Bassalt Industries: Skulls

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But historians and archaeologists knew the conquistadors were prone to exaggerating the horrors of human sacrifice to demonize the Mexica culture. As the centuries passed, scholars began to wonder whether the tzompantli had ever existed. Beginning in , they discovered and excavated the remains of the skull rack and one of the towers underneath a colonial period house on the street that runs behind Mexico City's cathedral.

The other tower, they suspect, lies under the cathedral's back courtyard. The scale of the rack and tower suggests they held thousands of skulls, testimony to an industry of human sacrifice unlike any other in the world. Now, archaeologists are beginning to study the skulls in detail, hoping to learn more about Mexica rituals and the postmortem treatment of the bodies of the sacrificed. The researchers also wonder who the victims were, where they lived, and what their lives were like before they ended up marked for a brutal death at the Templo Mayor.

He and other researchers hope the skulls will clarify the role of large-scale human sacrifice in Mexica religion and culture—and whether, as scholars suspect, it played a key part in building their empire. The discovery of the tzompantli began the same way all the Urban Archaeology Program's digs do: The finds are often significant and surprisingly intact.

The Templo Mayor itself came to light in the s, when INAH archaeologists were called in after city electrical workers stumbled on an imposing circular statue of the goddess Coyolxauhqui, who was killed and dismembered by her brother Huitzilopochtli. Much of the temple had survived to be discovered.

The Mexica built it in seven phases between and , each corresponding to the reign of a king. Each phase was built over and around the earlier ones, embedding the Templo Mayor's history within it like a set of Russian nesting dolls. Although the Spanish destroyed the temple's final phase, the smaller temples from earlier reigns were paved over but left relatively unscathed.

Those ruins are now part of the Templo Mayor Museum. But many structures that surrounded the ruins remained hidden beneath the dense colonial city—and now, the modern megalopolis. Starting in February , his team dug about 20 test pits, unearthing modern debris, colonial porcelain, and, finally, the basalt slabs of a Mexica period floor.

Then, he remembers, "Hundreds of skull fragments began to appear. But they weren't sure that's what they were seeing until they found the postholes for the skull rack. The wooden posts themselves had long since decayed, and the skulls once displayed on them had shattered—or been purposely crushed by the conquistadors.

Still, the size and spacing of the holes allowed them to estimate the tzompantli 's size: From their knowledge of the eras of the Templo Mayor, archaeologists estimate that the particular phases of the tzompantli they found were likely built between and , although human sacrifice had been practiced in Tenochtitlan since its founding in For the Mexica, human sacrifice was key to the health of the world. Recent finds show that a vast rack of skulls reconstruction below stood in a temple at the heart of their capital, Tenochtitlan.

An interactive version of this graphic is also available. Nearby, the researchers also found skulls apparently stuck together with mortar—remnants of one of the towers flanking the tzompantli , where most skulls once exhibited on its posts ended their postmortem journey. The team spent a second season, from October to June , excavating the tzompantli and the tower.

At its largest, the tower was nearly 5 meters in diameter and at least 1. Combining the two historically documented towers and the rack, INAH archaeologists now estimate that several thousand skulls must have been displayed at a time. The Clacton-on-Sea specimen, not directly associated with proboscidean remains which did exist at the site , is an exceptionally well-preserved artifact made of yew Taxus , tapered to a point at one end and broken irregularly at the other. Examination of its various properties has led to the conclusion that it was most likely a thrusting spear. The Lower Palaeolithic site of Lehringen furnished a noticeable example of elephant skeletal remains in association with a wooden spear and a lithic assemblage, all found in situ in a properly documented stratigraphical position The primary context of these finds was corroborated by the presence of conjoinable pieces within the lithic assemblage.

Special Lava Stone Craft Skull, Lava Stone Basalt Art Works

The wooden object bore marks of scraping all over, its tip was hardened by fire which gave it a darker colour than the remaining part, and its rear part was worked as well On ethnographic evidence the artifact was judged to have been a hunting implement - both because it was found thrust between the elephant's ribs and because of its shape and size.

