Modified human remains in prehistoric South Texas reveal ancient cultural practices

A study by Dr. Matthew S. Taylor, published in the Journal of Osteoarchaeology, reports on the reanalysis of modified human bones discovered at several prehistoric South Texas archaeological sites.

Despite various late prehistoric southern Texas sites having been reported as containing modified human bones, these artifacts have undergone little analysis or interpretation, although their appearance has been noted twice, once by Pearce in 1932 and again by Hester in 1969.

Dr. Taylor explained his interest in these modified human bones: "I have studied the bioarchaeology of Texas for most of my career. I first became interested in archaeology because my grandparents owned a ranch in Central Texas, and there were numerous sites on the property.

"The desire to learn more about who made them led me to archaeology, but I realized that bioarchaeology allowed me to study the people themselves. Ever since, I've wanted to reconstruct what their lives were like."

Twenty-nine modified human bones curated at the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory (TARL) at the University of Texas at Austin were chosen for the study.

The analysis was carried out in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Additionally, the Comanche Nation, the Caddo Nation, the Mescalero Tribe, and the Kiowa Tribe had previously been consulted regarding remains from the Gulf Coast. None of the federally recognized tribes have made claims on the remains, and thus, analysis could proceed.

It was determined that the bones were mainly long bones of the arms and legs. They had been defleshed, as seen by various cutmarks on their surface. Thereafter, the bones were left to dry before they could undergo the groove-and-snap technique.

This technique involved cutting a groove in the surface until a certain depth was reached, which weakened the bone structure and allowed them to snap the bone in two.

Similar processing techniques are recorded elsewhere in the Americas; however, the processing of human bodies in southern Texas is less well understood.

"Unfortunately, there is relatively little bioarchaeological work on Late Prehistoric peoples in South Texas. Some historical accounts mention the processing of human bodies, but not in the way represented by the artifacts in my article. If nothing else, the human bone artifacts act as confirmation that early peoples on the Gulf Coast did not view human bodies, or the reduction of human remains, as taboo or off-limits," says Dr. Taylor.

Two of the most common reasons for the modification of human bone are ancestor worship and war trophies. Both have been observed among various Native American tribes; however, evidence is scarce in South Texas.

One account by the Spaniard, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, who became shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico in 1528 and lived with various Gulf Coast natives, describes how some tribal members would cremate the bones of holy men, mix these with water, and drink the resulting liquid, possibly as a type of ancestor worship.

Similarly, evidence of war trophies in the nearby regions comes in the form of scalping practiced by some tribes in Texas and the southern Plains. However, there is no direct historical evidence of this practice along the South Texas coast.

One bone in particular, a left humerus (41KL39), had been fashioned into a musical rasp or omichicahuaztli (in the Nahua language). Such rasps made of human and animal bone are well known in postclassic Mexico.

The humerus of South Texas had been engraved with 29 notches and a zig-zag pattern. The notches indicated they had been regularly rubbed against, which would have resulted in a reverberating sound.

Dr. Taylor suggests that the musical rasp may have resulted from cultural influences penetrating southern Texas from post-Classic Mexican civilizations, where such rasps are commonly found.

"The amount of influence from post-Classic Mexico is uncertain. I think the hunter-gatherers of the Texas coast were aware of the civilizations to their south, but relatively few artifacts (from controlled excavations) have been found. There is a hypothesis that a trade route (the Gilmore Corridor) may have run along the Gulf Coast from Mexico to the American Southeast.

"The similarities between the South Texas and Mexican artifact types is a factor inferring influence, but the musical rasp seems like an attempt at a copy (in my opinion). The one in Texas is made from a humerus, for example, while the ones from Mexico are generally made from femorae."

Based on Dr. Taylor's research, modified human bone artifacts from prehistoric South Texas reveal that native cultures deliberately processed human remains, possibly reflecting war trophies, ancestor worship or cultural influence from Postclassic Mexico.

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