Forensic Anthropology PDF

FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY.
June 17, 2013

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Ronnie Carleton (c) 2013

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0.1 This book and research deals with Forensic
Anthropology linked to Archaeology and hu-
man remains in the past and today.
Asian skull
Chapter 1
EVERYTHING DEAD HAS
A STORY TO TELL.
I found my rst human bone when I was twelve in a tomb at a place on the
edge of Belfast City called Belvoir Park. You may well ask what a child of my
age was doing in a tomb, in a wood at the edge of a Golf Course? Well, it was
not by choice because when I went into it I had no idea it was a tomb and I
was looking for Toby my ferret. He had been in a rabbit hole and then he came
out and went through some ivy and in through a hole in some brickwork. Being
a boy I waited for a time then lost the plot because the sun was setting and I
had a long walk back home, the rst long eared bats were out on a summers
evening though it was still light. So I pulled back the ivy, found a large hole and
could see the whitness of the ferret in the gloom. So I crawled in with the ferret
box and moved forward. It was dusty, and damp with fungus on the wall and a
white power on the brick works. I got Toby and put him in the box then found
a stick pressing into me and pulled it free. Except it was not a stick but a long
bone, like long and brown. I looked at it then around me in the gloom and could
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CHAPTER 1. EVERYTHING DEAD HAS A STORY TO TELL. 4
now see other bones and a load of brick work close by. There was a jawbone.
Like teeth and all. When I looked at a jawbone it seemed to be smiling at me
and then I knew and bolted out of there leaving skin on brambles in the process
and ran like I have never ran before across the Belvoir Golf Course. In my ight
and fear I had left a dead rabbit behind and two nets but there was no way I
was going back for them unless it was in bright sunshine.
I should point out that Stephen King at this time had not written his rst
book but I was aware of the family crest in the old ruin of the Big House
overlooking the tomb area. It was a bat with open wings! Enough said.
Of course being what was termed as a 'ferel' child I was always looking at
birds, mammals and other wildlife but I also had an interest in dead things and
not in a morbid way because there were beetles to be found, maggots to gather
for shing and later bones and skulls to collect.
As I aged things got better or worse, depending who you are and natural
history, archaeology, anthropology, some medial conditions and more books that
I every thought I would have in a study, I am still learning.

1.1 Forensic anthropology and reading the land-
scape.
Unlike forensic pathology or medical pathology, forensic anthropology is for the
most on site and when you get there some of the background landscape is already
in place. There are rules of course so for the reader I have included them here;
Now, Forensic anthropology can roughly be described as the application of
the science of physical anthropology to the legal process. Most forensic anthro-
pologists have been specialists in physical anthropology, which is the study of
human biological function and variation, particularly skeletal biology. Within
the last 20 years, forensic anthropologists with know-how in archeological meth-
ods have played increasingly important roles in the recovery of human remains.
But over the years I now use it for all mammal and bird remains found on site
and anywhere there is standing stones and circles.
Forensic anthropologists apply standard scientic techniques developed in
physical anthropology to identify human remains, and to assist in the detection
of crime or ID of a missing person.
This is what makes the job important! The ability to understand the forms
and variations of the human skeleton in individuals and populations comple-
ments the forensic pathologist's emphasis on soft tissue if needed.Therefore, the
application of knowledge concerning human skeletal biology has been the basis
of forensic anthropology as a profession but ego as far as I am concerned I look
on it as just another string to my bow and used as a tool.
This has expanded by some specialists to include: forensic taphonomy, which
is the interpretation of mostly outdoor death scenes and postmortem (after
death) processes, and forensic archaeology, the recovery of scattered or buried
remains. The examination process of human remains by the forensic anthropol-

ogist includes three tasks.
One of those tasks is providing a biological prole (age, sex, stature, ancestry,
anomalies, pathology, individual features) of the victim or other mammal should
the need arise.
The second task would be recreating the postmortem period based on the
condition of the remains and the recovery environment. This is what I mean
by reading the landscape, taking photgraphs, compass points, seasons and type
of soil and close habitat. This is why one needs to be careful because human
remains found may not have died on the site you found them in.
Forensic Anthropologists are often called upon to partake in or even di-
rect body recoveries in outdoor settings. Knowledge about the human physical
form and function must be combined with scientic knowledge concerning post-
mortem changes in order to understand the condition of human remains. In an
outdoor scene, these changes can be characterized as decomposition of a body,
alterations, scattering by scavengers, freezing, and the like. Postmortem changes
must be distinguished from antemortem (immediately before death) conditions
in order for the anthropologist to estimate the correct time of death and so on.
Lastly, they would provide data regarding the death event, including evi-
dence of trauma occurring during the perimortem period (time of the death).
That is why archaeology knowledge is also important too.
The methods of archaeology are tools for the forensic anthropologist handling
recoveries, mainly when remains have been buried or scattered. Commonly used
methods in archaeology include:
infrared photography, metal detectors, and ground-penetrating radar.
Accurate methods of excavating buried remains can be critical in the loca-
tion and interpretation of trace evidence linked with the bodies. Archaeological
methods demand complete documentation of the history for each artifact, so

maintaining a record for each piece of evidence recovered at a scene is a normal
part of the excavation process. Processing at the scene of the crime The forensic
physical anthropologist may participate in searches by police or medical exam-
iner ocials. They can also participate in the recovery of remains in a mass
fatality incident or human rights investigation. These searches may be focused
on a certain location or a broad area.
They may be done in conjunction with search and rescue teams, cadaver
dogs (dogs trained to nd the scent of a decomposing body), or divers.

Processing a scene containing buried remains requires a signicant amount of
eort and experience, especially if the remains are decomposed or skeletal. First,
the area to be examined will be gridded in order to preserve the information and
layout of the scene. Before any work is started, the area must be photographed
and documented. Any living plants or insects directly associated with the body
after death must be collected. The excavation process involves using small
instruments such as the trowel (a shovel-like digging tool) and brushes. These
tools prevent any damage to the deteriorating tissue of the decomposing bodies.
Once certain body parts are photographed, they are usually bagged in order to
prevent loss of small bones, ngernails, teeth, or any other evidence.
One thing that a forensic anthropologist must be able to do is estimate the
age of a person by means of their bones. If they cannot do this task then there
are of little use on site so get someone who can.

The skeleton is formed by the development of ossication centers. An ossi-
cation center is where the process of bone formation occurs, in which connective
tissues such as cartilage are turned to bone or bone-like tissue. For example, in
long bones, bone tissue develops from a set of three main ossication centers:
the shaft of the bone or diaphysis, and an epiphysis (the round end of the bone)
at either end. These three centers will eventually grow together when the indi-
vidual has reached full size. The timing of this process is patterned, depending
on the age, sex, bone element involved, nutritional and hormonal status, and
individual variation of the person. By the time a fetus is completely devel-
oped, around 405 ossication centers are present. When an individual reaches
adulthood (usually in their 20s) that number reduces to 206 fully formed bones.
Bone development may dier considerably from person to person. As a result,
age estimates should always be expressed as ranges and should provide as many
indicators as possible for a single set of remains.
Do not think because you have bagged bones and tagged them you have
everything because if you think like that you will miss clues in the way of bone
fragments. Use the four above tools.

A word of sound advice here. The use of bone diagrams are all well and ne
but the only way you will learn about bones is to handle them because the real
thing has hidden clues for ID.
Forensic Bone Anthropology;
The human skeleton anterior view cranium clavicle mandible scapula ster-
num rib humerus vertebra radius innominate sacrum ulna carpals metacarpals
phalanges femur patella tibia bula tarsals metatarsals;
The human skeleton posterior view cranium clavicle mandible scapula humerus
vertebra ulna innominate sacrum cocyx radius carpals metacarpals phalanges
femur bula tibia 47 Forensic Anthropology The human skeleton The adult hu-
man skeleton contains 206 bones which vary in size from the almost microscopic
ossicles of the inner ear to femora which may exceed 450 mm in length. This
great variation in size is accompanied by similar variation in shape which makes
identication of individual bones relatively straightforward. Some bones, how-
ever, are more dicult to identify than others, with the bones of the hands,
feet, rib cage and vertebral column requiring closer scrutiny than the rest. This
is true both within our species and between our species and other mammals.
While it is very dicult to confuse a human femur with that from a large kan-
garoo, phalanges, metatarsals and metacarpals require greater expertise. Prior
to epiphyseal union infant and juvenile skeletal elements may also prove prob-
lematic. This is particulary true where the infant bones are fragmentary and
missing their articular surfaces. In part this is a reection of experience as os-
teological collections contain relatively few subadult skeletons and they are less
frequently encountered in forensic and anthropological investigations. There are
a number of excellent texts on human osteology and several of the more general
texts on physical anthropology have a chapter devoted to the human skeleton
and dentition.
Reference books on human anatomy, for instance Warwick and Williams's
(1973) Gray's Anatomy, and dental anatomy, for example Wheeler (1974),
are a good source of information although often aimed at a specialist audience.
Donald Brothwell's Digging up Bones has a broad coverage of the archaeolog-
ical and anthropological aspects of excavating and interpreting human skeletal
materials and is an excellent introductory text. More detailed books on human
skeletal anatomy, with an anthropological orientation, are provided by Shipman
et al. (1985) and White (1991). For an evolutionary perspective Aiello and
Dean's (1990) Introduction to human evolutionary anatomy is the most stim-
ulating and thorough text available. For those of you who wish to distinguish
human bones from those of other Australian mammals Merrilees and Porter
(1979) provide a useful guide to the identication of some Australian mammals.
At present there are no publications directly comparing human skeletons with
those from the native and introduced mammals found in Australia. The short
skeletal atlas which follows should enable students without access to texts in
anatomy or skeletal materials to gain some familiarity with Forensic Anthropol-
ogy 48 the bones of the human skeleton. I have concentrated on illustrations,
brief descriptions and references to major sources of forensic literature. Where
data is available there are summary statistics, means and standard deviations,
for the dimensions of the relevant skeletal element in male and female prehistoric
Aborigines. The skeletons which provided these data were not of known sex and
sex was determined through examination of the associated pelvis. Data on other
human populations can be obtained by following up the references listed in your
unit booklet. The cranium The human cranium consists of a large globular ves-
sel which protects the brain, as well as providing support for masticatory and
nuchal muscles, and an orofacial skeleton for food processing and the support
of sensory systems.
Excluding the mandible and hyoid the cranium is normally made up of 27
bones which interlock at sutures. The majority of these bones are paired, how-
ever, the frontal, occipital, sphenoid, ethmoid and vomer bones are single. At
birth a number of the cranial bones are incomplete as parts of the chondro-
cranium remain unossied. For instance the occipital bone is divided in four
and the frontal bone divided sagitally. During the rst 24 months of life brous
tissue membranes called fontanelles ossify and the individual cranial bones be-
come complete. By the second year of life the bones of the cranial vault have
interlocked at the sutures. Growth in the neurocranium continues until approx-
imately 15 years. Growth of the facial skeleton, however, may continue until 25
years due to the eects of delayed tooth eruption and growth of the nasophar-
ynx. In later adult life the bones in the cranial vault continue to thicken and
the sutures may become obliterated. Far more has been written about the cra-
nium than all of the other bones in the skeleton combined. Most text books on
anatomy have large sections devoted to the cranium, for instance Warwick and
Williams (1973), and there are books in which the evolution, anatomy, physiol-
ogy, growth and development of the cranium form the primary subject matter
(Hanken and Hall 1993). The cranium is also an important source of information
in forensic and anthropological investigations. There is an extensive literature
on sex determination of adult human crania using both morphological and met-
rical criteria. Morphological methods depending upon an assessment of overall
49 Forensic Anthropology size and the development of features like forehead
shape and supraorbital development (Krogman 1955; Larnach and Freedman
1967). Metrical methods commonly involve the linear combination of a number
of cranial dimensions and discriminant function analysis (Hanihara 1959; Giles
and Elliot 1963; Snow et al. 1979). Both methods are able to obtain accuracies
greater than 85 percent. The human cranium is also the most often studied part
of the skeleton in documenting geographic variation and racial classication.
The latter is a particularly controversial topic for some American anthropolo-
gists (Shipman 1994; Brace 1994; Kennedy 1995) and will be discussed later
in this booklet. Perhaps the most important analyses of geographic variation
in human cranial form are those of Howells (1973, 1989, 1995). While How-
ells's multivariate methods could easily distinguish average cranial shape and
size from dierent regions, there was also considerable overlap (clines) between
groups. The presence of these clines, as well as those at many genetic loci, is one
of the major problems with the biological denition of race. Morphological stud-
ies of racial variation in human crania include Wood- Jones (1930/31), Todd
and Tracy (1930) and Krogman (1955). Multivariate statistical studies are now
more common and these include Giles and Elliot (1962), Snow et al. (1979),
Gill et al. (1986) and Howells (1970). Metrical and morphological descriptions
of Australian Aboriginal crania can be found in Klaatsch (1908), Fenner (1939),
Larnach and Macintosh (1966, 1970), Brown (1973), Pietrusewsky (1984) and
Brown (1989). The mandible The tooth bearing mandible is the largest and
strongest bone of the facial skeleton and preferentially preserves in archaeo-
logical and palaeontological deposits. The horizontal body of the mandible is
curved and joined to two relatively vertical rami. At birth the mandible is in
two separate halves, joined at the median plane of the symphysis by brous
tissue. Union of the two halves is completed by 12 months of age. Articulation
with the cranium is through the condyle of the ramus and mandibular fossa
of the temporal bone. Masticatory movements of the mandible are primarily
through the action of the temporal, masseter and pterygoid muscles which at-
tach to the lateral and medial surfaces of the ramus. Forensic Anthropology
50 Mandibles have provided useful information in studies of sexual dimorphism,
geographic variation and evolutionary change in morphology. Giles (1964, 1970)

