Cannibalism, warfare, and drought in the Mesa Verde region during the twelfth century AD

The existence of cannibalism has emerged as one of the most controversial i ssues in the archaeology of the American Southwest. In this paper, we exami ne this issue by presenting the results of our investigation at 5MT10010, a small early Pueblo III habitation site in southwestern Colorado. Battered, broken bones from seven individuals were discovered in two adjacent pithou ses at 5MT10010. Mixed and incomplete remains of four adults and an adolesc ent were recovered from the floor and ventilator shaft of one pithouse; the remains of two subadults were found on the floor and in various subfeature s of the second. Cut marks aid percussion scars implicate humans in the dis articulation and reduction of these bodies. Evidence of heat exposure on so me bone fragments and laboratory analyses of a human coprolite recovered fr om one of the pithouses support the interpretation that people prepared and consumed human body parts. The discovery of disarticulated human remains a t 5MT10010 is one of a number of similar finds in the northern Southwest. A nalysis of cases from the Mesa Verde region indicates a sharp increase in c annibalism around A.D. 1150, a rime of drought and the collapse of the Chac o system. The causes, consequences, and nature of this this apparent outbre ak of cannibalism are examined in light of 5MT10010 and other recent finds.