Both Adam 52 and Jacob- Friesen 53 concluded that it was a thrusting spear rather than a throwing spear, and the former also considered the possible use of poison, smeared on the spear's tip. The wooden item found at GBY is markedly different from those described above, being heavy and bent, and devoid of any signs of working though all side twigs were removed. As its one end has been broken off, there is no way of knowing whether it had originally been treated in any fashion, but the remaining end is evidently unworked.

It can therefore be viewed neither as a digging stick 54 nor as a hunting tool. However, its robusticity suggests the function of a lever, and it might also have been used for the disarticulation of the elephant's head from the vertebral column, as was reported for the Pleasant Lake mastodon 55 and the Dansville mastodon Reservations occasionally voiced to the effect that hunting of large-size prey must necessarily involve a larger number of participants than that which is presumed in palaeolithic contexts, are not supported by the ethnographic evidence.

Recent studies confirm that hunting of a single elephant requires only a minimal number of participants: Indeed, a factor vastly more significant seems to be the degree of familiarity of the hunter with its prospective prey - that thorough knowledge on which all hunting strategies rely heavily. It was even argued that: Regarding the case of the GBY Paleoloxodon antiquus, one might conclude that the observed arrangement of finds actually reflects the terminal, dismemberment stage of the hunt.

Taking into consideration that the GBY elephant would have been as big as its modern African counterpart, it would clearly have been impossible to move its entire carcass after death It seems rather probable therefore, that the killing stage had been planned in advance to take place at the location most convenient for the hunters. As it seems against the nature of the wounded animal to have struggled purposefully into the midst of a hominid occupation zone 60 , it may be argued that towards the end of the hunt it might have been driven there by the Acheulian hunters.

Admittedly, ethnographic data describe a large number of participants in the dismembering phase - far larger, in fact than in the hunt itself 61 , yet this fact in itself does not rule out the possibility of a smaller number of partici-. Indeed, both the position of the log and its presumed lever function are indicative of such a small number of participants. In light of this fact, the effort invested in driving the dying animal closer to the site may be taken to actually reflect a necessary energy-saving strategy.

There seem to be other lines of evidence supporting a hunting-exploitation hypothesis for the GBY skull grouping. It was suggested regarding the Lehringen elephant 62 that certain flint artifacts found in proximity to its skull may be taken to have been used to sever the trunk, in order to allow access to the brain. The GBY skull shows possible indications of deliberate damage below the nasal opening, which may be attributed to the same activity. More significant, however, is the evidence for brain extraction through the crushing of the occipital and basal parts of the elephant's head.

Human preference for selected parts of a kill is well documented in the ethnographic literature, and shows a wide variation with respect to motives tradition, ritual, taste, nutritional value, etc. Indeed, the high value placed on marrow and brain is typical of many societies, in the present as well as in the past. Speth and Spielmann 63 list several nutritional reasons for supplementing a protein-only diet of lean meat with fat and carbohydrate.

Speth 64 further suggests that Plio-Pleistocene hominids " Crader, who investigated meat removal at elephant kill sites, notes that: The elephant scatters contain few or no podial elements because these are cut off Hundreds of Pleistocene sites have yielded bone assemblages in which fractured bones are the commonest component, usually interpreted as indicating intentional breakage of bones for marrow extraction. In a recent discussion of the nutritional implications of head collecting 67 it is argued that " In situations of hunting and access to complete carcasses, preferential treatment of head parts may be more apparent in processing decisions at the final destination, than in transport decisions".

Though that study deals with medium-sized ungulates, its conclusions seem equally relevant to larger mammals as well. The considerable degree of sophistication attributed to the occupants of the GBY site in the hunting-scenario proposed above, is powerfully attested to in their material culture.

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The presence of a wood. Other manifestations of a high technological ability are apparent throughout the site. Analysis of the lithic assemblages from layer II-6 and other layers from the site, points to a complex pattern of continuous reduction processes aimed at the production of distinct, differently-shaped tools The techniques employed for the manufacture of these products are diverse and clearly distinct from each other.