using discriminant function analysis and combinations of up to eight mandibu-
lar dimensions was able to correctly sex mandibles with an accuracy of up to 87
percent. Morphological comparisons concentrating on aspects of absolute size,
gonial eversion and the presence, or absence, of tubercles and tori have obtained
similar levels of accuracy (Larnach and Macintosh 1971; Brown 1989). Evidence
for signicant levels of geographic variation in mandibular size and shape are
more controversial. Morant (1936) argued that racial dierences in the mandible
were virtually non-existent, while Schultz (1933) had earlier argued that some
clear morphological divisions were present. My own research supports Schultz's
observation and this issue will be discussed later in your booklet. Descriptive
and metrical information on Australian Aboriginal mandibles can be found in
Klaatsch (1908), Murphy (1957), Larnach and Macintosh (1971), Freedman and
Wood (1977) and Brown (1989). Of these Murphy (1957) provides a description
of the symphyseal region and Larnach and Macintosh (1971) a thorough cov-
erage of discrete and continuous mandibular morphology. Geographic variation
and diachronic change are examined in Brown (1989). Richards (1990) discusses
the association between dental attrition and degenerative arthritis in Aboriginal
temporomandibular joints. Descriptive dimensions for mandibles from a variety
of human populations can be found in the sections on sex determination and ge-
ographic variation in this booklet. The scapula The scapula is a large, attened,
triangular shaped bone located on the posterolateral part of the thorax. It has
two main surfaces, costal and dorsal and three bony processes consisting of the
spine, the acromion and coracoid processes. Laterally, at the glenoid cavity, the
scapular articulates with the head of the humerus. The cartilaginous scapula is
ossied from eight centres. Epiphyseal union on the acromion occurs at approx-
imately 18-19 years of age and the lower angle and medial (vertebral) border
at 20- 21 years. Age related changes in the scapula have been studied in detail
by Graves (1922) who concentrated on postmaturity ossication and atrophic
processes. Forensic Anthropology 51 In comparison to many of the other bones
in the human skeleton the scapula has been rarely studied. To a large degree
this is a reection of poor preservation in most osteological collections. The
bone above and below the spine, extending to the superior and inferior borders,
is thin, fragile and easily broken. Sample sizes are therefore often inadequate for
description and statistical comparison. Methods of sex determination for adult
scapula have been described by Bainbridge and Genoves (1956) and Hanihara
(1959). Using discriminant function analysis, with as few as four measurements,
Hanihara was able to achieve an accuracy of 97 percent with Japanese scapula.
Dongen (1963) studied Australian Aboriginal scapula as part of his description
of the shoulder girdle and humerus.
Mean dimensions of a small series of prehistoric Australian Aboriginal scapula
from southeastern Australia are provided in table 3. n Left scapula maximum
length Male Female Left scapula breadth Male Female Left scapula spine length
Male Female Left scapula vertical glenoid diameter Male Female X sd 45 146.1
10.94 35 129.0 6.47 56 97.3 5.49 52 88.1 4.94 31 133.2 6.72 33 120.2 5.76 34 34.8
2.23 33 30.7 1.44 Table 3. Dimensions of male and female Aboriginal scapula
(mm) The clavicle The clavicle runs fairly horizontally from the base of the
neck to the shoulder. It functions as a prop which supports the shoulder and
allows greater mobility in the arm, partly by transmitting weight to the shoul-
der. The lateral, or acromial end is attened and articulates with the acromion
of the scapula. Medially the clavicle articulates with the clavicular notch on
the manubrium and the shaft has an enlarged sternal end. The shaft of the
clavicle is bow shaped in the medial two thirds of its length, with the curvature
recurving in the opposite direction around the coronoid tubercle. There are
three centres of ossication in the clavicle. Two of these are located midshaft
and there is a secondary centre at the sternal end. Epiphyseal union at Forensic
Anthropology 52 the sternal end occurs at an average of 25-28 years and the
acromial end at 19-20 years (Krogman and Iscan 1986). Clavicles rarely feature
in osteological reports of either a forensic or anthropological orientation. This
may be due to the relative simple shape of the clavicle, with limited evidence
for geographic or sex based variation. As far as I am aware there not been any
substantive attempts to examine age related changes in the clavicle. However,
Jit and Singh (1966) present information on sex based variation in South Asian
clavicles and Longia et al. (1982) look at metrical variation in the rhomboid
fossa in relation to handedness. Ray (1959) provides at detailed morphological
and metrical description of a large series of Australian Aboriginal clavicles. De-
scriptive dimensions for male and female Aboriginal clavicles from southeastern
Australia can be found in table 4. n X sd Left clavicle maximum length Male 89
139.6 8.79 Female 92 125.3 7.99 Male 52 21.4 2.90 Female 52 17.9 2.71 Male 25
24.9 2.67 Female 26 20.7 1.63 Left clavicle acromial breadth Left clavicle ster-
nal breadth Table 4. Dimensions of male and female Aboriginal clavicles (mm)
The humerus The humerus is the longest and most robust bone of the arm. It
comprises a cylindrical shaft, a broad and attened distal end and a rounded
articular surface on the proximal end. The head of the humerus articulates
with the glenoid cavity of the scapula in a ball and socket joint. The articular
surface of the distal end is condylar in form and articulates with the radius and
ulna of the forearm. Ossication of the humerus is complex as eight dierent
centres are involved. One of these is in the shaft, the others in the greater
and lesser tubercle, the capitulum, the medial part of the trochlea and each
of the epicondyles. Epiphyseal union in young male adult humeri 53 Forensic
Anthropology was studied in detail by McKern and Stewart (1957). The prox-
imal epiphysis fuses at 19.5-20.5 years, distal epiphysis at 14-15 years and the
medial epicondyle at 15-16 years. The humerus has received a moderate amount
of attention in the forensic and anthropological literature. Schranz (1959) and
Nemeskeri et al. (1960) describe age related changes in the proximal humerus of
adults, which largely consist of the extension of the medular cavity and reduc-
tion in trabecula bone. Sex determination and sexual dimorphism in humerus
dimensions and morphology have been examined by Godycki (1957), Singh and
Singh (1972) and Steel (1972). When used by itself the humerus does not pro-
vide one of the more accurate means of sex determination. In combination
with other bones, however, classication accuracies of greater than 95 percent
have been obtained using discriminant functions (Thieme 1957; Hanihara 1958).
Regression equations for the calculation of adult stature from humerus length
have been developed for a number of dierent human populations, for instance
Trotter and Glesser (1952), Shitai (1983), and Lundy (1983). Errors for estima-
tion of stature from the humerus are normaly of the order of ± 4.5 cm which is
greater than the errors for most other long bones. A morphological and metrical
description of Australian Aboriginal humeri can be found in Dongen (1963). De-
scriptive dimensions for male and female Aboriginal humeri from southeastern
Australia are listed in table 5. n X sd Left humerus maximum length Male 195
323.9 16.22 Female 147 303.5 16.05 95 19.8 1.72 101 17.1 1.60 Male 92 15.6 1.49
Female 73 12.8 1.29 Male 89 41.6 2.36 Female 88 36.5 2.12 Male 59 42.0 2.33
Female 73 37.3 2.21 Left humerus maximum mid-shaft breadth Male Female
Left humerus minimum mid-shaft breadth Left humerus vertical head diameter
Left humerus distal articular surface breadth Table 5. Dimensions of male and
female Aboriginal humeri (mm) Forensic Anthropology 54 The radius and ulna
The radius and ulna are the bones of the forearm which articulate with the
humerus at their proximal end and bones of the wrist at their distal end. The
ulna is the medial bone of the forearm and is parallel with the radius when the
arm is supine. It has a large hook-like articular surface on the proximal end and
the somewhat angular shaft decreases in size to the rounded head and styloid
process of the distal end. Articulation with the radius is at the radial notch
and head. The radius is the lateral bone of the forearm. It has a rounded prox-
imal head, prominent radial tuberosity and expanded distal end with a large
articular surface. The distal end of the radius articulates with the lunate and
scaphoid bones of the wrist. Epiphyseal union of the head of the radius occurs
at 14-15 years, the proximal ulna at 14.5-15.5 years, distal radius and ulna at
18-19 years. These bones have not had a major role in forensic and anthropo-
logical research. Sex determination formulae for the radius and ulna, however,
have been developed by Steel (1972) using a small English sample of known age
and sex. Regression equations for the calculation of adult stature from radius
and ulna length are available for a number of dierent human populations, for
instance Trotter and Glesser (1952), Shitai (1983), and Lundy (1983). Errors
for estimation of stature from the radius and ulna are similar to the humerus,
around ± 4.5 cm which is greater than the errors for most other long bones.
Kennedy (1983) assesses morphological variation in the supinator crests and
fossae of ulna as indicators of occupational stress. There are no published de-
scriptions of Aboriginal radius and ulna but length data are provided in table 6.
n X sd Left radius maximum length Male Female 134 252.7 13.19 95 231.5 13.9
127 269.9 12.47 82 247.9 14.22 Left ulna maximum length Male Female Table
6. Dimensions of male and female Aboriginal radius and ulna (mm) 55 Foren-
sic Anthropology The hand The hand and ngers are supported by a complex
structure of 26 bones. Fourteen of these are phalanges, ve metacarpals and the
remaining seven are carpal bones in the proximal part of the hand. Each of the
ngers has three phalanges and the thumb two. Each of the carpal bones ossies
from a single centre, the capitate rst and the pisiform last. Ossication of the
carpals occurs earlier in females than in males and is normaly completed by 12
years (Beresowski and Lundie 1952). The metacarpals all ossie from two cen-
tres, a primary centre in the shaft and a secondary centre in the proximal end of
metacarpal one and the distal end of metacarpals two to ve. Epiphyseal union
in the metacarpals is normaly completed by 15-16 years of age. Metacarpals
have been used to provide information on stature (Musgrave and Harneja 1978;
Meadows and Jantz 1992) and the identication of sex (Lazenby 1994; Scheuer
and Elkington 1993; Falsetti 1995). For stature estimation errors range be-
tween ±5-8 cm depending upon which metacarpal is being used, with the worst
results for metacarpal ve. Sex determination using metacarpal dimensions is
also problematic and would not be considered a favoured option if alternatives
were available. Mean dimensions of male and female Aboriginal metacarpals
are provided in table 7. n X sd right metacarpal 1 length Male 143 46.6 3.49
Female 120 44.9 2.68 Male 143 67.9 4.48 Female 120 65.6 3.23 Male 143 65.7
4.44 Female 120 63.5 3.49 Male 143 58.7 3.96 Female 120 56.8 3.34 Male 143 52.9
3.77 Female 120 51.0 2.93 right metacarpal 2 length right metacarpal 3 length
right metacarpal 4 length right metacarpal 5 length Table 7. Dimensions of male
and female Aboriginal metacarpals (mm). Forensic Anthropology 56 The spinal
column The human spinal column normaly contains 24 vertebra, seven cervical,
12 thoracic and ve lumbar. The rst cervical vertebra, or atlas, articulates
with the occipital condyles of the cranial base. As a group the cervical vertebra
are identiable by their small size and presence of transverse processes which
are perforated by foramen. The rst two cervical vertebra, atlas and axis, are
particularly distinctive. Atlas has a large vertebral foramen and no body and
axis has a prominent process, the dens, projecting from the superior surface of
the body. The twelve thoracic vertebra, each with costal facets for articulation
with the ribs, increase in size downwards. Additional facets are also found on
the transverse processes of the rst 10 thoracic vertebra for articulation with
the tubercles of the ribs. The lumbar vertebra are the largest and most robust
in the vertebral column. They have particularly broad bodies and the vertebral
foramen is triangular in shape. The fth lumbar vertebra articulates with the
sacrum. Vertebra have had only a minor role in forensic and anthropological re-
search. To some degree this is due to the fragility of vertebra, particularly their
bodies, and their poor representation in osteological collections. Their major
contribution has been in studies of age related osteoarthritic change, congenital
defects and pathology (Ortner and Putschar 1989) and stature estimation. To
reconstruct stature the vertebral column needs to be intact as estimations from
a single vertebrae contain extremely large errors. Tibbetts (1981) provides re-
gression formulae for the combined lengths of various groups of vertebrae based
on data from a pooled sex Afro-American skeletal series. The vertebral column
also contributes to the skeletal height methods of stature estimation pioneered
by Fully (1956) and Fully and Pineau (1960). The sacrum The sacrum is a
large triangular shaped bone formed by the fusion of ve sacral vertebrae. It
is located in the upper and posterior part of the pelvic cavity and base of the
back. The two innominates articulate with the sacrum as does the fth lum-
bar vertebra and coccyx. When standing erect the bone is very oblique and
is curved longitudinally, with a marked concavity on the pelvic surface. The
dorsal surface has large areas of attachment for the erector spinae, multidus
and gluteus maximus muscles of the lower back and thigh. Forensic Anthro-
pology 57 The principal contribution of the sacrum to forensic osteology is in
the areas of sex determination, age estimation and parturition. Metrical stud-
ies have emphasize the relatively short but broad female sacra (Flander 1978;
Kimura 1982), with Kimura's base-wing index correctly sexing about 80 percent
of male and female sacra. Alteration of the anterolateral margin of the auricular
surface due to pregnancy and childbirth has been examined by Ullrich (1975)
and Kelly (1979). Both authors argue that reliable information as to pregnancy
and childbirth is present, but not the number of births. Morphological and
metrical information on Australian Aboriginal sacra is available in Davivongs
(1963a) study of the pelvic girdle. Mean dimensions of male and female Abo-
riginal sacra are provided in table 8. n X sd Male 66 97.1 7.14 Female 62 89.4
7.01 Male 74 100.9 4.98 Female 82 101.7 5.26 Sacrum maximum length Sacrum
maximum breadth Table 8. Dimensions of male and female Aboriginal sacra
(mm) The innominate The innominate is a large irregularly shaped bone which
when viewed laterally is constricted in the middle and expanded at either end.
Each innominate consists of three parts, the ilium, the ischium and the pubis.
These are separated in infants, with union between the three elements in the
pubertal growth period. Growth continues at the epiphyses of the iliac crest,
ischial tuberosity and pubic ramus. Union of the entire innominate is normaly
completed by 23 years of age. On the lateral surface of the innominate there is
a cup-shaped depression called the acetabulum which articulates with the head
of the femur. Below this is a large oval shaped hole, the obturator foramen.
On the superior part of the medial surface the innominate articulates with the
sacrum at the auricular surface. The left and right innominates join ventrally
at the pubic symphysis. Forensic Anthropology 58 Due to its links with child
birth the gynaecological pelvis, of which the innominates form a substantial
part, has received considerable attention in the literature on sex determination.
Dierences between adult male and female pelves are apparent in overall size,
proportions and morphology (Krogman 1955; Phenice 1969; Schulter-Ellis et
al. 1983; Novotny 1983; Sutherland and Suchey 1991). However, there remains
a persistent overlap in the male and female ranges of variation. An accuracy
of 85-90 percent is probably the best that can be achieved when sex determi-
nation is based entirely on the pelvis or a single innominate. The pelvis has
also provided information on race determination (Iscan 1981), pregnancy and
childbirth (Ullrich 1975) and age at death (Gilbert and McKern 1973; Lovejoy et
al. 1985). The Australian Aboriginal pelvic girdle was described by Davivongs
(1963a) and mean dimensions of male and female Aboriginal innominates are
listed in table 9. n X sd Left innominate maximum length Male 50 197.1 8.98
Female 48 181.7 7.20 Male 48 148.1 6.86 Female 47 141.8 7.51 Male 64 64.8
5.24 Female 47 70.3 5.73 Male 74 80.8 3.99 Female 60 74.1 3.66 Male 46 78.5
3.87 Female 37 93.0 6.07 Male 50 51.4 2.74 Female 50 45.9 1.99 Left innomi-
nate iliac breadth Left innominate pubic length Left innominate ischial length
Left innominate ischium-pubis index Left acetabulum vertical diameter Table
9. Dimensions of male and female Aboriginal innominates (mm) Forensic An-
thropology 59 The femur The femur is the longest and strongest bone in the
body, with the thickened shaft preferentially preserving in archaeological de-
posits. The shaft of the femur is fairly cylindrical and bowed with a forward
convexity. On its proximal end a rounded articular head projects medially on a
short neck and articulates with the acetabulum of the innominate. Distally the
shaft expands into a broad, double condyle which articulates with the tibia. The
femur has ve ossication centres, one each in the shaft, head, greater and lesser
trochanter and distal end. Epiphyseal union is normaly completed by 17-18.5
years, with the distal epiphyses closing last of all. Femora are able to provide
information for purposes of stature estimation, sex determination and the iden-
tication of regional, or racial, origin. Stature estimation formulae involving
the femur, particularly the femur in combination with the tibia, have smaller
errors than any of the other long bones. Trotter and Glesser (1952) report errors
of approximately 3.3-3.6 cm, which is greater than the errors obtained in more
recent studies (Lundy 1983; Shitai 1983). Simmons et al. (1990) test methods
of stature estimation using fragmentary femora. n X sd Left femur maximum
length Male 157 453.1 17.95 98 421.0 21.72 Male 171 28.1 2.53 Female 110 23.8
2.40 Male 169 25.1 1.79 Female 102 22.6 1.53 Male 156 43.1 2.36 Female 111
38.4 2.12 64 62.1 3.69 Female Left femur a-p midshaft breadth Left femur m-l
midshaft breadth Left femur vertical head diameter Table 10. Dimensions of
male and female Aboriginal femora (mm) Forensic Anthropology 60 The tibia
and bula The tibia is the medial and strongest bone of the lower part of the leg
and is the second largest bone in the human skeleton. Proximally the tibia has a
broad articular surface which articulates with the femur. The shaft is prismoid
in section, with a sharp crest running down much of the anterior border. Dis-
tally the shaft is also expanded with a prominent process, the medial malleolus.
The bula is a much more slender bone than the tibia and occupies a lateral
position in the lower leg. The shaft is somewhat angular in cross section and
variable in form, depending upon individual muscle development. Proximally
the shaft expands into a bulbous head, while the distal end expands into the
lateral malleolus. Both the tibia and bula are ossied from three centres, one in
the shaft and one for each end. Epiphyseal union in the proximal tibia and bula
takes place at approximately 17.5 to 18.5 years and distally at 15.5 to 16.5 years.
While there are a number of studies on morphological and metrical variation
in the tibia (Wood 1920; Hanihara 1958; Steel 1972; Iscan and Miller Shaivitz
1984; Iscan et al. 1994) the bula has been largely ignored. Several formulae
for determining the sex of tibia using discriminant function analysis have been
developed, with accuracy varying between 85 and 95 percent (Hanihara 1958;
Iscan and Miller-Shavitz 1984; Liu et al. 1989). Stature estimation formulae for
isolated tibia have slightly larger errors than those for the femur (Trotter and
Gleser 1958; Lundy 1983; Shitai 1983) but formulae for combined femur and
tibia lengths provide errors <±2 cm. Information on geographic origin may also
be obtained from tibia dimensions, particularly relative to those of other limb
bones (Schultz 1937). This is in accordance with Berghmann's (1847) rule where
relative limb proportions vary around the globe in relation to climate and the
need to control deep core temperature. A pooled sex group of Australian Abo-
riginal tibia were studied by Wood (1920) and Rao's (1966a) thesis examines
the size and morphology of all distal limb segments. Rao (1966b) also presents
information on the frequency of squatting facets. A comparison of Broadbeach,
Queensland, and Forensic Anthropology 61 coastal Adelaide femora and tibiae
was completed by Murphy (1978) for her Masters thesis and table 11 provides
mean data for male and female Aboriginal tibiae. n X sd Left tibia spino-mall
length Male 133 378.5 18.57 89 355.0 18.49 135 374.9 18.44 85 351.0 19.17 Male
176 21.7 1.85 Female 114 18.8 2.26 Male 65 33.8 2.76 Female 54 27.2 3.22 150
71.3 3.68 83 62.7 3.51 Female Left tibia condyle-mall length Male Female Left
tibia min. m-d diameter at nutrient foramen Left tibia a-p diameter at nutrient
foramen Left tibia proximal epiphyses breadth Male Female Table 11. Dimen-
sions of male and female Aboriginal tibiae (mm) The foot The skeleton of the
foot is made up of 27 bones, excluding sesamoids, and can be divided into three
sections: the tarsus, the metatarsus and the phalanges. The seven bones of the
tarsus make up the posterior section of the foot, with the calcaneus forming the
heel. Articulation with the tibia is through the trochlear surface of the talus.
The cuboid and cuneiform bones articulating with the ve metatarsals. Each
of the toes, apart from the rst or great toe, are made up of three phalanges.
The rst toe has only two. There have been very few studies on the tarsal and
metatarsal bones from a forensic or anthropological perspective. Steele (1976)
examined sex and race dierences in the dimensions of the calcaneus and talus.
Signicant levels of sexual dimorphism were present but there was no evidence
of racial dierences. The only publication on Australian Forensic Anthropol-

