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Late Preclassic Mortuary Patterns and Evidence for Human Sacrifice at Chalchuapa, El Salvador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

William R. Fowler Jr.
William R. Fowler Jr.*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202
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Abstract

Salvage excavations in 1977–1978 of Structure E3-7 at Chalchuapa, El Salvador, revealed the structure to have been a multiple-episode Late Preclassic burial mound. The skeletal remains of 33 individuals were found in the construction fill. These remains are interpreted as evidence for human sacrifice. Osteological analysis was performed with the skeletal materials in situ. The individuals whose sex could be determined were adult males. This and other evidence suggests that the E3-7 burials might have been war captives from a “foreign” (non-Chalchuapa) population.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , July 1984 , pp. 603 - 618
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1984

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References

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