Perimortem mutilation of human remains in an early village in the American Southwest: A case for ethnic violence

► Recent discovery of one of the earliest and largest deposits of processed human remains described and contextualized within the broader patterns in the American Southwest. ► The Sacred Ridge assemblage was similar to other EP event assemblages in the Southwest in that victims were heavily processed and reduced, were subject to scalping and trauma to the head and face, and were associated with pit structures. Yet, the Sacred Ridge site is unique in a number of ways and does not fit the expectations of any previous proposed models. ► Based on a lack of fit with previous models developed to account for Extreme Processing (EP) events, including starvation cannibalism, warfare and social intimidation, and witchcraft accusations, and biodistance data suggesting relatedness and distinctiveness among the victims it is proposed that the Sacred Ridge massacre was the result of ethnic conflict during the Pueblo I period. Recent excavations at the Sacred Ridge Site, just south of the town of Durango, Colorado, have uncovered the single largest deposit (to date) of mutilated and processed human remains in the American Southwest. This deposit dates to the very late eighth or very early ninth century A.D. and therefore represents an incidence of large-scale violence and perimortem mutilation dating to the Pueblo I period (A.D. 700–900), when initial village formation occurred in the northern San Juan Region of the Southwest. Expectations for various interpretations for the Sacred Ridge assemblage are generated based on previous research and cross-cultural data on cannibalism, warfare, and human bone processing. Based on a lack of fit with previous models developed to account for extreme processing (EP) events, including starvation cannibalism, warfare and social intimidation, and witch-craft accusations, it is proposed that the Sacred Ridge massacre was the result of ethnic conflict during the Pueblo I period.