ogy 62 Aboriginal foot bones appears to be Rao (1966b) which examined the
frequency and morphology of squatting facets on tibiae and tali. The sternum
and ribs The sternum is divided into three sections: the manubrium, body of
sternum and xiphoid process. Located at the midline of the chest, the sternum
is inclined downwards and a little forward. Broadest at the clavicular notch,
narrows at the junction of the manubrium and then expands slightly towards
the facet for the 5th costal cartilage. Relatively fragile, the sternum is often
poorly preserved in archaeological and forensic situations. There are normaly
twelve pairs of ribs, the rst seven pairs connecting to the sternum through the
costal cartilages. Three of the remainder are connected through cartilage to
the ribs above and ribs eleven and twelve are free at their anterior ends. All of
the ribs articulate with the thoracic vertebrae at their posterior end, with the
majority having articular facets on the head and tubercle. Rib shafts, which
are elastic and fragile arches of bone, tend to decay rapidly in archaeological
and forensic situations. Sex dierences in the sternum are based on overall size
and proportions (Jit et al. 1980; Stewart and McCormack 1983). Studies of
sexual dimorphism in rib dimensions have not been undertaken but age related
change in the sternal end of the rib may provide important forensic informa-
tion. Iscan et al. (1984, 1985) have developed two methods, component and
phase analysis, to estimate age from the morphology of the sternal end. Age
estimation errors are fairly small, ±1.5 years, for people in their late teens but
increase to ±15 years at around 50 years of age. There are no published data
on Australian Aboriginal sterna or ribs. Forensic Anthropology 63 Examples
of sagittal plane Superior Anteriorly aspect or ventrally Posteriorly or dorsally
Examples of coronal plane Posterior aspect Inferiorly or caudally Superiorly
or cranially Laterally Medially Right lateral aspect Left lateral aspect Ante-
rior aspect Distally Proximally Inferior aspect Figure 38. Descriptive anatom-
ical terminology for navigating around the body (adapted from Warwick and
Williams 1973:xiv). Forensic Anthropology 64 Bones of the head plurals Upper
limb coccyx coccyges capitate concha conchae carpal ethmoid ethmoids clavi-
cle frontal frontals greater and lesser hyoid hyoids multangular incus incudes
hamate lacrimal lacrimals humerus malleus mallei lunate mandible mandibles
navicular maxilla maxillas or maxillae phalange nasal nasals pisiform occip-
ital occipitals scapula palate palate bones triquetrum parietal parietals ulna
sphenoid sphenoids Lower limb and stapes stapeses pelvis temporal temporals
calcancus vomer vomers zygomatic (malar) zygomatics (malars) Back and tho-
rax plurals ilium gladiolus gladioluses or innominate gladioli ischium manubri-
ums or patella manubria pubis ribs symphysis sacra talus sterna or sternums
tarsal vertebrae tibia xiphoids manubrium rib sacrum sternum vertebra xiphoid
cuboid cuneiform femur bula Table 12.The names of individual bones and
their plurals. plurals capitates carpals clavicles multangulars hamates humeri
lunates naviculars phalanges pisiforms scapulae triquetrums ulnae plurals calca-
neuses or calcanea cuboids cuneiforms femora bulas or bulae ilia innominates
ischia patellae pubes symphyses tali tarsals tibias or tibiae Forensic Anthro-
pology 65 coronal suture parietal bone frontal bone sphenoid bone squamous
suture lambdoid suture nasal bone occipital bone lacrimal bone zygomatic bone
temporal bone external acoustic meatus mastoid process maxilla condylar pro-
cess coronoid process ramus of mandible frontal bone mandible coronal suture
supra-orbital foramen temporal nasal bone bone zygomatic greater wing bone
of sphenoid middle nasal infra-orbital concha foramen inferior nasal nasal spine
concha maxilla mental foramen Figure 39. The cranium, lateral and anterior
views. mandible Forensic Anthropology occipital condyle 66 mastoid process
palatomaxillary suture occipital bone intermaxillary suture foramen magnum
incisive fossa interpalatine surure foramen ovale superior nuchal line jugular
foramen mandibular fossa Figure 40. The cranium, inferior or basal view. supe-
rior angle coracoid process clavicular facet spine acromion glenoid cavity inferior
angle Figure 41. The right scapula, dorsal view. Forensic Anthropology 67 ster-
nal end acromial end Figure 42. The left clavicle, dorsal view. head lesser tuber-
cle greater tubercle head intertubercular sulcus deltoid tuberosity coronoid fossa
trochlea radial olecranon fossa fossa lateral epicondyle medial epicondyle medial
epicondyle capitulum trochlea Figure 43. The left humerus, anterior and pos-
terior views. Forensic Anthropology 68 radial notch olecranon trochlear notch
head neck coronoid process supinator crest radial tuberosity ULNA ULNA RA-
DIUS head styloid process styloid process styloid process Figure 44. The bones
of the left forearm, anterior and posterior views. 3rd 2nd 4th 5th 1st metacarpal
bones capitate hamate triquetral lunate trapezium trapezoid scaphoid Figure
45. The carpal and metacarpal bones of the left hand, dorsal view. Forensic
Anthropology 69 posterior tubercle facet transverse foramen anterior tubercle
anterior tubercle CERVICAL 1 (ATLAS) spinous process vertebral canal dens
body facet dens CERVICAL 2 (AXIS) spinous process costal element vertebral
canal transverse process transverse foramen body CERVICAL 7 Figure 46. The
cervical vertebrae, anterior view, and superior views of cervical 1, cervical 2 and
cervical 7 (not to scale). Forensic Anthropology 70 spinous process costal facet
semicircular facet vertebral canal body THORACIC 7 spinous process spinous
process superior articular process transverse process vertebral canal body infe-
rior articular process LUMBAR 3 Figure 47. Thoracic and lumbar vertebrae
(not to scale). superior articular process spinous tubercle pelvic sacral foramen
sacral crest inferior lateral angle sacral cornua Figure 48. The sacrum, dorsal
surface. Forensic Anthropology 71 iliac crest anterior gluteal line ilium inferior
gluteal line acetabulum acetabular notch pubic tubercle pubis ischial tuberos-
ity ischium obturator foramen iliac fossa iliac tuberosity anterior superior iliac
spine auricular surface greater sciatic notch anterior inferior iliac spine ischial
spine lesser sciatic notch pubic tubercle obturator foramen ischiopubic ramus
Figure 49. Left innominate, lateral and medial views. Forensic Anthropology
72 greater trochanter head head quadrate tubercle lesser trochanter neck lesser
trochanter gluteal tuberosity spiral line linea aspera shaft lateral condyle adduc-
tor tubercle medial epicondyle lateral epicondyle medial condyle patella surface
intercondylar fossa Figure 50. Left femur, anterior and posterior views. lateral
condyle Forensic Anthropology 73 markings for quadriceps tendon medial facet
lateral facet apex Figure 51. Left patella, anterior and posterior views. tubercles
medial condyle lateral condyle tuberosity head medial condyle apex soleal line
nutrient foramin TIBIA FIBULA medial crest medial malleolus medial malleo-
lus lateral malleolus Figure 52. Left tibia, anterior and posterior views and left
bula, anterior view. Forensic Anthropology intermediate cuniform 74 medial
cuniform navicular 1st calcaneus 2nd 3rd 4th 5th metatarsals lateral cuniform
talus cuboid talus calcaneus navicular medial cuniform metatarsals Figure 53.
Superior and medial views of the tarsal and metatarsal bones of the left foot.
Figure 54. Superior view of the phalanges for the rst and second toes. Forensic
Anthropology 75 jugular notch clavicular notch manubrium facet for 1st costal
cartilage sternal angle facet for 2nd costal cartilage facet for 3rd costal cartilage
facet for 4th costal cartilage body of sternum facets for 5th and 6th costal car-
tilages Figure 55. The sternum, anterior or ventral view. head sternal end head
tubercle head tubercle tubercle neck shaft Figure 56. First, fourth and seventh
ribs, inferior view.

Chapter 2
Meat on the bones or what
was.
SOMETHING TO CHEW ON SOMETHING TO CHEW ON. Ronnie Carleton
(c)
2007 DATA; ARCHAEOLOGY AND FORENSICS. The human race through
out history and even into the present day had a taste for human esh, cooked or
uncooked and no matter how much you think it a horror, it was done for social
reasons, hunger, religion and of course madness in some people. So? What does
human esh cooked taste like? Pork in fact if it is well cooked. Raw human
meat on the other hand may be a little salty and stringy, more so if it is a much
older human., the long in the tooth type or none at all. What is not known by
many or excepted is that all early cultures practiced it around the world and
even today, hidden away in some of the more remote parts of the world, family
members will eat a dead family member. Some killers who murder people will
eat part of their victim depending on their state of mind. For them it is the nal
insult to the victims body and a sense of total power. They will in most cases
35
CHAPTER 2. MEAT ON THE BONES OR WHAT WAS. 36
inform a victim before killing that they could end up as dinner. Such killers
I should point out are not insane as so many claim to have been at the time
and this is always put before a court by the legal team defending. The killer
planned the murder and he planned it well. He had a choice and he knew well
before hand that he intended to kill and eat part of a victim. No matter what
psychiatric report is placed before a court by the defence, it does not hold water
that the defendant was insane or not of sound mind. He or in rare cases, she,
may well have had a compulsion to eat human esh from one or more of their
victims.
This is not insanity. It may be linked to a hidden mental illness but it is
not true madness and only an excuse by the killer, and the defence to get o
the hook. As for the 'expert' witness who is there for the purpose of giving
evidence on the killer's cannibalism then in 98% of the cases they know or
knew nothing about the subject in the rst place until they carried out a little
research. Therefore, their 'expert' advice is badly awed if it is for the defence.
In my own research I had to go back in history to look at this subject and then
trace through the years until the present day. There is little evidence of humans
feeding habits back in pre history more on their deaths I could only start the
research from around 10,000 BC. Only a very few of the remains of such people
have in fact been discovered, less than 2000 world wide, to the present day.
Such bones found in 'habitation areas' of the world do not include 'modern'
tribes such as those once found in Egypt and still being uncovered today. Egypt
has a good archaeology history but it is mainly based on the Kings and Queens
of past Egypt and not on the common people of the countryside. Cannibalism
across Egypt at this time and into the future was rife but I will cover this later.
When it came to cave dwelling tribes from the Stone Age not all bodies of
people killed either by accident or design were in fact eaten. Many bodies were
removed and dumped well away from the cave and left to rot and be fed on by
animals and birds.
There is however, from bones found in and near such caves that some can-
nibalism did take place either as part of a ritual or because of hunger. Very
early ape like creatures going back 300,000 years did however eat their own kind
and more as a food source than any rational thinking about ritual or religion.
Chimps and some other apes even in 2007 will kill and eat other apes and mon-
keys as food. They will also at times in Africa and in Asia also eat carrion of
their own kind. When you look at this evidence then it is very easy to grasp
what early man could and did do if the need was there.
The caves and sites of Peking Man show evidence of many animal bones
shattered to get at the marrow inside but there were also good evidence that
such a practice was also happening within the circle of this part of the family,
even members of the family were eaten, the marrow removed from the bones
and licked or sucked out. This I suggest was down to survival rather than ritual
because of poor hunting and when they eat human type esh it was much the
same as eating any other prey diet. In some archaeology sites across the world,
skulls have been found there is good evidence that the foramen magnum has in
fact been articially enlarged to get at the brain and was as good for eating at
the marrow. At the Dragon Hill site no vertebra were found which points that
the butchering was done elsewhere and brought there. Peking man did not have
any ideology or ritual so 'human' game meat was in fact like any other meat
he could obtain but butchered elsewhere with the soft parts eaten at the site of
killing, not in the cave. There was no pottery at the Dragon Hill site so a skull
therefore already full of food was used. We know that 'pottery' did not really
start to turn up until 6000BC > but the upper part of the upper cranial section
were used as were on some archaeology sites, coconut half sections were used.
These were much smaller than the coconuts of today. Such broken skulls have
been found in Nyandong in Java were used as gourds and drinking cups. Nomad
Scythians would use such skull cups of people they did not like and had killed
in battle or revenge. They were cut across just below the eyebrows making a
cup or bowl and sometimes skin was placed around it as well as having some
art work, simple as it was.
It may well have been ok and excepted to sometimes eat your own family
members and the enemy but not for others to do so as far back as 75,000 BC
the practice of human burial took place, Neanderthal times, not out of ritual
or respect for the dead but for concealment. Eating parts of the enemy was
common practice because it was thought that the victor could take complete
possession of life essence and vitality by eating some part of the body. There
was no madness in this, just ritual and much the same for esh eating killers of
today.
Egypt did it as well as Black Sea tribes did it and the Ch'in armies of China
did it. Research shows that also the native people's of Australia, Maoris of
New Zealand, some north American native tribes, Ashanti of Africa, the Balkan
Uscochi and many other remote tribes all took part in this practice. In the early
days it was for food, then for power and in the end for total vengeance. Today
such killers do it for the power it gives them over a victim, 90% females and
children, and sometimes for vengeance. They know that in the end they will get
caught but wallow in the glory and media hype that is sure to follow if they go
to prison. There is little good reason to go to prison for life or be executed as a
common killer in such cases when you could, even after death still remain in the
public focus. Human sacrice therefore may well have been done to please the
Gods but there were also the ritual by the living to partake in the esh or blood
of a victim because of the possible magical powers that might be obtained by

doing so.
The soul or spirit was also in the background in all this mythology and if
it returned it may well come back to the wrong body and not always a human
one. It was as far as many people were concerned a double edged sword because
the soul or spirit of a wolf or big cat could enter the human body, the results
being the werewolf or were-cats. The spirit or soul was to play a very important
part in death and future life. The soul or spirit for early primitives was not as
we know of it today but a shadow or shade. To harm the shadow therefore was
to harm the body. The languages of the Quich'e, Arawak, Tasmanian and Zulu
tribes all had the same word for the soul shadow or shade even though some of
them lived thousands of miles apart. The 'thymos' was therefore the working
soul and from the Hindus came the word 'Atman', to breathe. Thus the soul
or spirit now is known as ghost from a paranormal sense. The soul was known
by many names all depending where in the world your tribe and you lived and
without almost no contact with the outside world, the tribes all knew about the
soul and life after death. The idea that each human had two souls is not new,
as the thymos and the psyche seemed to be a common factor. In Egypt it was
ba and ka, p'o and hun in China, nephesh and ruach with Hebrews, dae'na and
urvan with Zoroastrianism and in Islam, ruh and nafs.
It is of interest that many such tribes had in fact knowledge and belief of the
two souls or spirits though Islam was a late comer and in my opinion there was
an inuence by Hebrew and Christian cultures here. If the Psyche was therefore
to survive it had to survive after death of the body by taking in blood and
breath, the two soles therefore united again. It was only in this way that both
souls would be aware of what was going on around them. In my opinion this
is where the early vampire myths started, not in Europe as many think, but in
Turkey and India and well before Christianity was born and in focus and blood
and esh were important to soul survival. This belief crossed many societies
and cultures in very early history. What is more of a puzzle is that most early
societies thought and indeed believed that the two souls resided in the head
only. I came across this belief also in Borneo when there on a trip in 2005 with
two river tribes that lived well into the rainforest who told me that the soul
was a double and an invisible 'ball' full of coloured mist that left the body after
death if the head had not been removed. In the case of an enemy and him or
her losing their head, as still found in some of the more remote long-houses, the
victor not only claimed the life of the body but the soul of the enemy trapped
within the skull. I was shown a number of skulls but not allowed to touch native
enemies and a few Japanese skulls which were removed in 1943 by a local tribe
which I was allowed to look at. There were traces of gold llings in two of the
ve Japanese skulls I noted therefore conrming they were recent additions to
the tribal history. I brought the subject up of what happened to the bodies in
1943 through a tribal interpreter and an old man, a tribal elder and his even
older looking wife smiled, made a motion with their hands to their mouths, went
through a chewing motion then smiled back at me. I did not need a menu to
work that one out! The people of Borneo I will cover much later in this research
but much closer to home and in Wales up to the 19 century it was said that
the soul appeared as a candle type light leaving the head just a few moments
before death and later as the burial party were walking to the graveside, this
light at times would be seen ahead of them. In Europe and parts of Africa a few
hundred years later humans who would eat human meat would now be wary of
treating the skull with any disrespect and more so if the person who owned it
was in life powerful or thought to be.

Burial was not part of the dying ritual for many tribes until they started to
believe that the spirit was in the skull then things changed and quickly. There
was of course very strong psychological pressures coming into force and even
during the Neanderthal times some skulls were in fact being kept and even
worshipped. The skull would be brought back to the cave and jammed tight
into some crack and became for the social groups a type of shrine.
Such a skull was found at Monte Cireeo, 60 miles NW of Naples, Italy and
dated at 50,000 BC. It had been placed in a circle of stones in a small chamber
set well apart from the living quarters. The male skull was dated at belonging
to a 45 to 50 year old man, very old age in those far o days and today would
mean that the person was 100+ when he died. One has to keep in mind that
across Europe, the UK and also Ireland there was dreadful famines and the
people starved to death in 90% of populations where there was no good hunting
and no form of diet.
Many resorted to cannibalism and eat the dead, even killed others and their
own to stay alive. Asia, Africa and parts of North America native populations
also carried out eating the dead, some out of ritual and many more out of need.
South American tribes killed and eat people because of ritual and there is
good evidence of this in many of the ooded caves, the underworld, where the
skulls and bones were thrown or left. Even as resent as 1201 AD in Egypt, Misr
and surrounding areas of Cairo, there was famine and disease and the practice
of cannibalism was common.
The dead, who were fresh were cut up and sold o to people who were hungry.
Because the Nile did not ood the plains in 1200AD the harvest therefore failed
and drought set in causing many people from out lying areas to migrate towards
Cairo only to nd that the city was no better than what they had left. It is
reported that the selling of cooked children, roasted or boiled was common
practice and in time the people became immune to the horror of eating human
esh. In time the living poor became a source of living food and many were
slaughtered for that purpose.

Chapter 3
HUNGER AND THE IRISH
AND UK FAMINES.
44
CHAPTER 3. HUNGER AND THE IRISH AND UK FAMINES. 45
Many parts of Ireland, some areas in Scotland and I am of the opinion, a few
in Cornwall and Wales have the remains of famine victims in their landscapes,
some buried or thrown into a bog or ditch and left. Old ruins dating from the
famines can still be found, sometimes only a few stones, others with the gable
walls standing. Close by in a shallow grave may also be bones, a victim buried
in haste as many victims of murder are today. Shallow graves tell their own
story many years later and if you know how to read the landscape you will nd
them.
The Irish famine and workhouse timelines gives you some idea what as dis-
aster this was and most of to do with English politicians of the time.
1740
A severe famine occurred in Ireland.
1782
The start of two years of crop failure, during which time distress was suc-
cessfully relieved by local and central intervention including an embargo on
exporting food.
1801
The Act of Union came into force. Ireland now represented more than 40%
of the population of the United Kingdom, but only 105 of the 658 Members of
Parliament at Westminster.
Severe food shortages occurred in Ireland.
1821
The rst national census of Ireland took place. The British government
was making economic enquiries into the agricultural system of Ireland and the
problem of poverty there.
1831
A census showed that the population had grown by 14.3% in ten years.
1832
The Parliamentary Reform Act was passed. The English electorate grew to
cover 20% of the population, but only 5% of the Irish population were able to
vote.
1833
A Royal Commission chaired by the political economist Archbishop Wheitely
was appointed to enquire into the condition of the poorer classes. A three year
survey was carried out, which involved interviewing 1590 people. The Commis-
sion estimated that 2,385,000 people were out of work and needing assistance
for thirty weeks a year. It recommended the encouragement of emigration and
a scheme of economic development. However, economists such as Nassau Senior
opposed the idea of government intervention. Lord John Russell argued that
landlords should be forced to play more of a role in employing and supporting
the poor.
1836
English Poor Law Commissioner George Nicholls visited Ireland and recom-
mended an Irish Poor Law, allowing for the creation of workhouses. This would
help transition the economy and 'shape the Irish character'.
1837
George Nicholls visited Ireland again and admitted that poverty was more
extensive than he had believed. He stated that the Poor Law would be insu-
cient 'where the land has ceased to be reproductive'. His report was presented
to the House of Commons as the Irish Poor Law Bill.
1838
After twelve years of unsuccessful Poor Law Bills raised for Ireland, the Irish
Poor Law Act was passed in July, introducing a national system of poor relief. It
followed on from the English Poor Law Act of 1834, but was prompted by fears
that unemployed Irish immigrants could ood into Britain and increase poverty
there. The Act allowed for the setting up of workhouses to accommodate the
most distressed paupers. George Nicholls became the rst resident Poor Law
Commissioner in Ireland. Unlike in England, there was no outdoor relief or
guaranteed right to relief; access depended on the number of free places in
the workhouse. There was also no law of settlement, in contrast to England;
paupers could seek refuge wherever they happened to be. Poor rates were made
a local responsibility in order to force landlords into becoming involved with
their estates. Ireland was divided into 130 new administration units known as
'unions'. Each union had its own workhouse which was administered by a board
of guardians. This in turn was calculated to involve local landlords.
By 1845, 118 workhouses would be open and providing relief.
1839
Unusually severe distress occurred in the south and west of Ireland. The
Poor Law Commissioners insisted that the government should not help.
1840
By this time, some 40% of the population relied on the potato as the main-
stay of their diet. The potato had been introduced to Ireland in the late six-
teenth century and was often eaten with buttermilk or skimmed milk. It was
easy to cultivate and cook; it grew well in the Irish climate, coping with boggy
ground and rocky hillsides. However, it was also dicult to transport in bulk,
and could not be stored for long. People were therefore vulnerable to 'hungry
months' which took place between the old and new potato crops.
Industry was developing slowly in the east, particularly in Ulster and Dublin;
the linen industry added to prosperity in Ulster. More than 60% of agricultural
output was now ending up on the market place. There had been a marked
growth in the export of grain to Britain since 1815, facilitated by the Corn Laws
that guaranteed minimum prices for home-grown corn. Ireland was Britain's
largest supplier of corn. On the eve of the famine, two million Britons were fed
on Irish food.
Despite this, the economist Thomas Malthus commented that "the land in
Ireland is innitely more peopled than that in England; and to give full eect
to the natural resources of the country, a great part of the population should
be swept from the soil."
1841
A census showed that the Irish population stood at over eight million. It
had grown by 50% since 1800, although the increase since 1831 had only been
5.5%. The census also indicated that Ireland in general was not industrialising;
the labour force in industry declined from 43% in 1821 to 28% in 1841, while
the rural workforce had increased by fty percent.
1842
Severe distress was seen in the west, particularly in Clare, Kerry and Mayo.
Only one workhouse - Kilrush - was open, but the Commissioners refused out-
door relief on the grounds that this would undermine self-reliance.
1843
An Act was passed forcing landlords to pay poor rates on land worth less
than ¿4 per annum. It was calculated to encourage landlords to consolidate
their estates.
An amendment to the 1838 Poor Law Act allowed workhouses to treat fever
patients who were not actually destitute. However, by 1845 only one third of
workhouses had separate buildings or wards for fever patients. The amendment
also allowed guardians to assist emigration.
1845
Aug First reports of the potato blight came in from the Isle of Wight and
Kent. The blight spread across England and reached Scotland, Belgium and Hol-
land. One observer on the Isle of Wight, published in The Gardener's Chronical
and Horticultural Gazette, reported that "a blight of unusual character, which
almost universally aects the potatoes in this island, have been the last few
days, repeatedly, brought to the notice by several gardeners."
On the 3rd, Longford Poor Law union reported that it could not procure
potatoes.
The governments of Belgium, Turkey, Alexandria and Sweden would even-
tually move to prohibit exports of food, particularly corn.
Sept The blight was reported in Ireland at the beginning of this month.
On the 16th, Dr Lindley stated that the 'potato murrain has unequivocally
declared itself in Ireland'. He asked 'where will Ireland be in the event of a
universal potato rot?'
Oct Around 50% of the crop was estimated destroyed. Robert Peel privately
acknowledged that Ireland was on the brink of disaster, and that a report by
the Scientic Commissioners was 'very alarming'. However, he also said that
'there is a such a tendency to exaggeration and inaccuracy in Irish reports that
delay in acting upon them is always desirable.'
By the end of October, the Mansion House Committee had been established
with Lord Cloncurry as chairman. In the meantime, public meetings were being
held. These demanded the establishment of public works; a temporary halt on
the export of corn; opening ports to foreign corn; and the closure of distilleries.
Peel had 'no condence in such remedies.' The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord
Heytesbury, warned the government that prices were beginning to rise.
Nov The question of repealing the Corn Laws began to dominate British
political life. Repeal was opposed by the Protectionist lobby, including many
successful Irish merchants, who claimed that reports of scarcity had been exag-
gerated.
Peel and the Irish Executive discussed the use of public works at Dublin
Castle. Drainage and navigation were seen as the most favourable alternatives.
At the beginning of the month, workhouse guardians were given permission
to depart from a potato diet, supplying inmates with rice, soup and bread.
A Temporary Relief Commission was established to organise food depots
and co-ordinate the eorts of local relief committees. Their rst meeting took
place on the 20th. The Commission's role was to advise the government on
the amount of distress, and to supervise and co-ordinate the activities of local
relief committees. These local committees were voluntary bodies comprised of
large farmers, landlords, merchants and clergy. Their contribution was to me-
diate purchasing and re-selling Indian corn imported by the government from
America, so that the government wasn't directly involved; and to oversee em-
ployment on small works. They were funded through voluntary subscriptions
and a government grant.
Secret arrangements were made to import ¿100,000 worth of Indian corn to
Ireland, to be made available in the spring. This was done clandestinely so that
private enterprise and local relief eorts would not be disrupted.
Dec Sir Robert Peel tendered his resignation over the Corn Law. He was
forced to stay in oce as Lord John Russell was not in a position to form a
government.
A decision was made to make an extra grant to the Board of Public Works.
The Irish Board of Works became involved in the provision of relief.
The Commissioners reminded all local boards of guardians of their respon-
sibility to provide fever care. There were at this time 38,232 inmates in work-
houses.
The Mansion House Committee was reconstituted for the purposes of famine
relief.
Return to top
1846
Jan Charles Trevelyan, Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, told the Relief
Commissioners that 'the landlords and other ratepayers are the parties who
are both legally and morally answerable for aording due relief to the destitute
poor'.
On the 20th, the chairman of the Relief Commission, Edward Lucas, said he
believed that current and contemplated measures could not 'provide an eec-
tual remedy'. 1400 out of 2049 electoral divisions in Ireland had reported the
appearance of the blight.
Medical ocers recorded a rise in cases of inuenza, jaundice, and small pox,
but particularly of diarrhoea and dysentery, caused by eating rotten potatoes.

