Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant: Cut Marks as Evidence of Precolumbian Human Sacrifice and Postmortem Bone Modification on the North Coast of Peru

博士论文研究补助金：作为秘鲁北海岸前哥伦布时代人类祭祀和死后骨骼改造证据的切割痕迹

• 批准号: 0075174
• 负责人: John Verano
• 金额: $ 0.32万
• 依托单位: Tulane University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-06-01 至 2002-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0075174&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Grant; Cut

This project seeks funding for the analysis of osteological remains with cut marks associated with the Moche (A.D. 100-800) culture of ancient Peru. The principal goal of this study is to investigate Moche human sacrificial practices as represented by physical evidence, and compare them to idealized behavior depicted in Moche iconography. Recent archaeological discoveries have lent support to the argument that scenes of prisoner torture, sacrifice, mutilation, and dismemberment present in Moche iconography may depict actual events. Studying the relationship between actual and idealized ritual behavior will result in a more complete understanding of the interrelationships between Moche technology, iconography, and ideology in particular, and of Moche culture in general. This project will provide the baseline data necessary to address larger issues such as Moche socio-political relationships and religious cosmology. In this proposed study, macroscopic and microscopic techniques will be used to analyze cut mark morphology and patterning from human skeletal remains excavated from Moche sacrificial contexts. The human remains included in the primary data sample are from the Huaca de la Luna in the Moche Valley, El Brujo in the Chicama Valley, and Dos Cabezas in the Jequetepeque Valley. For comparative purposes, human bones from a Lambayeque (A.D. 800-1375) mass burial and butchered faunal remains from Moche and Lambayque sites are included in this study. Cut marks will be recorded in terms of frequency, location, morphology, length, orientation relative to one another and to the long axis of the bone, anatomical association, and inferred activity. Casts of selected cut marks will be examined under a light microscope and a scanning electron microscope to record more detailed information on cut mark morphology and tool type (i.e., metal vs. stone). This dissertation research project will address questions of cut mark frequencies, patterning, differential treatment of sacrificial victims, and tool type. It will also compare the patterns of cut mark location and frequency on human remains with those on butchered camelid remains and look for changes in the treatment of sacrificial victims cross-culturally through time. In addition, this project will include an examination of cut mark patterns to see if they can be used to identify different types of ritual activities, and how the physical evidence compares with iconographic representations of ritual behavior.

该项目寻求资金来分析带有与古代秘鲁莫切（公元 100-800 年）文化相关的切割痕迹的骨学遗骸。 本研究的主要目标是调查以实物证据为代表的莫切人类祭祀习俗，并将其与莫切肖像画中描绘的理想化行为进行比较。 最近的考古发现支持了这样一种论点，即莫切图像中出现的囚犯酷刑、牺牲、残害和肢解的场景可能描绘了真实事件。 研究实际仪式行为和理想化仪式行为之间的关系将有助于更全面地理解莫切技术、图像学和意识形态之间的相互关系，特别是对莫切文化之间的相互关系。 该项目将提供解决莫切社会政治关系和宗教宇宙学等更大问题所需的基线数据。 在这项拟议的研究中，将使用宏观和微观技术来分析从莫切祭祀环境中挖掘出的人类骨骼遗骸的切割痕迹形态和图案。 主要数据样本中包含的人类遗骸来自莫切山谷的瓦卡德拉卢纳、奇卡马山谷的埃尔布鲁霍和耶克特佩克山谷的多斯卡贝萨斯。 出于比较目的，本研究纳入了兰巴耶克（Lambayeque，公元 800-1375 年）集体埋葬的人骨以及来自莫切和兰巴耶克遗址的屠宰动物遗骸。 切割标记将按照频率、位置、形态、长度、相对于彼此和骨长轴的方向、解剖关联和推断的活动来记录。 选定切割标记的铸件将在光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜下进行检查，以记录有关切割标记形态和工具类型（即金属与石头）的更详细信息。本论文研究项目将解决切割标记频率、图案、牺牲受害者的差别待遇和工具类型等问题。 它还将比较人类遗骸和被屠宰的骆驼遗骸上的切割痕迹位置和频率的模式，并寻找跨文化的牺牲受害者待遇随时间的变化。 此外，该项目还将包括对切割标记图案的检查，看看它们是否可以用于识别不同类型的仪式活动，以及如何将物理证据与仪式行为的图像表示进行比较。