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Show news 8.31.2009 "We are trying to uncover the cultural meanings, the cosmology, the political structures and the economic relationships between these people" ear Sal great savings Adventure Equipment SAM SCHOLES/ Courtesy Photo SKULL and form of teeth can also shed light on the evolutionary histories of populations from* A1 and genetic relationships range of complimentary between individual people. but independent markers Health and disease is of human biology that are another area that can be recorded in the bones and studied through testing of teeth," Klaus said. "The skeletal remains. human skeleton is the single "We are able to reconmost information-dense struct aspects of health and source of knowledge about disease because when the the past." body suffers from a chronic Among other methods infection it can leave scars being utilized, they are on the skeleton," Klaus examining systemic stress said. which includes osteoarthriPaleodemography may tis related to physical activbe approached from many ity and growth patterns. different directions as well. "We can look at joints "We can look at things and patterns of arthritis like migration because related to physical activity there is a regional signaand begin making discover- ture to groundwater, and ies about their economic through the isotopic testing structure," Klaus said. and comparing of teeth They can also learn and bones, we are able to about diet and nutritional understand mobility," Klaus habits through studying the noted. isotopic chemistry of bones These are only a few and teeth. of the ways that they are "We can look at patterns beginning to piece together of oral health, which are the vibrant history of these very critical to understandnewly discovered people ing economic interaction — the descendants of the in subsistence economies," Moche called Muchik. Klaus said. "You can literKlaus and his colleagues ally look at a population's have been able to identify teeth and reconstruct their these skeletons as sacrifice economic history." victims, due specifically Under a high degree -to the .fact .that there are of genetic control, the size •^••r- traumatic cut marks across the front of the cervical vertebrae. "In order for a knife to contact that surface, it has to pass through all of the vital structures of the throat and muscles of the neck," Klaus observed. The team's hypothesis is that this was part of a blood sacrifice. Further observations have been made as well. "They aren't just slitting the throats but they are opening the chests, commonly on the left side. While opening the chest would allow them to collect more blood, we have discovered that they were removing the heart as well," Klaus said. According to the data they have gathered and the high levels of systemic stress apparent in most of the skeletons, they infer that these were a local people performingritualisticsacrifices of their own people between the 13 and 16lh centuries AD. Klaus notices a fundamental linkage between blood and water as both being life-giving fluids. "They were living in the world's second driest desert, their civilization was based around water control. By offering blood to the ancestors, there is a lot of evidence that they were trying to stimulate rain though manipulation of powerful supernatural forces." Another fascinating area they will broach is that the victims consist mainly of children and adult women. They are planning to explore the cultural constructions of what it means to be female, and what it means to be a child in this particular society. In particular, children may not have been considered human, but instead closely related to powerful mountain spirits and ancestral beings. One correlation they have made is in many cultures, the female represents fertility. They hypothesize that women were symbolically sacrificed to trigger rain to increase the fertility of their land. "These are our initial working hypotheses," Klaus said. "We are trying to uncover the cultural meanings, the cosmology, the political structures and the economic relationships between these people. We hope to discover further perspectives as we continue our analysis." Where: Courtyard by the W Tor questions call BO 1-863-705Z\ stop by the sclO3Kr\ 1 LJLfJ Live it. Positions available I WRITERS. DESIGNERS. PHOTOGRAPHERS Distributor Apply in 5C220 Live it. Read it. Positions available WRITERS, DESIGNERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS Work Study available -I-.-- Not having a place to live really drags... UTAH VALLEY uvu Limited are available! Reserve yours today! UNIVERSITY For instant student housing info, text "WOLVERINE" to 47464 'standard rates apply* 1111S. 1350 W. Orem, UT 84058 801.431.0000 wolverinecrossing.com student living.redefined. |