Feb Charles Trevelyan commented that 'indirect permanent advantages will
accrue to Ireland from the scarcity, and the measures taken for its relief[...]
Besides, the greatest improvement of all that could take place in Ireland would
be to teach the people to depend upon themselves for developing the resources
of the country, instead of having recourse to the assistance of the government
on every occasion'.
The rst shipment of Indian corn arrived in Ireland. It was unloaded in Cork
where it was to be ground ready for consumption. Indian corn was dicult to
prepare and not known in Ireland. It was bulky and lling. Sir Randolph Routh
of the Relief Commission believed it kept o fever, but people referred to it as
'Peel's brimstone'. The decision to order something so obscure and unpalatable
had been taken deliberately by the government, calculated not to interfere with
private trade.
On the 20th, Trevelyan informed Routh that government plans should be
'promulgated'.
On the 28th, instructions were issued to advise on the duties of relief commit-
tees. The Lieutenant of each county should oversee the formation of local relief
committees. In the spring and summer of 1846, almost 700 relief committees
would be set up, most of them in the south and west.
By this time distress was being reported on the western seaboard, including
Clare, Kerry, Galway, Mayo, West Cork, Tipperary and Roscommon.
March Constabulary reports stated that Antrim, Clare, Kilkenny, Louth,
Monaghan and Waterford were the worst aected areas. This can only give a
general impression, as some areas, such as Mayo, were not so well recorded.
Legislation was introduced to conrm the role of the Irish Board of Works
in relief measures. Four separate Acts were passed to promote the development
of sheries, harbours, drainage, road repair and other public works. The most
important of these acts provided for the construction and alteration of roads.
Funding was to be shared equally through local tax and the government.
On the 24th, the Fever Act was introduced. This established a temporary
Board of Health in Dublin.
By this time, there were 47,403 inmates in Irish workhouses. They were
still less than half full. Many were beginning to feel the eect of the potato
shortages. The cumulative credit balances of all unions was ¿52,115.
April Sir Randolph Routh described the country as being like a chequer-
board, black and white.
May The government was still convinced that it was 'applying merely a
temporary remedy to a temporary, though widespread, calamity'.
On the 3rd, a report by the Treasury condemned the payment of people
on public works regardless of their results. It recommended that food should
be given instead of wages, and if money wages were paid, they should only be
sucient to prevent starvation. This report had been written personally by
Trevelyan and had not been reviewed before publication.
On the 15th, food depots were ocially opened so that grain could be sold.
A few had been open unocially since March.
By the end of the month, applications for the half-grant scheme had been
received from eighteen dierent counties.
June The Treasury decreed that the price of corn would no longer be sold
at cost price, but the local market price. Some local relief committees ignored
this.
By the end of the month, corn supplies were already low. The government
purchased another 3000 tons of corn. This was not intended to feed all the
starving, but to discourage private traders from hoarding supplies and then
overcharging. It was also designed to encourage the import of grain, which did
in fact increase.
On the 26th, a Treasury Minute stated that 'numerous' people who did not
require relief were employed on the public works.
The average number of people employed on public works in this month was
21,000 daily.
Signs of a new potato blight were noted, and it became obvious that the
crop was aected throughout Ireland.
July On the 21st, a Treasury Minute announced that all public measures for
combatting the famine would be brought to a close. Trevelyan believed that
relief operations should be ended despite the reappearance of the blight 'or you
run the risk of paralysing all private enterprise and having this country on you
for an indenite number of years'.
The Corn Laws were repealed. Lord John Russell became Prime Minister.
The average number of people employed on public works in this month was
71,000 daily. The Treasury had privately ordered the Board of Works to lower
wages to force people o the works. This led to some protests, including 10,000
people assembling at Castlebar in a 'show of physical force'.
Aug By the 10th, relief committees had raised a total of ¿98,003 1s 2 1/2
d since the 26th of March. The Lord Lieutenant added a further ¿65,914 10s.
The largest donations had been added between April and June.
On the 15th, grain depots were closed.
The average number of people employed on public works on the second week
of this month was 98,000 daily. This was the peak of public work employment.
1.2% of the Irish population was engaged on them. Only ve counties were not
involved - Armagh, Down, Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone. The largest public
works employer was County Clare and the smallest Dublin; this reected the
availability of other employment in the local economy.

The Labour Rate Act was passed. Local Grand Juries would still initiate the
introduction of public works to an area, but the Board of Works would manage
the project and issue tickets for employment for lists of candidates drawn up
by local relief committees. The Board of Works sta were increased. Now local
tax would bear all the cost, although treasury loans were available. A system
of task work (meaning payment by results) was introduced. The wages were
inexible, failing to reect rising food prices. Delays also meant that people
were weaker when they began to work. Entire families were employed together.
Mr Erichsen took on responsibility for importing Indian corn to Ireland, and
between the 26th of August 1846 and the 15th of January 1847, he made 72
separate purchases of food, mostly Indian corn. He bought rst in Europe, and
then in America. Egyptian wheat, barley and barley meal were also purchased.
The Relief Commission was no longer responsible for grinding this corn; it was
left to private enterprise. Scotland was to be provided with imported food before
any of it could be sent to Ireland.
At the end of this month, a mob of up to 4000 people in Westport forced
labourers on the public works to leave them and listen to 'inciting addresses'.
The local priest defused the situation. Over the next six months, 140 instances
of violence or threats of violence were reported, and works were sometimes
suspended in response to violence.
Sept The Irish Executive warned the government that they must 'save the
people from starvation'.
Poor Law Commissioners advised each board of guardians to review their
stocks, contracts and nances with a view to workhouses being used to full
capacity over the next year.
At the end of this month, the Cork guardians introduced a system of outdoor
relief. Breakfast was given to 1440 people daily who were not inmates. The
guardians refused to stop until the public works began.
The Irish Relief Association reformed and raised ¿42,000.
Oct The Lord Lieutenant, Lord Bessborough, told the Prime Minister he
'verily believed that by Christmas there will not be a sound potato in the coun-
try'.
Russell commented in a letter that 'the Irish have been taught many bad
lessons [including] the common delusion that government can convert a period
of scarcity into a period of abundance'. He stressed that 'we cannot feed the
people'.
On the 5th, the Chief Secretary of Ireland, Mr Labouchere, wrote a Letter
providing for drainage and sub-soiling to be added to public works. These
became known as the Labouchere works. They were intended to let landlords
improve their estates; the cost was a charge on the electoral division. Ulster
was to be the biggest employer on drainage work, and Connacht least. At its
height only 5% of everyone on relief would be engaged on drainage work.
No new depots were to be established and only central ones were to operate.
On the 8th, revised instructions on donations were sent out by the Lord Lieu-
tenant; the creation of new committees would ensure that a wider geographical
area was covered than in the previous year, while individual committees would
cover a narrower area.
At the end of the month, prices of wheat, our and oatmeal in Cork shot up
by 50% in one week alone.
The number of workhouse inmates began to rise sharply. The funds of the
Westport union were already exhausted.
Nov Demand for food relief rocketed and panic spread. Skibbereen became
internationally notorious for its death rate. The government refused to open
the food depots.

An average of 286,000 people were employed every week on the public works.
Quakers in Dublin established a Central Relief Committee. They would
provide approximately ¿200,000 worth of relief before winding down in the
summer of 1847. The government would try to persuade them to continue, but
by then they believed immediate relief should come from the government. In
1848 they would distribute seed given to them by the government.
Dec On the 2nd, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Wood blamed the
famine on [the Irish people's] 'habit of depending on government. [The solution

is] to force them upon their own resources'. He was worried about 'having the
whole population of Ireland upon us'.
Poor Law Commissioners recommended that each board of guardians should
provide additional accommodation, such as sheds and additional sleeping gal-
leries. They would have to raise the money themselves. The government how-
ever believed that Irish rate payers were placing their money in Saving Banks
and cutting costs by refusing to employ labourers.
By Christmas, over 50% of the 130 workhouses in Ireland were full. One
of these was Galway, where mortality was high. The Galway guardians faced a
crisis in that their funds were almost exhausted and food prices were exorbitant.
They asked the government for Indian corn and a loan, but this was rejected.
On the 26th, the Chief Poor Law Commissioner in Ireland, Edward Twistle-
ton, objected to anti-Irish sentiments in the press and its impact on government
policy and private charity. However, the General Central Relief Committee was
established this month in Dublin. Its President was the Marques of Kildare,
and it went on to raise ¿63,000.
Depots re-opened on the 28th. Trevelyan insisted that grain should be sold
at market prices, or 'the whole country will come upon us'.
Routh accused the Treasury of not having made enough eort to obtain food.
Trevelyan maintained that food shortages were general in the United Kingdom,
and supplies had to be controlled. 'The whole world was ransacked for supplies.'
He also said that 'the ordinary mercantile interests of even the greatest trading
nation in the world is unequal to such a novel emergency'.
The Cork Examiner reported a 'terrible apathy' in Skibbereen, where 'they
sullenly await their doom with indierence and without fear... Death is in every
hovel; disease and famine, its dread precursors, have fastened on the young and
old, the strong and feeble, the mother and the infant'. A visiting midshipman
in Schull reported children he had 'mistaken for decrepit old women, their faces
wrinkled, their bodies bent and distorted with pain, their eyes looking like those
of a corpse'.
Mr James H. Tuke of the Society of Friends toured Donegal where he de-
scribed the suering of the people and said 'their patience is beyond belief '. He
and William Forster were severely critical of absentee landlords all English.
Unions varied in the level of care oered to inmates. While the Quakers found
the Gweedore workhouse 'in excellent order' as a result of the active interest
taken by Sir George Hill, neighbouring Glenties was in a 'dreadful state' with
'not sucient food in the house for the day's supply'. 'The rooms are hardly
bearable for lth. The living and dying were stretched side by side beneath the
same miserable covering'.
The Times complained that 'what is given to the Irish is so much lched
from English distress'.
1847
Jan Lord John Russell suggested removing the remaining duties on corn to
bring prices down.
The chairman of the relief committee in Donegal said that the poor 'are now
living on sea-weed'.
The weekly average of people on public works was now 615,000.
The government announced a major policy change. Soup kitchens would
be opened. In the long term, public works would no longer be used to provide
relief. Instead, the Poor Law would be extended, putting more responsibility on
localities. However, several Poor Law unions were without funds, especially in
the south and west. Some hadn't had time to collect enough rates after opening;
others had loans to repay after their construction. Leading members of the Irish
Executive informed Sir George Grey that the workhouse situation was in crisis.
The government was receiving more than 100 reports per day of starvation
deaths. Deaths in workhouses had reached 2700 a week.
The British Relief Association was established in London by a group of
English businessmen. Their representative Count Strzelecki travelled to Ireland.
Queen Victoria wrote the 'Queen's Letter', an appeal for money to relieve
distress. The Queen, Trevelyan and Thackeray were among those who con-
tributed. A total of ¿171, 533 was raised.

On the 25th, government ocer Captain Pole remarked that 'outside Dublin,
the country is uncivilised'.
Feb On the 10th, a Treasury note to the Relief Commissioners said that the
only way to shape Ireland into a 'self-supporting... condition' was through the
'personal exertions' of the upper and middle classes.
Even before the Temporary Relief Act was on the status books, a new Board
of Temporary Relief Commissioners was established. The new relief committees
were to be subject to heavy bureaucracy and tighter central control. Every
Poor Law union would have an associated nance committee, except for Antrim,
Belfast and Newtownards which exempted themselves from the scheme. Each
electoral division would have a relief committee to oversee the distribution of
food.
On the 22nd, the Board of Works issued a circular stating that relief by
labour would soon cease and be replaced by relief by food.
Almost all of Ireland's workhouses were full. Subsequently numbers began
to decline, in part because of the introduction of soup kitchens. Some full
workhouses continued to provide additional relief, including free meals on the
premises, temporary accommodation given to families, and people being given
food to take home. This was condemned by the Poor Law Commissioners, who
felt that the poor rates could not take the burden. In their view, the relief
committees should pay the costs.
The Lord Lieutenant began issuing small sums of money to the most dis-
tressed unions for bedding and clothing. Indian meal was also given.
Many Irish newspapers published a letter from Philadelphia saying the peo-
ple there wanted to contribute to famine relief. America had made substantial
contributions to the relief eort, totalling $395,150.
March The peak of people employed on public works was reached at 714,000.
Cork, Galway, Clare and Mayo made up the highest gures on public works,
while Antrim was the lowest. After this, the wind-down of public works began.
The Treasury directed that employment on the works should be reduced by
20%. The rst to be dismissed would be those who occupied more than ten
acres of land.
A report in The Sligo Champion accused 'the sons of a broken down gentry'
of 'deriving the chief advantage' from public works.
The Times described the Irish as 'a people born and bred from time im-
memorial, in inveterate indolence, improvidence, disorder, and consequent des-
titution'. It accused them of 'astounding apathy to the most horrible scenes
under their eyes'. Punch magazine was also carrying articles and caricatures of
this type. This media pressure, fed by Trevelyan and Charles Wood, had an
impact on British public opinion.
At the Galway workhouse union, liabilities had risen to ¿1000 and the
guardians were threatening to resign. Belfast workhouse unions, facing high
mortality from disease, applied for a loan but had it turned down because 'the
town of Belfast is so wealthy and its inhabitants so enterprising... if assistance
were given... it would be impossible to refuse a similar application from any
union in Ireland'. At the same time, the linen industry in Belfast was suering
due to a general economic slump in western Europe, resulting in some mills
going on to half time. Many weavers took a drop in wages but were still not
eligible for relief.
Legislation was passed so that soup kitchens would provide the principal
relief during the summer of 1847. This was known as the Temporary Relief Act
or Soup Kitchen Act. Three categories of people were eligible for this kind of
relief: 'destitute, helpless or impotent persons', 'destitute, able-bodied persons
not holding land' and 'able-bodied persons who held small portions of land'.
The leader of the Tory opposition in parliament, Lord George Bentinck,
stated that he believed the number of deaths had been concealed by the gov-
ernment. 'They know the people have been dying by their thousands and I dare
them to enquire what has been the number of those who have died through their
mismanagement, by their principles of free trade. Yes, free trade in the lives of
the Irish people.'
April Having opened a number of 'model' kitchens in Dublin, French soci-
ety chef Alexis Soyer was given a snu box as a gift for making cheap soup
'palatable'. Within months, half the population would be reliant on soup.
The Provincial Bank announced it would no longer advance loans to the
thirty unions it represented.
At the beginning of the month, men dismissed from public works in Youghall
staged a riot.
On the 23rd, the Inspector of the Granard Union attacked the local people
as 'idle, reckless, lazy and improvident... They appear to depend on some
future contingency like the public works or a temporary relief measure, to feed
themselves and their families'.
On the 24th, it was announced that the numbers employed on public works
was to be reduced by a further 10%. A week later, all were to close. If a soup
kitchen was open in the vicinity then the soup kitchen should close at once.
However, in some cases the public works were closed before a soup kitchen was
opened. Disturbances sometimes occurred between the closing of the public
works and the opening of the soup kitchen.
That same day, the Northern Whig reported on how 'many respectable
women and girls are rapidly sinking into destitution' because of the trade de-
pression. Also, the Governor of Nova Scotia, Sir John Harvey, wrote to the
Colonial Secretary Earl Grey warning that employment prospects were poor in
Canada. The letter was published in Ireland to discourage emigration.
In Liverpool, the authorities estimated that 90,000 Irish immigrants had
arrived since January, of whom two thirds remained in Liverpool. Doctors
there were fearful of an epidemic.
May On the 1st, the Roman Catholic clergy of Derry placed a list of deaths
from starvation in the diocesan archive, inscribed:
'The Records of the Murders of the Irish Peasantry, perpetrated in A.D.
1846-47, in the 9. and 10. Vic., under the name of economy under the adminis-
tration of a professedly Liberal, Whig government, of which Lord John Russell
was Premier.'
Enniskillen workhouse was at full capacity, and had a high death rate caused
by the diet (stirabout and buttermilk) and unsanitary conditions. The guardians
had a debt of ¿5000 and asked the government for a loan; they were given ¿100
and told to rely on rates. The guardians responded that this was 'mischievous
in its commercial consequences'.
By the middle of the month, the Relief Commissioners said they were 'dis-
appointed' at delays - only 1248 out of 2000 electoral divisions had opened soup
kitchens.
A local mob in Castlemartyr, County Cork, threatened to 'smash all the
soup boilers in the country' because they wanted no more 'greasy kitchen stu
but should have either money or bread'. The Relief Commissioners knew that
the cooked food was 'extremely unpopular with all classes'. A mob in Limerick
smashed a soup kitchen and the meeting room of the relief committee. When
the ringleader was arrested, a crowd stoned the local barracks.
Cork was at that time hosting an estimated 20,000 paupers from the coun-
tryside.
On the 15th, Saunder's Newsletter reported that the 'whole country is

