11 7 1 3 2 0 24 19:5 0.76

Storage Feature 2 7 3 6 7 0 25 12:13 0.48Sub. Burial Pit* 12 17 2 16 8 0 55 31:24 0.56Extramural Midden* 54 39 22 56 55 16 242 115:127 0.48

Total 114 87 32 103 78 31 445 233:212 0.52

Table 5.16 The pooled distribution of P2MLD and P3MLD primary burials, by age class and mortuary context type.

76

Mortuary Context TypeT M

T F

YA M

YA F

MA M

MA F

OA M

OA F

IA M

IA F

Total M:FSex

RatioSurf. Room Fill 3 1 1 1 1 7 2:5 40Surf. Room Floor 1 1 1 1 4 3:1 300Surf. Room Subfloor 4 2 1 1 1 3 12 8:4 200

Sub. Structure Fill 1 2 1 2 2 8 1:7 14Sub. Structure Floor 1 1 2 4 1:3 33Sub. Structure Subfloor 2 1 3 0:3 0Other Architectural 2 1 1 4 1:3 33

Storage Feature 1 1 2 2 2 1 9 4:5 80Sub. Burial Pit 2 4 4 2 1 6 4 23 12:11 109Extramural Midden 2 10 15 13 17 11 4 5 23 13 113 61:52 117Subtotal 2 14 25 31 23 18 7 10 36 21 187 93:94 99Undetermined/AM Sex 47Total 23424 61 46 18 85

Table 5.17: The distribution of P2MLD and P3MLD primary burials of mature skeletal development by age, sex and mortuary context type.

8 5 5 1 28

A primary goal of this investigation is to ascertain the relative frequency of the

practice of floor burial in Mesa Verde region during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III

periods. Thus, the Supplemental dataset consists of negative data from 37

Pueblo II and III sites at which no primary depositions were located. These sites

are categorised as extensively excavated or adequately excavated, during the

complete excavation of at least two surface rooms; these sites are hereafter

referred to as the.

Section in progress…..estimate 3 pages?

77

by P3MLD Site (35)

W/Supplemental Site (45)

by P3LD Residence (85)

W/Supplemental Residence (96)

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

S. Room Fill 5/12S. Room Floor 4/5S. Room Subfloor 6/12

Conclusions

Overall, there is no strong evidence that that sex of the deceased was a

significant consideration in the selection of a mortuary location for P2MLD or

P3MLD residences. Furthermore, the sites with middens containing several

primary depositions provide no evidence for the intentional spatial segregation

of the dead by age or sex (Karhu, 2000; Hayes and Lancaster, 1975; Lister,

1966; Swannack, 1979). Finally, although the skeletal elements are frequently

displaced or missing, usually due to denning animals or looters, accidental

intrusions during a subsequent deposition are rare, and there is no indication

that a skeletonised corpse was deliberately disturbed by Ancestral Puebloans.

P2 there is more variety in the selection of mortuary locations for females. P3?

78