Suffice it to mention the coexistence of the Levallois technique for the manufacture of flakes, and the Kombewa Technique 70 , which was used mainly in order to acquire large basalt flakes for the manufacture of cleavers and handaxes. Not much is yet known of the Kombewa technique and the people who put it to use, but the Levallois technique is well known from numerous studies to have been a sophisticated technique, employed both by anatomically modern humans and by Neanderthals.

The ability to plan in advance, and the step-by- step process evidently involved in producing certain lithic artifacts, are widely recognized as demonstrating a high level of sophistication. The capabilities necessarily implied by the hunting-dismemberment hypothesis proposed above, are very much in agreement with the ample evidence from the occupants' lithic industry. This study was supported by the L. We wish to thank R.

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Vitelzon for their outstanding help during the excavation, and A. Schwarcz for their help and suggestions. Figure 1 was drawn by Z. Figure 2 was drawn by S. Laron photographed Plates We would like to thank Kibbutz Gadot for a most enjoyable hospitality during the excavation. Scopus, Jerusalem , Israel A. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae Excavations at Wady El-Mughara: Journal of Human Evolution Journal of Arid Environments 1: University of New Mexico Press. Lit hie Technology Journal of Field Archaeology.

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The University of Arizona Press. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Journal of Archaeological Science Biologv, havior, and the fossil record. National Geographic Research 2: The University of Chicago Press. Jahrbuch des Romische-Germanischen Zentral- museums 3: South Dakota, Hot Springs: Proceedings of the Geologists' Association Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 6: American Museum of ural History. Canadian Journal of Anthropology 1: Mammoth bones modified by humans: Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands.

University of Maine at Orono: Center for the Study of First Americans. Early hominid subsistence strategies in seasonal habitats. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2: The Quaternary of Israel. University of Arizona Press. Die Kunde 36 N. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology Plants of the Bible. The lower values presented in figure 3, are based on the results of earlier, partial analysis which did not include the items identified through sieving.

Plan Introduction [link] Stratigraphy [link] The elephant skull and its associated items [link] Interpretation [link] Discussion [link] Acknowledgements [link]. Liste des illustrations PL. Elephant skull top view. Priests carried the body to another ritual space, where they laid it face-up. Using their sharp blades, the priests deftly cut away the skin and muscles of the face, reducing it to a skull. Then, they carved large holes in both sides of the skull and slipped it onto a thick wooden post that held other skulls prepared in precisely the same way.

One was dedicated to the war god, Huitzilopochtli, and the other to the rain god, Tlaloc. Eventually, after months or years in the sun and rain, a skull would begin to fall to pieces, losing teeth and perhaps even its jaw. The priests would remove it to be fashioned into a mask and placed in an offering, or use mortar to add it to two towers of skulls that flanked the tzompantli.

For the Aztecs—the larger cultural group to which the Mexica belonged—those skulls were the seeds that would ensure the continued existence of humanity. They were a sign of life and regeneration, like the first flowers of spring. But the Spanish conquistadors who marched into Tenochtitlan in saw them differently. The Spanish tore down the Templo Mayor and the tzompantli in front of it, paved over the ruins, and built what would become Mexico City.

And the great rack and towers of skulls passed into the realm of historical mystery. But historians and archaeologists knew the conquistadors were prone to exaggerating the horrors of human sacrifice to demonize the Mexica culture.

As the centuries passed, scholars began to wonder whether the tzompantli had ever existed. The scale of the rack and tower suggests they held thousands of skulls, testimony to an industry of human sacrifice unlike any other in the world. Now, archaeologists are beginning to study the skulls in detail, hoping to learn more about Mexica rituals and the postmortem treatment of the bodies of the sacrificed.

The researchers also wonder who the victims were, where they lived, and what their lives were like before they ended up marked for a brutal death at the Templo Mayor. He and other researchers hope the skulls will clarify the role of large-scale human sacrifice in Mexica religion and culture—and whether, as scholars suspect, it played a key part in building their empire. The finds are often significant and surprisingly intact.

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