swarming with armed parties'. The number of violent incidents and the sale
of rearms was increasing.
On the 29th, a report of the Relief Commissioners claimed that some men
had been selling their rations of uncooked food and were getting 'drunk upon
the proceedings, leaving their children to starve'. It also said that 'the peasantry
are turbulent, and having had their own way for so long, the gentlemen of the
country anticipate great violence if they attempt any reform in the issue of food'.
On the 31st, commissioners said that support for unions should be withheld
until loans had been repaid via rents.
Private donations from Britain reached ¿200,000. The Church of England
had been collecting funds and sending them to the Church of Ireland. This
month, bishops published a letter of thanks but added that distress was still
urgent.
Lord Bessborough, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, died and was replaced by
Lord Clarendon, who supported non-intervention. Dead Irish people don't eat
or need shelter and it saved money.
Emigration was in full ood, and many emigrants were suering from fever by
the time they reached their destination. Ships began to arrive at Grosse Isle in
Canada, where the Dr George Douglas, who had charge of the quarantine station
there, said he had 'not a bed to lay[the invalids] on... I never contemplated the
possibility of every vessel arriving with fever as they do now'.
June The debts of the Galway union were now ¿3711 0s 8d. The government
agreed to give the union a small advance.
On the 12th, Relief Commissioners reported that landowners had complained
that soup kitchens were contributing to crime by giving people too much free
time.
On the 21st, the Central Board of Health reported disease similar to 'sea
scurvy' caused by the 'defective nutrition' of soup kitchen food.
On the 28th, Russell worried that the new poor laws would result in a ght
between 'Landlord, Tenant and Co. versus Priest, Labourer, Burgoyne and Co.'
once the ratepayers realised they would be paying for all relief.
Reports of cases of dysentery and fever peaked.
July By the 3rd, the Temporary Relief Act was at its peak: 2,342,900 people
were receiving gratuitous rations. The government decided to let the supplies
in food depots run out.
Drainage works began to be phased out.
All 'relief employment' ocially ended, despite the absence of alternative
relief measures in some areas. Many roads were unnished and some were in a
worse state than when relief had begun.
In his The Journey of an Irish Con Ship, Robert Whyte recorded the
condition of ships in quarantine at Grosse Isle: 'In the holds of some of them
they said that they were up to their ankles in lth. The wretched emigrants
crowded together like cattle and corpses remaining long unburied - the sailors
being ill and the passengers unwilling to touch them. They also told us of the
vast numbers of sick in the hospitals and in tents upon the island and that
many nuns, clergymen and doctors were lying in typhus fever, taken from the
patients.'
Aug The Whig Party under John Russell won a general election on the
9th. The election returned an increased number of Repeal candidates, but
also more middle-class radicals such as Cobden and Bright who supported non-
intervention.
From the 15th, an extended Poor Law permitting outdoor relief was imple-
mented. It was to be nanced through the poor rates, despite the fact that some
Poor Law unions were already facing bankruptcy. This was to force landowners
to take responsibility. Those entitled to outdoor relief included the inrm, the
old, orphans and widows with more than two legitimate children. Able-bodied
destitute people could still receive outdoor relief as a last resort, if the work-
house was full. Outdoor relief was to be provided for no more than two months
and should take the form of cooked food. The Gregory/Quarter Acre Clause
stated that any occupier of more than a quarter acre of land was not deemed
destitute. At the same time, another Act was passed to punish vagrants and
men who neglected their wives and children. Begging was to be punished by up
to thirty days hard labour. However, this Act was rarely enforced, and many
resorted to begging. Some people begged and stole in order to be sent to prison.
The new Act also provided Relieving Ocers who could put together lists
of applications for relief and provide emergency relief where necessary. Some
boards refused to appoint Relieving Ocers, as they did not intend to supply
outdoor relief. The Commissioners took legal action to compel them.
R. Hamilton of the Relief Commission Oce wrote that 'the Temporary
Relief Act was passed... solely to replace, for one season, the food of which the
people were deprived by the failure of the potato crop'.
A separate Poor Law Commission was set up in Ireland. The Treasury, e.g.
Trevelyan, was to be more prominent in administering poor relief.
The Poor Law was also amended during 1847 to increase the powers of
guardians to assist the poor, particularly smallholders, to emigrate. If a per-
son who occupied land valued at less than ¿5 turned it over to their landlord,
the landlord was obliged to pay two thirds of their emigration costs, and the
guardians would pay the rest. The emigrant no longer had to be a workhouse
inmate. However, it was not until the 1849 Mansell Act that guardians would
be allowed to borrow the cost of emigration from the Exchequer Bill Loan Com-
missioners. As a result, Poor Law emigration rose sharply, but always made up
a small proportion of all emigrants.
Soup kitchens were closed in 55 unions on the 15th, mainly in the east and
the midlands. The rest were scheduled to be closed on the 29th. This was later
adjusted so that the 'impotent' sick and poor could receive relief until the 30th
of September. Twenty-two unions were listed as 'distressed', meaning that they
would require external assistance.
Sept At the beginning of the month, the Board of Health warned that dis-
eases such as dysentery and scurvy were likely to increase over winter. They
felt that nancial assistance was still required.
On the 9th, the Chief Secretary Sir William Somerville warned against mak-
ing poor rates responsible for medical relief.
On the 14th, the Lowtherstown Board of Guardians became the rst to be
dissolved because they had not gathered enough poor rates. Their campaign
for reinstatement would lead to a parliamentary enquiry and their eventual
reinstatement on 25th March 1848.
A short, severe nancial crisis took hold of Britain caused by bad harvests,
an industrial depression and a run on the Bank of England. Nothing changed
there then in 2013!
Evictions began to increase. The number of people asking for relief also went
up; people were in a worse physical state than in the previous year. Unions
attempted to send out the inrm to make way for the able-bodied destitute,
but they often refused to go, having no property or possessions. The purpose
of this was to test whether the able-bodied were desperate enough to accept
indoor relief. Many were afraid to enter because of disease, and most did not
want to give up their remaining possessions.
Oct Queen Victoria wrote the second 'Queen's Letter', but this raised hardly
anything, as public opinion had changed. The Times newspaper came out
against further relief for Ireland, and said that any money raised by the Queen's
Letter should go to the English poor. The international press had also begun to
criticise the Irish: the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described them as idle,
ungrateful and lawless.
Trevelyan himself wrote to the Times that nancial assistance to Ireland
should be limited, because 'the change from an idle, barbarous isolated potato
cultivation, to corn cultivation, which frees industry, and binds together em-
ployer and employee in mutually benecial relations... requires capital and a
new class of men'.
When a group of Catholic bishops and archbishops appealed to the govern-
ment for more aid, they were told that this was unreasonable when 'English
trade and credit are disastrously low'.
Nov The rst outdoor relief orders were issued by Poor Law Commission-
ers, at Oldcastle and Newcastle. Within two months, half of all unions had
permission to give outdoor relief.
Dec A Report of the Relief Commissioners included the only fraud known,
at the Bantry union in County Cork.
In the twelve months up to December 1847, over ¿1m had been collected
in poor rates. Poor Law expenditure for 1847 totalled ¿1,700,000. ¿890,639 of
rates remained uncollected, compared with ¿243,384 the previous year.
Lord Clarendon, referring to protests, said he 'felt as if I was at the head
of a Provisional government of a half-conquered country'. Clarendon was soon
to believe that there would be a rebellion in Ireland, and the Irish gentry and
landlords could no longer be relied upon.
1848
Jan Of 120,172 workhouse inmates, 7007 had fever.
On the 4th, Twistleton admitted he wished more elected boards had been
dissolved and replaced by paid ocials.
On the 29th, Trevelyan intervened in a scheme to send female Irish orphans
aged between 14 and 18 to Australia. He recommended that Protestant rather
than Catholic girls should be sent because of their better 'moral education'.
Only girls trained in needlework and washing should be sent, which eectively
ruled out any from the poverty-struck western unions. The guardians were also
supposed to provide emigrants with an outt.
This year saw the introduction of the Encumbered Estates Act, which was
intended to help impoverished landlords transfer their estates to men of capi-
tal. It was intended to bring in British investors, but in fact almost all of the
purchasers were Irish.
Feb By the rst week of this month, 445,456 people were receiving outdoor
relief.
March Commissioners suspended outdoor relief to the able-bodied in 24
unions to encourage labourers to return to the soil and produce a bigger harvest.
By this time, 200,000 children were receiving relief from their schools via the
British Relief Association. The British Relief Association agreed to make this
relief contingent on parents working on the land.
On the 30th, Clarendon wrote to Russell that discontent could be removed
by 'relieving distress which causes much of the bad feeling now'.
On the 31st, Lord Palmerston said that 'it is useless to disguise the truth,
that any great improvement in the social system of Ireland must be founded
upon an extensive change in the present state of agrarian occupation, and that
this change necessarily implies a long, continued and systematic ejectment of
smallholders and of squatting cottiers'.
A Poor Law Boundary Commission was appointed to look at the problems
caused by over-large unions. It was also hoped that if electoral divisions were
made smaller, rate payers would take more responsibility for the poor.
April By the beginning of the month, 638,141 people were receiving outdoor
relief. The number of hours to be worked by able-bodied people increased from
eight to ten a day. The work was designed to be 'repulsive' and not to put
paupers in competition with independent labourers; stone-breaking was often
the chosen work.
The Treason Felony Act was passed.
May Despite the fact that 92% of rates had been collected since the Poor
Law began, the Treasury continued to criticise guardians and vice-guardians.
One million people were now daily relieved by the Poor Law. The Inspector
at Kilrush, Captain Kennedy, informed the Poor Law Commissioners that be-
tween thirty and forty cabins were being demolished daily and that 300 people
were being evicted in his area. He believed that the landlords were pushing
tenants o properties valued under ¿4, for which the landlord had to pay the
rent himself.
Two legal experts ruled that the family of a man owning more than a quarter
acre were entitled to relief if he could not support them. However, if he could
support them and refused, he could be prosecuted.
June It was made legal for paupers who died on outdoor relief to be given a
con paid for out of poor rates, the same as the inmates.
On the 13th, Trevelyan asserted that assistance should be given only if abso-
lutely essential, because otherwise 'the demands upon us would become innite'.
He criticised the Poor Law Unions for the way they had handled the resources
available to them.
By this time the north east was beginning to recovery, due to an improvement
in the linen trade, the import of breadstus and corn, and a large yield of other
crops. Workhouse accommodation had risen by a third there.

The rst orphan ship went out to Australia. The 'Earl Grey' carried 219
orphans, of whom only two died during the passage - this was considered a
success. Many were from the Belfast union. The ship's surgeon, Dr Douglass,
caused a scandal by saying may of the women had acted badly and 56 had a
'disreputable' character. In spite of this, all but one of the girls managed to nd
a job.
July The number of people on outdoor relief peaked.
The British Relief Association's funds were now almost completely spent,
and they began to wind down their activities.
At the beginning of the month, the rst signs of blight were seen on the west
coast.
The Young Ireland rebellion took place from the 23rd to the 29th.
Aug The 15th of this month was the nal day for outdoor relief, although
the deadline was ultimately extended until the 29th.
An Act was introduced to regularise the process of eviction in order to protect
the evictees.
The blight appeared in many areas and was as virulent as in 1846.
Sept Only 45 out of the 130 Poor Law unions had balances in hand.
1433,042 people had received outdoor relief by this time.
Most of Ireland beyond the north east was aicted by problems. Evicted
families were homeless; those who had surrendered property to get into a work-
house had left their small-holdings uncultivated; there had been widespread
immigration, and some men had deserted their families; the crops were failing,
and the population was weakened by three years of sickness.
Trevelyan wrote to Twistleton that he wanted small farmers to emigrate. 'If
small farmers go, and their landlords are reduced to selling portions of their
estates to persons who will invest capital, we shall at last arrive at something
like a satisfactory settlement of the country.' Russell also commented that 'it is
better that some should sink, than that they should drag others down to sink
with them'.
The second meeting of the Irish Orphan Emigration Committee took place.
It recommended that a larger proportion of English and Scottish orphans should
be sent.
The North Dublin union moved to prosecute the English Poor Law Board
for negligence after two paupers died while being returned under the Law of
Settlement. The prosecution was never carried through.
At the end of the month, the government announced that it had less than
¿3000 to grant.
Nov Between 1000 and 3000 new applicants were applying for poor relief
every day. The Poor Law Commissioners warned the Treasury that most dis-
tressed unions required external help. Twenty denitely required assistance.
Dec Cholera appeared in Ireland. It was rst seen in sea ports, having been
brought over from Britain. Belfast was badly eected, including the Belfast
workhouse.
1849
Jan On the 21st, Twistleton commented that 'others might say that we are
slowly murdering the peasantry by the scantiness of relief ' [in workhouses].
The Central Board of Health warned all boards of guardians that a cholera
epidemic was imminent. They were to promote cleanliness and provide medical
relief. Under the Nuisance Removal and Disease Prevention Act, they were
responsible for the cleanliness of their unions.
The Boundary Commissioners recommended fty new unions, most urgently
for the west. Nobody should be more than eight miles from a workhouse. Ulti-
mately, 33 new unions were created, reluctantly funded by the Treasury.
Feb On the 12th, ¿50,000 was made available by the government. Parliament
was keen that this should be the nal grant. Three days later, the Times
complained that the proposed government grant of ¿50,000 was 'breaking the
back' of England.
A Rate-in-Aid national tax was proposed. The Treasury was once again
in total control of providing relief. Commissioners were to send in a detailed
nancial statement and an estimate of how much was required each month.
Russell suggested that income tax could be introduced to Ireland (it had been
specically omitted from the Act of Union), but Irish MPs protested. The
alternative was the temporary Rate-in-Aid. It would be a tax of 6d in the
pound levied on all rateable property in Ireland. This was expected to raise
¿332,552. The government would provide a short-term loan of ¿50,000, which
should be repaid by December 1849. The fundamental idea was that nancial
responsibility for relieving distress in Ireland would be a national rather than a
local charge, but not an imperial one. This had the advantage that the poorest
unions would not have to depend on themselves, and that checks for fraud
could be done locally. There was also the hope that by making Irish property
responsible, it would aid the transition to large-scale farming, as Rate-in-Aid
would make it dicult for small farms to survive.
The Northern Whig ran articles warning that people in Ulster would re-
sist the Bill, which it claimed was 'simply and avowedly an attempt to make
the industrious, peaceable, hard-working portion of Ireland pay towards the
support of the idle and turbulent'. The Morning Chronicle argued that Rate-
in-Aid would increase poverty by channelling the country's wealth into poor
rates. Many boards of guardians condemned the Bill, arguing that they were
part of the Union and had no special responsibility for other parts of Ireland. A
large meeting of unions took place to oppose the Rate-in-Aid Bill; the counter-
suggestion was a tax on goods imported from England.
On the 19th, Twistleton commented that the situation was not 'fully under-
stood' in England nor wanted to be by many.

On the 24th, Russell said to Clarendon that 'the great diculty concerning
Ireland this year is one that does not spring from Trevelyan and Charles Wood
but lies deep in the breasts of the British people. It is this - we have granted,
lent, subscribed, worked, visited, clothed the Irish; millions of pounds worth of
money, years of debate, etc. etc. - the only return is calumny and rebellion -
let us not grant, clothe etc. etc. any more and see what they will do... Now,
without borrowing and lending we could have no great plan for Ireland - and
much as I wish it, I have got to see that it is impracticable'.
March A large meeting took place against the Rate-in-Aid Bill in Lurgan on
the 2nd. Despite this, four days later the Rate-in-Aid bill passed in the House of
Commons with 206 votes to 34. It was to have a more dicult passage through
the House of Lords, many of whose members had landed interests in Ireland.
Please note.
The majority of MPs who had a vested interest in Ireland spoke out against
the Rate-in-Aid bill. The members from Ulster were the most critical, arguing
that they were being forced to pay for the poor of Connacht, although Leinster
and Munster would be more heavily taxed than Ulster. None of the 22 dis-
tressed unions that would benet were in Leinster. Despite this the Ulster MPs
continued to contrast the loyalty and industry of their own ratepayers against
the 'fecklessness' of ratepayers in the west. Others, such as William Sharman
Crawford and the Chief Poor Law Commissioner Edward Twistleton, argued
that other parts of the Union should be responsible for Ireland. Twistleton also
believed that the rates would prevent farmers from investing capital in their
properties, and he eventually resigned in protest, to be replaced by the pro-
Rate-in-Aid Alfred Power. George Nicholls, the rst Poor Law Commissioner
in Ireland, described the Bill as an 'alarmist response' to what was 'an imperial
calamity'. However, some of the press spoke out in favour of the Bill, which the
Dublin Post argued was 'a national tax to prevent a national loss'.
On the 7th, the Commissioners, having tried to get more money from the
Treasury, said they felt 'absolved of any responsibility'. Trevelyan was unsym-
pathetic, but admitted that the government was obliged to provide a minimal
form of relief, or 'the deaths' would be 'an eternal blot on the nation'. He called
paupers 'prodigal sons' who should not be given 'the fatted calf ' but only 'the
workhouse and one pound of meal per day'.
The British Relief Association gave a nal grant of ¿1000 to the Poor Law
Commissioners.
Cholera was now present in each of the distressed unions.
Some of the dissolved boards of elected guardians were restored, but other
boards continued to be run by the unelected vice-guardians who had been ap-
pointed in place of the elected guardians.
April On the 2nd, the Poor Law Commissioners appealed to Trevelyan to
apply some of the government's grant to defray the expense of treating cholera.
The Treasury said this could be done 'with caution'. It was not long before the
Treasury was accusing the Poor Law Commissioners of being too liberal with
the money.
On the 26th, the Poor Law Commissioners ran out of money completely.
The ¿50,000 granted by the government was exhausted. Parliament permit-
ted another ¿6000 to be granted from the Civil Contingencies fund. This was
not enough, and the Commissioners continued to pressure the Treasury for more
money. The Treasury criticised the Commissioners for advancing money 'too
liberally', and told them to collect rates, as May was generally a good month
for this.
May During the rst two weeks of this month, 1,200 people were evicted in
the union of Kilrush.

