Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Relation between Ritual Violence and Social Organization

The development and trajectory of complex societies has long included ritual violence. Previous research has documented the occurrence and diversity of these practices throughout worldwide archaeological contexts. The practice targets individuals for their attributes that are culturally specific and is often either religious or politically motivated.

Questions remain, however, as to the nature of ritual violence, such as how it emerges and evolves across the cultural landscape according to the needs and demands of society, and what variables predispose individuals to suffer violence. A bio-archaeological approach is well suited to address these questions, providing a way to empirically reconstruct victim identities through time as identity variables and geographic origins are embedded in the physical body.

By investigating patterns of ritual violence and other performance violence at a major regional center in a prehistoric context, this research provides insight into the logistics of ritual violence, including how it is sustained and justified throughout the evolution of socially complex societies. This research enhances international research partnerships, as well as promotes outreach and education on methods related to the STEM sciences to local high schools and colleges.

Demonstrating the intentionality behind ritual violence will help to educate the public on how these practices were ritually informed acts that were related to the socio-religious organization of past societies, rather than random acts of deviant behavior.

This doctoral dissertation project uses a suite of skeletal, biogeochemical, and molecular genetic analyses, and the researchers plan to reconstruct the identity variables and residential histories of ritual violence victims interred at a large prehistoric site. Radiocarbon dating will allow for the detection of any changes of this practice in the archaeological record throughout the occupation. The project will generate a robust dataset for future cross-cultural analyses.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.