TAPHONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ANASAZI SKELETAL REMAINS FROM LARGO-GALLINA SITES IN NORTHWESTERN NEW-MEXICO

In 1979 Mackey and Green used the condition of Anasazi skeletal remain s from five Largo-Gallina phase sites in northwestern New Mexico to ai d in their argument that large masonry towers were primarily defensive structures. As part of an ongoing and long-term study of Southwestern violence and cannibalism, the skeletons from their five sites have be en reexamined. Evidence for violence, in the form of perimortem bone d amage, most often involving males, was present, but none of the sites meet the minimal criteria test for proposing cannibalism.