On the 17th, the Treasury agreed to allow a supply of biscuits for the Com-
missariat Stores, but refused to grant more money.
On the 24th, the Rate-in-Aid bill passed. Opponents of the Bill had held
further meetings in Belfast, but their movement was by now running out of
momentum. When the Act came into force, no unions actually refused to pay
the rate, although some of the Ulster unions were uncharacteristically late in
paying.
A subscription was started by parliament. Each Member of Parliament con-
tributed ¿100, and the Queen ¿500 towards relieving distress. A total of ¿10,000
was raised. Count Strzelecki of the British Relief Association was given the task
of distributing the subscription. The Treasury had the role of distributing all
money raised via Rate-in-Aid.
June Trevelyan suggested that all children should be put out of workhouses
to make room for able-bodied men. Twistleton refused to do this. The number
of people receiving relief in Irish workhouses had reached its peak at 227,329 a
day.
By now the cholera epidemic had faded out.
July The number of people receiving outdoor relief peaked at 784,370.
The Poor Law Commissioners recommended that emigrants should arrive
at their destinations in the summer when most jobs were available. However,
the orphan emigration scheme was closed due to the lack of further employment
opportunities. By this time, 2000 had been sent.
On the 8th, Thomas Carlyle visited Kildare:
'Kildare, as I entered it looked worse and worse: one of the wretchedest wild
villages I ever saw; and full of ragged beggars this day (Sunday), - exotic alto-
gether, like a village in Dahomey, man and Church both. Knots of worshipping
people hung about the streets, and every-where round them hovered a harpy-
swarm of clamorous mendicants, men, women, children: - a village winged, as
if a ight of harpies had alighted on it!'
Three days later, he viewed the workhouse at Kilkenny:
'Workhouse; huge chaos, ordered but his establishment, the rst I had ever
seen, quite shocked me. Huge arrangements for eating, baking, stacks of Indian
meal stirabout; 1000 or 2000 great bulks of men lying piled up within brick
walls, in such a country, in such a day! Did a greater violence to the law of na-
ture ever before present itself to sight, if one had an eye to see it? Schools, for
girls, rather goodish; for boys, clearly bad; forward, impudent routine scholar,
one boy, with strong Irish physiognomy, - getting bred to be an impudent su-
percial pretender. So; or else sit altogether stagnant, and so far as you can,
rot. Hospital: haggard ghastliness of some looks, - literally, their eyes grown
colorless (as Mahomet describes the horror of the Day of Judgment); take me
home! one half-mad was urging; a deaf-man; ghastly attery of us by another,
(his were the eyes): ah me! Boys drilling, men still piled within their walls: no
hope but of stirabout; swine's meat, swine's destiny (I gradually saw): right
glad to get away.'
Aug Queen Victoria visited Ireland. In a private letter, she wrote that 'the
entrance at seven o'clock into Kingston Harbour was splendid; we came in with
ten steamers, and the whole harbour, wharf, and every surrounding place was
covered with thousands and thousands of people, who received us with the
greatest enthusiasm. We disembarked yesterday morning at ten o'clock, and
took two hours to come here. The most perfect order was maintained in spite
of the immense mass of people assembled, and a more good-humoured crowd I
never saw, but noisy and excitable beyond belief, talking, jumping, and shrieking
instead of cheering.'
The harvest this year was good in most places, although some signs of blight
were seen, particularly in County Clare. The good harvest prompted the Trea-
sury to demand back the Rate-in-Aid, the Temporary Relief Advances and the
loans made for building workhouses.
Nov Eleven of the sixteen remaining dissolved boards of guardians were
reinstated. A new oce, that of assistant guardian, was created; the assistant
guardians were to go to the poorest unions. They were expected to work for
free and so there was little up-take on the role, except in Kenmare.
Dec The orphan emigration scheme began again, mainly taking orphans from
the south-west unions.
The total cost of Poor Law Expenditure during the year was calculated at
¿2,177,651, in contrast to ¿1,732,597 the previous year. The combined liabilities
for all unions was ¿2,525,315, with the poorer unions taking the biggest burden.
1850
Jan The Westport Guardians took back their union from the unelected vice-
guardians and complained it had become 'a hotbed of laziness and vice'. Many
others also complained. The vice-guardians were often accused of squandering
union funds or levying rates unfairly. The restored boards were often confronted
by large debts. A select committee was appointed to investigate these complain,
which criticised the Poor Law Commissioners and vice-guardians. Not all re-
stored boards criticised their predecessors; four asked for the predecessor to
remain in place, but this was not allowed.
Feb The Scari union had become so overwhelmed with debt that their meal
contractor refused to supply them, and the sheri seized their assets to pay the
contractor.
The Children's Apprenticeship Board investigated allegations made against
emigrant workhouse girls, and found that some were 'extremely lthy' and
'unimaginably indelicate'. The following month they recommended that no

more orphans should be sent abroad, and the scheme was closed.
March By now, income from poor rates was exceeding expenditure by ¿426,470.
April The Waterford union was forced to repay their debts. They had been
refusing, as paying the debts would have meant they could not meet current
expenditure.
Conditions at the Castlebar union were said to be severe enough to endanger
life.
The Northern Whig described the treatment of Irish emigrants arriving in
Liverpool:
'As soon as a party of emigrants arrive in Liverpool they are beset by a tribe
of people, both male and female, who are known by the name of 'mancatcher'
and 'runner'. The business of these people is, in common parlance, to 'eece'
the emigrant, and to draw from his pocket, by fair means or foul, as much of
his cash as he can be persuaded, inveigled or bullied into parting with... The
man-catchers keep lodging houses for emigrants - wretched cellars and rooms,
destitute of comfort and convenience, in which they cram them as thickly as the
places can hold.'
May The Consolidated Annuities Act empowered the Treasury to issue the
poorest unions with advances of up to ¿300,000 in total. Money given out in
loans could be used to pay debts. Unions in Munster received ¿176,487. Ulster
received only ¿334. The Act also allowed the Treasury to consolidate the debts
of each union and have them transformed into annuities paid directly from the
Treasurer of the union to the Treasury. The Treasurer would have up to forty
years to do this.
Aug A healthy harvest was raised with isolated instances of blight.
Sept The number of people who had received indoor poor relief in the last
twelve months was 805,702. A further 363,565 had received outdoor relief. Ten
percent of those receiving poor relief were concentrated in the Kanturk, Kilrush
and Newcastle unions.
The chairmen of various western unions including Kilrush met to discuss the
administration of the Poor Law. A futile appeal for more funds was made to
the government.
Nov The guardians at Kenmare warned that if they did not raise higher
rates, the union would be dissolved - despite the fact that a quarter of the
population were receiving relief.
Dec A second Rate-in-Aid was introduced, imposing an addition 2d to the
pound on all rateable property. Ulster unions again objected to what they saw
as subsidising the west. The Limerick guardians queried whether it was legal,
as the rst Rate-in-Aid had been temporary and had expired. Other boards
consulted lawyers, who included Isaac Butt.
1851
A census showed that the Irish population had fallen from 8,175,124 people
to 6,552,385 from 1841 as a result of mortality and emigration. It was estimated
that if the famine had not occurred, the number of people living in Ireland would
have been more than nine million. The census takers commented that 'the
results of the Irish census of 1851 are, on the whole, satisfactory, demonstrating
as they do the general advancement of the country'.
WALES.
The Irish began arriving in Wales in the 1840s. They were the largest single
group of immigrants to play a part in the story of Wales.
Those who arrived in Wales were eeing the Irish potato famine, and often
arrived in a very desperate state. The Wanderer docked in Newport in 1847
and deposited 113 destitute men, women and children in the town, with 20 of
them said to be close to death.

This prompted comment in Parliament, and the Monmouthshire Merlin
newspaper commented on "the alarming and lamentable appearance of the
streets of Newport, crowded with many hundreds of famishing Irish".
The emotional impact the famine had on the escaping Irish was so great that
they built a Famine Memorial in a Cardi cemetery.
From 1841, the Irish kept coming to Wales, to reach a high point of almost
30,000 people by 1861 - a 344% increase. They settled primarily in the four
largest South Wales towns - Cardi, Swansea, Newport and Merthyr.
But not all Irish immigrants to Wales were poor and unskilled. Among the
new arrivals were also doctors, businessmen and other members of the profes-
sional classes. As the population dwindled at home, they too had to look for
opportunities elsewhere. Uneasy neighbours

However, the arrival of the Irish caused tensions between neighbours, and
led to Cardi 's rst race riot in 1848. Cardi 's very rst policeman, Jeremiah
Box Stockdale, found the dead body of Welshman Thomas Lewis in Cardi 's
Irish quarter, which was the area around Stanley Street. He had been brutally
stabbed by Irishman John Conners.
Prior to this, in some quarters there had long been a suspicion about the
Irish - in earlier times there were rumours that the immigrant Irish sucked the
blood of sheep, murdered children and ran "faster than any dog". In those days,
Stanley Street was not a very inviting place - it wasn't uncommon for over 50
people to occupy a single room.
Catholic churches and homes were assaulted with some venom as Welsh mobs
rampaged through these streets looking for John Conners.
In the end, he was arrested at Pontypridd, found guilty of manslaughter,
and shipped o to Botany Bay in Australia.
At the funeral of the murdered man, Irish railway workers apparently lined
these streets, armed with pickaxes, ready to protect the Irish population against
any further Welsh reprisals.
The Wales National Great Famine Memorial was unveiled and dedicated
in Cardi 's Cathays Cemetery on Wednesday 17 March, 1999 St. Patrick's
Day. In welcoming the dignitaries and a crowd of several hundred people John
Sweeney, Chairman of the Wales Famine Forum which had planned the memorial
and the ceremony, said:
St. Patrick's Day in 1999 will always be remembered as the day when the
people of Wales paid homage to the more than a million people who died in what
is often referred to as The Great Famine of 1845 1849, but is more accurately
described as The Great Hunger.
This so called famine, which left no group or county untouched in Ireland,
was a testimony to man's inhumanity to man, to the slavish following of ideol-
ogy and prejudice followed by one of the greatest feats of spin in history to
blameshame the Irish for their own misfortune.

This great catastrophe has taken the Irish the best part of 150 years to put
behind them.
Many of those who died did so without the dignity of a Christian burial and
most of them are buried in unmarked graves.
This Celtic Cross, generously donated by Mossfords Monumental Sculptors,
Cardi, and erected at an additional cost of ¿3995 on a site donated by Cardi
City and County Council will ensure that the victims of the Great Hunger will
not be forgotten. This memorial is also for the thousands of Irish people who
have lived and died in Wales, including the between 300400 refugees from the
Hunger who, victims of fevers cholera and typhus, are buried in an unmarked
grave in the cemetery.
So in my research I had to have similar research that had meaning so I have
included the data from Scotland below.
In the mid-19th century, most crofters (tenant farmers) in the Highlands of
Scotland were very dependent on potatoes as a source of food. The potato was
perhaps the only crop that would provide enough food from such land areas.
The land was generally of poor quality in exposed coastal locations. Very similar
conditions had developed in Ireland.
In the Highlands, in 1846, potato crops were blighted. Crops failed, and
the following winter was especially cold and snowy. Similar crop failures began
earlier in Ireland, but famine relief programmes were perhaps better organised
and more eective in the Highlands and Islands. During 1847, Sir Edward Pine
Con used naval vessels to distribute oatmeal and other supplies. Nonetheless,
in Wick, Cromarty and Invergordon, there were protests about the export of
grain from local harbours (this grain being privately owned). Troops were used
to quell the protests. Crop failures continued into the 1850s, and famine relief
programmes became semi-permanent operations.
Crofters were not simply given their oatmeal rations: they were expected to
work for them, eight hours a day, six days a week. Relief programmes resulted in
the building of destitution roads. Also, they produced projects with very little
(if any) real value, and their administration was very bureaucratic, employing
legions of clerks to ensure compliance with complex sets of rules. The daily
ration was set at 24 ounces (680 g) per man, 12 oz (340 g) per woman and 8 oz
(230 g) per child.
Some landlords worked to lessen the eects of the famine on their crofting
tenants. Other landlords resorted to eviction. John Gordon of Cluny became the
target of criticism in Scottish newspapers when many of his crofters were reduced
to living on the streets of Inverness. Gordon hired a eet of ships and forcibly
transported his Hebridean crofters to Canada, where they were dumped on
Canadian authorities. News of the famine led to the Scottish diaspora including
Scottish-Americans to organise relief eorts.
On the Cromartie estates, the eects of the potato famine were more severe
in the Western highlands around Ullapool.
During the ten years following 1847, from throughout the Highlands, over
16,000 crofters were shipped overseas to Canada and Australia. In 1857, potato
crops were again growing without serious blight.

Chapter 4
BONES ARE NOT WHAT
THEY SEEM.
By that from this research as it goes, bones found in the Irish, Welsh and Scot-
tish countryside are not what them seem but though human, and poor human
thinking, everyone jumps on the bandwaggon and voices loudly an opinion. The
pub talk of course is much worse from the bones belonging to a Viking King
called 'Tula' to a murder victim many years ago. This is all in the rst 24 hours!
89
CHAPTER 4. BONES ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM. 90
Male and female skulls.
Old bones and not so old will show some form of post death damage such
as;
Animal chewing represents an obvious and well-known taphonomic factor,
researchers have accumulated useful information on carnivore feeding patterns.
In a study of 125 carcasses in the Arctic, Haynes (1982) documented considerable
variation in the gnawing damage sustained by carcasses. Haynes (1983a) noted
that dierent patterns of bone alteration resulted from canids, hyenas, bears,
and felids. Sutclie (1971) notes that bone-chewing animals are not conned to
carnivores.
The herbivores cattle, red deer, reindeer, muntjac deer, camels, giraes,
wildebeest, kudu, gemsbok, and sable antelopes also have been documented to
produce chewing-type alterations on bones.
Research also has documented that the pattern of chewing varies for dierent
bones, and that animal chewing can produce spiral fractures that frequently are
interpreted as evidence of human activity in archaeology and potentially in
forensic anthropology as well (Beebe 1983; Haynes 1980a,b; Morlan 1980).
In a study of bison and moose remains, Haynes (1983b) found that about 5%
of the bones showed spiral fractures due to trampling and 8% due to carnivore
activity.
He suggested that up to 50% of the bones of smaller species may show
such fractures. As noted by Hill (1976), the internal structure of bone strongly
inuences the nature of the fracture. As a result of taphonomic research, ar-
chaeologists now routinely consider such factors in interpreting faunal remains
to assess the number of individuals present (Aaris-Sorensen 1983), the possible
products of the hunt (Binford and Ho 1985), and the possible use of tools. Agen-
broad (1989) reported the presence of spiral fractures that others might have
interpreted as being of human origin on the bones of 34 mammoths excavated
at a natural sinkhole trap in South Dakota. The remains date between 21,000
and 26,000 B.P., well before the presence of humans in the area. Agenbroad
identied the following processes that modied the bones at the Hot Springs
Mammoth Site: biological (trampling, torsion/falling, carnivores), hydrolog-
ical (spring euent, subaqueous down-slope movement), geological/structural
(postdepositional movement), and mechanical (boulder fall, freezing, overbank
fall). Animal chewing, and other causes of bone breakage, can be confound-
ing variables in forensic interpretations. On the one hand, such processes can
obscure evidence of the cause and manner of death. On the other hand, some
modications such as spiral fractures with impact scars, can be dicult to in-
terpret. It is necessary to examine the patterns using taphonomic models of
animal modication and careful scene reconstruction.
In the eld and exposed bones are aected by the seasons and weather so
please note;
In the taphonomic process, weathering represents the response of the bone
to its immediate environment, e.g., soil, sun, etc. as opposed to carnivore modi-
cations, trampling, uvial transport, and geochemical changes (Behrensmeyer
1978; Miller 1975). From her research with bones of recent mammals in the Am-
boseli Basin in southern Kenya, Behrensmeyer (1978) recognized six progressive
stages of bone weathering: Stage 0. Bone surface shows no sign of cracking or
aking due to weathering. Usually bone is still greasy. Marrow cavities contain
tissue; skin and muscle/ligament may cover part or all of the bone surface.
Stage 1. Bone shows cracking, normally parallel to the ber structure (e.g.,
longitudinal in long bones). Articular surfaces may show mosaic cracking of
covering tissue as well as in the bone itself. Fat, skin, and other tissue may or
may not be present. Stage 2. Outermost concentric thin layers of bone show
aking, usually associated with cracks, in that the bone edges along the cracks
tend to separate and ake rst. Long thin akes, with one or more sides still
attached to the bone, are common in the initial part of stage 2. Deeper and
more extensive aking follows, until most of the outermost bone is gone. Crack
edges are usually angular in cross section. Remnants of ligaments, cartilage,
and skin may be present.
Stage 3. Bone surface is characterized by patches of rough, homogeneously
weathered compact bone, resulting in a brous texture. In these patches, all the
external, concentrically layered bone has been removed. Gradually the patches
extend to cover the entire bone surface.
Weathering does not penetrate deeper than 1.0 to 1.5 mm at this stage,
and bone bers are still rmly attached to each other. Crack edges usually are
rounded in cross section. Tissue rarely present at this stage.
Stage 4. The bone surface is coarsely brous and rough in texture; large
and small splinters occur and may be loose enough to fall away from the bone
when it is moved. Weathering penetrates into inner cavities. Cracks are open
and have splintered or rounded edges.
Stage 5. Bone is falling apart in situ, with large splinters lying around what
remains of the whole, which is fragile and easily broken by moving. Original bone
shape may be dicult to determine. Cancellous bone usually exposed, when
present, and may outlast all traces of the former more compact, outer parts of
the bones. (Behrensmeyer 1978:151). The Behrensmeyer weathering model can
assist in understanding and reconstructing the postmortem interval (see Lyman
and Fox this volume). Although in human forensic cases that interval is much
shorter than in paleontological contexts, weathering changes can frequently be
key to ruling out perimortem trauma.
As soon as a mammal or bird dies as well as a human above ground, the
body in the UK and Ireland gets the once over by the bird species below;
Carrion or Hooded Crows
Magpies
Ravens
Buzzards
Red Kites
Golden Eagle
Sea Eagle.
The mammals are listed thus;
Brown rats.
Badgers
Foxes
Polecats
Mice
Hedgehogs
Dogs
Cats; wild and domistic
INSECTS.
In spring and summer insect damage starts early with blue and green bottles
laying eggs then other species of ies. All types of beetles will also feed on
remains if out in the open.
IF REMAINS ARE IN THE WATER (Fresh)
Fish like pike, perch and rudd. Eels.
Snails and leeches
Blood worms.
SALT WATER FEEDERS ON HUMAN REMAINS;
Snails
Crabs
Lobsters
Fish all types,
Sharks, all types.
Killer Whales, UK and Irish West Coast.
BONE FEEDERS ON LAND;
All deer species
Mice
Foxes.
Dogs
Cats (Rare event.)
The deer seemed to like bone that has been weathered and it is possible
that they are seeking minerals from bones. It most be kept in mind that the
remains that have been above ground for a long time may show bone scattering
by foxes and dogs. In many cases the spine will be found with skull, attached or
unattached but few other bones close by. In the Midlands wild boar will make
a mean of the remains quickly as will pigs turned out into woods and elds in
summer.
BONES THAT MAY BE FOUND ON SITE;
HUMAN BONE MEASUREMENTS DATA Ronnie Carleton

c 2013
This research is based on the measurements of human bones only from all
races, age groups and sex on our planet and where the skull data is presented
then I have tried to include the brain capacity in cm. In the past many people
working in archaeology and forensics have given bone measurements that for
most of the time were not accurate and I have included their ndings here when
I could for comparison to the up to date ndings.
I have not included the upright apes as such as I don't believe even today that
they were in fact human or even close to it but I have however included N.and
Cro-Magnon. Man as they were human. There still is much debate on the issue
of 'early man' 'early apes' bone and brain size and ape migration from Africa.
This is not about Africa or early apes but about data which I have researched
and collected over many years and deals with archaeology, forensic archaeology
and forensic pathology I deal here with human bones past and present. If you
have got this far in your own research then by now I am sure that you have at
least the basic knowledge of bones and bone make up. If not then please retire
to a study area or home and make a study of bones and how bone is made.
Failure to grasp the shape and size of human bones or where they t in on a
Skelton will be more than a disadvantage because depending on what angle you
are looking at a bone from there may well be another close by that looks the
same but in fact is not and may well be from another large mammal. Bones
discovered on open ground or even in a shallow grave may well be scattered
by wild animals and birds and some even carried away. Many may well have
been in contact with re and a good few showing fractures of the skull and long
bones. Some human bone remains may be missing the skull or a long bone and
if there are 'cut' marks on the neck vertebra or in the socket area when a long
bone should t think 'human removal' and not esh eating mammals.
Below are two examples of bone scattering or missing bones in mammals.
TYPES OF BONES THAT COULD BE SCATTERED OR MISSING BELOW

FACE AND UPPER JAW BONES MISSING
FOOT BONES HAND BONES LONG BONES LEG BONES MISSING
VERT (SPINE BONE)
HIP OR PELVIC BONES ULNA WITH TEETH MARKS
Such is the evidence that may be found on site or at a crime scene. What
you are missing you need to make up later on a drawing board and even then
bone bits may never be found. Such as you have should give you the sex of a
victim, age, height, any bone disease factors, wounds or fractures, wild animal
damages, insect damage, DNA, and sometimes mode of death. The time of
death can be from 2 months to 2000 years and much depends on the seasons at
that time of death, or where the body lay until re-discovered and what type of
soil or water pH type.
THE MAJOR PROBLEMS OF CRANIOMETRY IN THE PAST. BEFORE
CHARLES DARWN.
GRADING BLACK PEOPLE AND NORTH AMERICAN NATIVES RACIAL
VIEW BY US AND ENGLISH SCIENTISTS 1789-1880

SKULLS This data by early scientists in the USA and England as well in
parts of Europe was based on skulls and the cranial cavity that housed the hu-
man brain. Mortons chart in the USA RACE N MEAN LARGEST SMALLEST
CAUCASIAN 52 87 109 75 MONGOLIAN 10 83 93 69 MALAY 18 81 89 64
AMERICAN 147 82 100 60 ETHIOPIAN 29 78 94 65
GRADING CAPACITIES FOR SKULLS FROM EGYPTIAN TOMBS RACE
MEAN CAPACITY IN3 N CAUCASIAN PELASGIC 88 21 SEMITIC 82 5
EGYPTIAN 80 39 NEGROID 79 6 NEGRO 73 1
MORTON'S FINAL SUMMARY OF CRANIAL CAPACITY BY RACE
IN3 RACE AND FAMILES N LARGEST SMALLEST MEAN MEAN MOD-
ERN CAUCASIAN GROUP TEUTONIC FAMILY
GERMANS 18 114 70 90 ENGLISH 5 105 91 96 ANGLO-AMERICAN 7
97 82 90 90 PELASGIC FAMILY 10 94 75 84 CELTIC FAMILY 6 97 78 87
INDOSTANIC FAMILY 32 91 67 80 SEMITIC FAMILY 3 98 84 89 NILOTIC
FAMILY 17 96 66 80 ANCIENT CAUCASIAN GROUP PELASGIC FAMILY
18 97 74 88 NILOTIC FAMILY 55 96 68 80
MONGOLIAN GROUP CHINESE FAMILY 6 91 70 82
MALAY GROUP MALAYAN FAMILY 20 97 68 86 POLYNESIAN FAMILY
3 84 82 83 85
AMERICAN GROUP TOLTECAN FAMILY PERUVIANS 155 101 58 75
MEXICANS 22 92 67 79 79 BARBAROUS TRIBES 161 104 70 84

NEGRO GROUP NATIVE AFRICAN 62 99 65 83 AMERICAN BORN
NEGRO'S 12 89 73 82 83 HOTTENTOT FAMILY 3 83 68 75 AUSTRALIANS
8 83 63 75
ALL THE ABOVE MORTON CLAIMED WAS FROM HIS COLLECTION
OF HUMAN SKULLS WORLDWIDE.
MORTON'S CRANIA AMERICA. NORTH AMERICIAN NATIVES 1839
144 SKULLS EXAMINED.
His calculations of brain capacity was 82 cubic inches which is in fact 5
cubic inches below the white normal. It got much worse when he separated the
144 skulls and split them into two groupings; TOLTECANS from Mexico and
South America and the BARBAROUS TRIBES of the north that included all
the tribes from Mexico to Greenland. The skulls from the north he give the
measurements of the skull and capacity at 80.2 cubic inches which is 7 cubic
inches below that of a white skull. The evidence in this research by Morton
is therefore badly awed for he failed to take into consideration that all the
tribes and the skulls should have diered greatly in size as well as body mass
and height. The indian average should now be around 83.79 cubic inches and
Caucasian skulls at around 84.45 cubic inches for his time peroid and even with
his Eskimos skull samples show that they were in fact 86.8 as a mean. As for the
skulls stolen from tombs and graves in Egypt (100 in all) again he went over the
top and did archaeology a major dis-service with his calculations of these skulls,
not to mention the insult to the people of Egypt. The skulls therefore from
Egypt he divided his Caucasian skulls into PELASGICS (Hellenes or Ancient
Greek forebears) Jews, and Egyptians- in that order. With non Caucasian
skulls Morton ID wrongly as negroid,( mixed race) or Negro His research on
these skulls is more than a little dubious.
NOTE; sizes of brains are of course related to the size of body that carry
them and large people have large brains and smaller people smaller brains Brain
size does not mean that anyone or any other mammal that has a large brain is
more intellengent than an adult with a small brain. Something at Morton was
unaware of it seems. Morton also failed to take into consideration the sex of the
skulls in his research and therefore his brain data was wrong. Another major
mistake in his skull research from Egypt is that all of the skulls obtained were
in fact taken from tombs and graves and were mummied.
When Morton presented his nal tabulation in 1849 he had obtained 623
skulls in all and his ndings suered from many errors and of course, distortions
and the high English mean for Caucasian skulls was listed at 96 was correct but
were all male. The data however for this research was also wrong as it stated
that the Caucasian skulls was placed at 85.3 and this was given by another
author as 'correct' as was the data on Semitic skulls as being at 80 in modren
terms when the smallest skull examined or at least Morton's data was only
84 when it should have been much higher, the range being 84 to 98 for such
skulls with male and female skulls taken into consideration. As for the native
American skulls the mean would have been 89 while the hidden away Eskimo
skulls mentioned in Morton's data but not published would have been the new
corrected data of 87 cubic inches. The above should be a good lession for today's
bone measurements of skulls and other bones be they animal or human because
it is easy to get it wrong and then guess work takes over with all data published
as 'fact' when in fact measuremets are out. This leads to confusion and more
so of animal species found on site.
MALE FEMALE
It is worth noting here that any bones discovered and ID as human there is
always the possiblity of ID the sex, age,height, and bone disease from them. In
the male and female tibia there is a marked circumference dierence as well as
in the pelvis. The rib cage and stermun is shorter in females than in males while
the pelvic bone is high in males but not in females. (Innominate bone). Most
adult males today have larger skulls than females and with brow ridges which
are prominent more than in females. The mastoid processes ( bump behind the
ear) is also larger in males. Europe skulls and this includes the UK and Ireland,
show that male skulls have a sloping forehead, massive jaw and teeth and in
some populations today WHO CAME FROM EUROPE.
In Europe a cranial capacity above 1450 cc points to the skull belonging
to a male and below 1300 cc, a female What needs to be kept in mind that
females from the Polynesian area of Asia tend to have large skulls as do female
Australian Aborigines.
BONES OF THE SKELETAL SYSTEM.
FOOT AND HAND BONES.

Long bones
Skull
Clav bones above

Note the pelvic gridle on the male and female and data;
Then you might come across something like this and no other bones
First thing to do is stop dead because right now this might be a human bone.
Photograph it and mark location because if is human then there may well be
other bones close by and even part or a whole skull. Then again it may belong
to a pig, large sheep or a deer.
Of course if you get a skull or even skull fragments you will know almost at
one what species it is from.
What would be much better is the bones below;

All these are good for ID so photographs and later in the Lab measure all
and set them out where they should be. Skulls of all ages are great so check out
below;
Female skull Black female

Asian skull and one on the right from China.

Of course skulls come in all shapes and sizes so great care is needed when
puting a sex to it and where from.

Chapter 5
THE DEAD ZONE.
There is always a question or questions today if long term human remains have
been discovered, besides the police, who should be called in?
If it is bones and not fresh then that is left to choice but it may well come
down to having the police SOCO ocer, a Forensics Team, maybe an archae-
oligst and then someone who knows what they are doing with forensic anthro-
pology but this can and does lean to problens at times. Someone is going to feel
that their thunder has been stolen if you have too many people involved and all
on site and in the dead zone. Everyone wants a share of the remains it would
seem, look for clues, work out the sex of the remains and age, is it an old bag of
bones from many, many years back or is it something within the last ten years.
Murder or natural death, signs of injury and by what?
In a case like this someone needs to call the shots right from the start and
that would be the SOCO. He or she needs to work out who would be best for
the job on site and fast.
115
CHAPTER 5. THE DEAD ZONE. 116
The Forensic Archaeology team member may in fact real the much wider
landscape around the site when bones have been discovered and I will deal with
this now.
This takes time to learn but most of it is letting the eyes and brain do the
work.
This research I trust will introduce the reader to the techniques used in
the recovery of human remains and may provide insight into unique aspects of
recovering remains suspected to be human.
Physical evidence, testimonial evidence, search techniques, surface recover-
ies, excavations and exhumations will be basic data.
This is to get your brain woking without clutter and maximize the amount
of information obtainable by a forensic anthropologist If you don't know then
ask!
Recovering human remains that are buried and/or badly decomposed or
skeletonized is the same as any other death investigation, with the four basic
types of manner of death (homicide, suicide, accidental and natural) possible.
The only dierence between `normal' death investigations and recovery scenes
is the amount of decomposition, the disarticulation of the bones, and the un-
usual environments within which we must work.
As in all death investigations, recovery of human remains is a team eort.
The combined talents of several people, each a specialist in his or her own area
of expertise, is required.
All law enforcement ocials involved have specic responsibilities. Meeting
these responsibilities often impacts the eorts of others. Although a crime
scene can be handled in numerous ways, and each case may dictate a dierent
approach, experience has proved certain guidelines to be advantageous.
The following are suggestions for consideration in any death investigation.
First ocer on the scene
• Render aid if needed.
• Protect the scene; this includes prevention of possible contamination by
keeping other police personnel from entering the crime scene.
• Secure witnesses and keep them separated.
• Take immediate notes because the scene will continually change.
• Request the services of a crime scene technician, the coroner and investi-
gators. If required by policy, notify the state's attorney's oce or in the UK
and Ireland the C. Oce.
• Condense all facts into a comprehensive report.
Crime scene technician job.
• Locate and identify physical evidence at the scene.
• Process the crime scene, attend the autopsy and take custody of all physical
evidence. • Package and transport all physical evidence to the appropriate crime
laboratory.
• Prepare a comprehensive report. Coroner/medical examiner
• Give direction to the pathologist.

• Determine the cause and manner of death. Request assistance from the
crime scene technician if needed. • Establish a close line of communication
between the coroner's oce, crime scene personnel and investigators.
Pathologist
• Obtain all physical evidence from the victim's body. If all pertinent infor-
mation and evidence are recovered from the body, there should be no need to
exhume the body. Items such as a knife tip broken o inside the body can be
used for laboratory comparison if the knife is recovered.
• Communicate with the coroner and the crime scene personnel at the au-
topsy.
• Consult with a forensic anthropologist.
Investigator
• Gather all possible information from the rst ocer on the scene, any
witnesses, the crime scene technician, the pathologist, the anthropologist and
the coroner.
• Authorize one person to release information and maintain continuity through-
out the investigation. Information released without thought to investigative
leads or case prosecution may jeopardize successful resolution and prosecution
of the case.
• With the state's attorney's (or prosecutor's) oce, determine the value of
lead information and the direction of the investigation. The state's attorneys
oce and the investigator will be charged with the long-term aspect of the
investigation and the ultimate prosecution of the case. Thorough investigation
of a crime must be a joint eort, otherwise the citizens are underserved. If each
individual completes his or her portion of the process, the outcome will yield
the most eective results.
Scene Processing Procedures

In processing a `normal' death scene, primary and secondary areas of the
crime scene are identied. The primary area represents the location of the
body, while the secondary area is the area(s) leading to the crime scene.
If a body is found in the middle of a room, the primary area of the crime
scene is in that room and is consequently well dened by the walls, oors and
ceiling. The secondary area represents all avenues to the room, including the
outside yard. How did any suspect(s) enter and leave the scene? Did he or she
drive to the scene?
Answers to these questions dene the secondary areas of the crime scene. If
the crime scene is an outdoor scene with a body lying in an open eld, what are
the dimensions of the scene?
Answering this question is more problematic than most so don't rush it and
get it right rst time!
The primary scene is represented by the area closest to the body or remains,
while the secondary scene is the surrounding access area. The body didn't just
fall out of the sky and land there. Someone used a vehicle to transport the body
there, or carried it to that spot.Keep in mind that some human remains may
well be 100 to 200 years old and in some cases of remains even a thousand years
old. In fresh remains, prime physical evidence leading up to the body, like tire
tracks, footwear prints, drag marks, etc., may be present.
If there is a body in a eld or wood or any open space, walking in a straight
line right to the body, ignoring the evidence on the way, is a natural tendency.
We at times seem to lose sight of the dimensions to the scene.
To correct this tendency, identify a least likely point of entry to the body
and approach this way.
Open your eyes and look for evidence in the path the suspect most likely
used, it's going to be there!

Two types of evidence, physical and testimonial, are possible at all crime
scenes. In general, physical evidence is anything that can be held; testimonial
evidence is what can be testied to in the reconstruction of the crime scene.
In archaeology discovered remains however this is not so simple and one
needs to read the archaelogy landscape of what it may have been and looked
like at the time of death.
One form of evidence is just as important as the other. Death investigation
scenes are processed to prove whether a crime was committed or not and provide
clues to who may have committed the crime if any.
Determining the identity of the deceased is an added problem that arises in
cases involving human remains which are buried and/or badly decomposed or
skeletonized.
Current procedures for identifying the deceased are by nger-, palm- or
footprints, DNA, dental charts and X-rays, comparison X-rays of old injuries
and deformities of the deceased, measurement of the bones of the skeleton to
determine approximate age and height, existence of physical deformities, such
as missing ngers, etc., and tattoos.
Facial reconstruction by a forensic sculptor/artist or an anthropologist can
also be attempted. A likeness of the victim is created and circulated in local,
state and regional newspapers. This likeness may be recognized and open new
leads as to the identity of the victim.
All new leads are then conrmed using the traditional methods of positive
identication discussed above. The victim's personal identication might also
be found on the body. Even in this situation, the identity of the individual must
be conrmed using traditional identication methodology.
IN THE CASE OF A SUSPECT MURDER CASES OR SUDDEN DEATH.
What are the normal procedures in processing a death scene?

The following chain of procedures is recommended:
1. Interview, gather and verify information.
2. Examine: examine and evaluate the crime scene.
3. Photograph: photograph the crime scene and I am of the opinion take
more, rather than too little photographs.
4. Sketch: sketch the crime scene.
5. Process: process the crime scene. A scene that involves the recovery of
buried and/or decomposed or skeletonized human remains is no dierent from
any other crime scene investigation. There is still a scene, a victim and a suspect
OR a timeline of the remains. As with all other types of scenes, examining and
processing the scene for physical evidence is required.
Physical evidence; in cases of murder;
The killer or killers: Wherever he/she steps, whatever he/she touches, what-
ever he/she leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as silent witness against him/her.
Not only their ngerprints or his/her footprints, but his/her hair, the bers from
their clothes, the glass they broke, the tool mark they leaves, the blood or semen
he deposits or collects. all of these and more bear mute witness against him. No
evidence is absent because human witnesses are, it is factual evidence, physical
evidence cannot be wrong; it cannot perjure itself; it cannot be wholly absent,
only its interpretation can be wrong.
Human failure to nd it, study and understand it, can diminish its value.
(Harris v. United States, 331 US 145, 1947)
The only thing that has changed since 1947 is the interpretation of the
evidence and the ability of forensic science technology to identify potential ev-
idence. Today, more in-depth analysis of the evidence is possible. In addition,
crime scene investigators are better educated and trained to collect and preserve
evidence and have more advanced equipment, which increases the likelihood of
identifying and recovering signicant physical evidence.
What types of physical evidence can be found at a site?
Here the possibilities are almost endless.
Factors that can change or diminish the value of the evidence are time since
death, weather conditions and contamination by others (including investiga-
tors). Surface recoveries and excavations are processed in the same manner as
any other crime scene. Physical evidence is present and must be identied. The
same processing techniques are used: interview, examine, photograph, sketch
and process.
There is no reason to rush and do a sloppy or substandard job. This is one
of the few cases in which time is on your side!
Search Techniques for Human Remains.
I can remember well the case of a very young child, a girl, went missing
at her Uncles home in Donegal, It was a damp evening in March and in the
countryside. The child had been playing in the farmyard, and it was just dusk
and an hour later they found she was missing. As the farm was in a remote
area and it was now raining hard the alarm was raised and local people, the
police and army searched for through the night then for a few weeks each day.
Nothing I should add was found and all sorts of whispers were going on, much
guesswork and as far as I am concerned the who thing was a complete shambles
from start to nish when you turn a large group of well meaning people loose
across the countryside and bog and any good evidence was already lost. She
still has not been found and I have no doubt at all even today that her killer
took part in these searches. She vanished on the 17th March 1976 and even
with that nothing has been found but she is still there or at least her remains
and needs to come home. Being Ireland, I have little doubt that the local parish
priest has had a confession from a man who not only knew the victim but the
victim knew him and most of all, trusted him.
The farm is now deserted and becoming overgrown, but she is still close by,
waiting as I am for her recovery!
The primary event in the recovery of human remains is nding the body.
Most remains are found by accident. In the bogy areas of Ireland a majority
of the remains are found in the fall or spring by hunters, farmers working their
elds, or others such peat diggers and hikers in the woods but also construction
workers performing excavations at job sites. Sometimes remains will be found
incident to searching an area specied by investigative leads or informants even
today.Once the remains are found, dene the primary area of recovery. Don't
forget the secondary area(s)!
Prior to searching an area, the information received must be veried. Noth-
ing will make supervisors un-happier than going on a wild goose chase, depleting
nancial and human resources. Wild goose chases are also emotionally dicult
for the family of the victim. Once the search area is dened and the information
veried, personnel and equipment needs must be evaluated. A team must be
established.
A `team leader', searchers and crime scene specialists to handle the photog-
raphy, sketching, collection of evidence and the recovery of the remains are key
team members.
A detailed map of the area in question and aerial photos to show the layout
of the search scene may be available and should be obtained. It is suggested
that someone familiar with the terrain also be contacted to provide an insight
into problems which may be encountered, such as identifying any changes made
to the area which are not documented.
Beware of people who are too keen if the remains are outdoors because one
may well be the killer and even related to a victim in some form which sadly is
often the case.
Comfort conditions must also be taken into account by the person in charge
of the search or recovery site. Weather conditions and provision of food for the
workers, bathroom facilities, as well as liquids to drink and water for cleaning
up, must be considered in planning decisions.
Once the area has been evaluated and a team is established, the object of
the search and how to look for it must be communicated to the team. Do not
assume that they know what to do. Have a meeting prior to the search and
explain in detail the objective of the search.
Normal eld search methods are used for all outdoor crime scenes. The
following four methods, or a variation of them, are used in searching outdoor
areas for the recovery of human remains:
• Grid :
The area is sectioned o in a grid with the searchers in one area of the grid
at a time. This method is normally used when the area is quite large, such as
several acres of land. Each area of the grid is then searched by circle, strip or
zone.
• Circle
This consists of a center stake with a rope tied to it, with the searchers at
1.5 m intervals circling around the center in a straight line. This method is not
frequently used but can be eective with large areas and several searchers.
• Strip
This consists of a line of searchers approximately at arm's length away from
each other in a straight line walking through the area to be searched. Using
barrier tape to dene the strips will help.
• Zone
This is similar to the grid search except that it is normally used in smaller
areas to be searched or a portion of the grid. The zone is then searched with
the strip method. The method selected will depend entirely on the terrain to
be searched and the number of people available. The area should always be
searched twice but not by the same person.
A second person may nd what the rst person missed. When using any
of the search techniques, if one of the searchers nds an item, the whole team
should stop until the item found can be photographed, the location sketched,
and the item collected and marked for further examination later.
After the item is marked or collected the searchers can continue until another
item is located. This process is continued until the search of the entire area is
completed.
Another method to consider is use of trained dogs. Some dogs are trained
for recovering items of evidence in the eld, while others are trained for nding
deceased bodies. Dierent methods are used in the training of these dogs.
Check with your local canine unit to ascertain if they can perform either
function.
NOTE; Only dogs specically trained for the search and recovery of human
remains should be used. Dogs crosstrained for drugs, arsons, bombs and other
items of evidence are not as productive as those specically trained for recovery
sites. Looking for buried remains requires the use of the same search methods
as for surface recoveries, but dierent search indicators are utilized. As a result,
it is imperative that searchers are educated as to the dierent types of possible
burial indicators. Because of time and weather elements, burial indicators may
be dicult to nd.
Indicators expected:
This will vary depending upon the type of terrain being searched. Remem-
ber that you may be looking for pieces of a body, which could mean multiple
burial sites, rather than one large burial site. Disturbed vegetation, soil com-
paction and soil disturbance are some of the indicators of a burial site. Multiple
indicators may be present at any site.
These indicators are discussed below:
Disturbed vegetation;
Whenever a hole is dug in the ground, the vegetation in and around the hole
is disturbed. This vegetation will no longer remain as it originally was. It may
be upside down, with the roots showing, or just brown from being uprooted.
Adjoining areas, disturbed during digging, will also show signs of vegetation
disturbance. In a wooded area, a small clearing in the trees may indicate a
burial site.
Soil compaction;
The natural decomposition of the buried remains will leave a void in the
soil. Through time and rain the soil above the remains will sink to ll the
void, thus forming a depression in the surface above the body. This depression
is sometimes called a compaction site. A secondary depression may also be
noted inside the primary depression. This is caused by the abdominal cavity
deteriorating. Again depending on time and weather factors, this depression
may have new vegetation or even trees growing from it. New vegetation may
also be a burial indicator because the new growth will not be as mature as growth
in the surrounding area. There may also be visible cracks in the soil outlining
the actual grave. These cracks are made when the disturbed soil shrinks from
the undisturbed soil owing to the depression in the ground.
Animals can cause similar compaction by burrowing holes for nests or looking
for food. Other decomposing material will also cause the same depressions.
NOTE; an area of compaction of approximately 0.5 x 2 m will usually indi-
cate something large is buried.

Soil disturbance:
When a grave is dug, the layers of the soil are disturbed. The soil under the
ground is layered. Some areas will have very shallow layers or multiple layers
within a few centimeters from the surface, while others will have layers meters
thick.
NOTE;At dierent depths, the soil will vary in color.
These dierent colors represent the dierent layers of soil. For instance,
black soil might be found from the surface to a depth of about 10 cm, a lighter
color of soil might follow for several centimeters, with clay below. All these
layers may repeat themselves or be in dierent orders. However, once the layers
are disturbed no amount of eort and precision can replace them exactly the
way mother nature put them there.
Digging not only disturbs the soil layers in the grave, but also disturbs
the surface soil around the grave. There will always be some residue left after
relling a hole. The residue will be a dierent color from the surrounding surface
soil. NOTE;
Special problem areas for visual indicators are sandy beaches, desert areas
and cultivated land. Visual indicators on the surface may be dicult to nd;
therefore, locating a burial site in these areas will require a dierent approach to
the problem. Several methods are currently being explored, as outlined below.
Infrared photography;
This method uses the dierence in temperature between the buried body
and the temperature of the soil around or on top of it. Infrared photography
may also indicate the dierence in temperature of disturbed and undisturbed
soil. Success with this method may be minimal, depending upon the length of
time since the event.
Methane detector:
Any organic object that is decomposing will produce methane gases. Unfor-
tunately, the decomposing item may be a tree stump, vegetation, an animal or
garbage. In addition, the longer the body has been buried, the less likely it is
that methane gas can be detected. This method is therefore seldom used in the
eld.
Aerial photography:
The comparison of aerial photographs of the suspected area taken over a
period of years might disclose a possible burial site. Aerial photos could show
a vegetation disturbance occurring where a body is buried. These photographs
are usually taken for tax assessment purposes and are available for several years.
The aerial photographs will also show what new construction has taken place
during the period in question.
Probe:
In using this method a four foot metal rod approximately 1 cm in diameter
with a 30 cm handle forming a `T' is poked into the ground. In pushing the
probe into the ground, a dierence in the pressure needed to push the probe
into undisturbed and disturbed soil should be felt.
To be more condent in detecting these dierences, extensive practice should
be undertaken before actually probing the suspected burial site. A `feel' for
this must be acquired by sampling the ground in the area. When using the
probe, sample holes should be obtained every 30 cm. This method requires the
searcher to use extreme caution to avoid potentially damaging the body and
other possible physical evidence. To avoid such damage, a minimal amount of
pressure should be used on the probe at all times.
NOTE:
Feeling an increased resistance will be a strong indication to proceed with
extreme caution or retrieve the probe.

The amount of time needed to probe an area appropriately and the subse-
quent wear on the searcher are other drawbacks to this method. A variation of
this method is to use a similar probe with a larger, hollow shaft for taking soil
samples. These soil samples are then tested for the presence of calcium (bone)
that leaches into the soil from the decomposed body. However, this type of test-
ing cannot be done on site. Samples must be sent to the laboratory for testing;
therefore, if time is of the essence, this would not be the method of choice.
Construction equipment
NOTE;
Construction equipment should be used as a last resort, but some situa-
tions may call for it. Use experienced backhoe and bulldozer operators who
are capable of removing layers of 5-30 cm at a time. When carefully done, soil
disturbances, or the grave itself, may be identied. More damage to the remains
can be done by this method than any other and it should therefore be used only
when no other options are available. Some of the search techniques discussed
above require good old-fashioned manual labor. The best technique to use will
depend on the terrain, the size of the area to be searched and the resources
available. Surface Recovery
Once the search is completed and the body located, the recovery site must
be dened.
Extreme scattering of the bones/body parts or physical evidence by animals
frequently occurs. Therefore, the area encompassing the scattered bones may
range from a short distance to several meters.
NOTE:
Some of the bones may never be found because of vast scattering or con-
sumption by animals. Depending upon the time of year as well as length of
time since death, the bones may even be covered by vegetation, dead leaves or
fallen trees or branches. This covering of the deceased may also have been done
intentionally by the suspect to camouage the body. Approaching the remains,
a general indication of the probable path of the perpetrator must be established.
Do not take this path. Rather, avoid this path at all costs. Not doing so may
cause valuable evidence to be destroyed or contaminated.
Once the remains have been located and the recovery area dened, proceed
as with any other crime scene: secure the area, examine and evaluate the site,
photograph, sketch and process. An evidence-free access to and from the site
(i.e. corridor) must be established prior to processing.
A metal detector should be used before declaring this area clear of evidence.
In addition, an outer perimeter search, using a method described in the previous
section, must be completed to locate other body parts or physical evidence. A
command post should be set up, preferably away from the recovery site. A
checkpoint should also be set up to check personnel into and out of the scene
and to limit the number of people who are entering the site. One way of limiting
the trouble caused by other people entering the scene is to take Polaroid pictures
of the site and leave them at the command post for viewing. The most dicult
part of this recovery is now over.
You must take your time and do not permit anyone to rush you including
the police. Do it right the rst time because there are no second chances. After
the site is photographed and sketched, clear away all the vegetation and debris.
This must be performed in a way that avoids disturbing the remains or any
of the physical evidence. Photos should be taken of the new `clean' site. Using
rope or string, a grid should be set up for the purpose of locating the items by
measurements and for ease in placing the items on a sketch.
The grid should be measured so that the sides are square to each other.
A metal detector should again be used before any further processing. Any
items located should be marked with a wood or coloured plastic stake for future
reference.
Plot all evidence and remains on the sketch. Closeup photographs should
be taken of all items before their removal.
All photographs should be taken with a scale to show the size of the item.
All evidence collected should be packaged separately. As a rule of thumb, each
item of evidence should be packaged in a paper product, unless it is liquid, in
which case it should be placed in a glass vial. Paper product means paper fold,
paper bag or cardboard box.
The remains of the deceased should be packaged separately, if that is the
way they were found. If the body is intact, use a wooden backer board, white
sheet and new body bag. Once the surface of the site has been cleared of all
remains and evidence, then recheck the area with a metal detector. Assuming
there are no further indications from the metal detector, the next step is to
examine and excavate the top 15 cm of soil for any further evidence or bones.
NOTE;
In some instances the remains have gone through a self-burial. Objects
placed on the surface of the ground may work their way into the ground. The
extent to which this may occur will depend on the object's weight, ground
density, terrain of the area, time elapsed and weather conditions. The best
method to use in removing the top several centimeters of soil is to cut the area
into strips about 15 cm wide and remove the soil from the strips a section at a
time.
This material should then be sifted with a ne sifter. A sifter of 0.3-0.6 cm
should be used so projectiles or teeth won't be missed. Once this is completed,
the maximum amount of evidence and remains can be condently obtained.
Contaminants can be contained in the soil beneath the remains; therefore, a

sample of soil should be collected for further analysis by a forensic laboratory.
A standard of the soil from a general area close to the remains must also be
collected and submitted for analysis. Finally, recover all other evidence or body
parts in the area outside of the recovery site.
This recovery should be handled and processed as thoroughly as any other
outdoor crime scene. The length of time from the initial search, to the loca-
tion of the remains, to processing completion may be several days or weeks.
Consequently, weather conditions must be considered.
Excavation Techniques:
The basic procedures used in surface recoveries also apply to excavations;
the dierence is that the majority of the evidence and the remains are below
ground level. Once the burial site has been located and dened,the method of
excavation needs to be chosen. Three methods of excavating the ground around
the body, and ultimately the body itself, are recommended:
• Hole;
As the name indicates, a hole is dug, uncovering the remains as the soil is
removed from over and around the body.
• Trench;
A trench is dug next to the remains to a depth of 0.5 m below the upper body
level. The trench must be at least the length of the body and approximately 0.5
m wide. This trench will provide sucient room to work and collect evidence
and the remains. Using this method, three of the four walls of the grave can be
dened.
• Table;
A table is dug by trenching all around the body, usually leaving a table
approximately 1.25 m wide by 2 m long and extending 0.5 m beyond the depth
of the body. This method will leave all four walls of the grave intact, as well
as providing sucient room to work around the body. Because of the ease and
comfort it provides while removing the remains and evidence, the table method
is preferred.
No matter which method is used, the position of the body under the ground
must be estimated prior to excavation.
This is not as dicult as it sounds. Based on the parts of the body which
are visible, overestimate the position of the body and dig around it.
As with any of these methods, soil in strips approximately 30 cm wide and
15 cm in depth should be removed. The soil should be hand-checked and sifted
as the dierent layers are removed.

NOTE:
Having one qualied person in the pit and at least four other people using
the sifters will maximize the amount of evidence recovered. Anything that is
not soil could be evidence or bones. Coins from victims' and suspects' pockets,
a wine bottle cap that can be physically matched to a wine bottle found in the
suspect's vehicle, skin tissue with ridge detail that can identify the ring nger
of the victim, soy beans and corn stalks that provide a time element of the
burial, magazines that can also provide a time element, and a whole host of
other unusual items, not excluding weapons and projectiles, can be found. Any
and all forms of evidence can be found in a grave site.
The easiest method of removing the body is to wrap it in a white sheet and
place it into wooden backer board before removing it from the grave. This will
keep the body intact. Once the body is removed, check the ground under it for
possible footwear prints from the suspect in the soil; stranger things have hap-
pened! Several centimeters of the soil beneath the body must also be removed
and sifted again to locate evidence, bones, projectiles and teeth which may be
present. Often, and I add here, buried bodies are literally yanked out of the
ground and taken away from the scene with no thought to evidence, either in
the grave or on the body.
Just because a body is buried does not mean it cannot tell a story or point
a nger at the murderer or reason for death. If this was a fresh homicide scene
and the body was in a parking lot, wouldn't everything at your disposal be used
and everything possible to process the scene be done? Then why is it that,
when a body is buried, investigators often have a dierent attitude? Probably
because it is so unfamiliar and in many cases they think like a plank of wood.
The possibilities for physical evidence and the appropriate techniques to be
used when recovering human remains which are buried and/or badly decom-
posed or skeletonized is always positive.
Some of the remains are usually badly decomposed or skeletonized to some
degree and little soft tissue may remain, an essential member of any recovery
team is a forensic anthropologist.
These forensic specialists usually have postgraduate qualications in physi-
cal/biological anthropology, with education and experience in the recovery, iden-
tication and evaluation of remains suspected to be human. Their knowledge
and experience can be critical in any case where decomposed and/or partially or
completely skeletonized remains are expected. In cases involving badly burned
remains, a forensic anthropologist at the scene can provide investigators with
information that may be unobtainable once the remains are removed.
Forensic anthropologists' detailed knowledge of the human skeletal system
allows them to provide information valuable in answering several important in-
vestigative questions when decomposed or burned human remains are involved:
1. Are the remains in question human?
2. Do the human remains represent a forensic case (^50 years since time of
death)?
3. Who is the victim (i.e. age, gender, ethnic origin, stature, etc.)?
4. Do the remains exhibit any indications of pre- and/ or postmortem trauma
that may assist the medical examiner or coroner in cause and/or manner of death
determinations?
The ability of the forensic anthropologist to answer these questions with con-
dence, is dependent upon not only their experience level but also the amount of
the skeleton and the specic skeletal elements (bones) recovered. The majority
of cases in which a badly decomposed body is discovered outside or suspected
to be buried are likely to be victims of murder or unlawful killing. As in all
other crime scenes, this must be assumed. We cannot go back and treat the
crime scene dierently once we have left.
Approximately 90% of all homicides are solved when the victim is positively
identied. Therefore, the ability of the investigators to identify the victim will
impact their ability to solve the case. However, the ability of the forensic an-
thropologist to assist in the positive identication of the victim is dependent
upon the investigator's/crime scene personnel's ability to recover as much of
the skeleton as possible.
In an adult human skeleton, recovery personnel, under ideal conditions, may
nd up to 206-211 individual bones.
In infants and young children, many more individual bones should be ex-
pected. The bones of children have not all fused, as they have in adults. The
shafts of the major long bones (bones of the extremities, e.g. arms and legs) are
usually all present at birth. However, the ends of the bones (epiphyses) usually
do not appear until sometime after birth and before puberty. As the child ages,
not only do the shafts of the bone increase in length and diameter, but the
epiphyses also increase in size. Eventually, the epiphyses fuse to the shaft to
form an `adult' bone. This occurs in most individuals by the age of 25 years.
In order to recover as much of the skeleton as possible, recovery personnel must
be generally familiar with the normal components of the human skeleton.
If a forensic anthropologist is not available for assistance in the recovery,
investigators can get a general idea of what bones to expect from, for example,
Bass's Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual of the Human Skele-
ton. Recovery personnel should use such a eld manual to assist them in not
only recognizing what bones are present, but, most importantly, also identifying
whether key bones are missing.
While it is important to recover as much of the victim's skeleton as possible,
recovering some parts of the skeleton will increase the forensic anthropologist's
ability to assist in determining the victim's identity (i.e. age estimation, gender
determination, stature estimate and ethnic origin if possible) and provide infor-
mation useful to the medical examiner or coroner in determining cause and/or
manner of death.
When a surface recovery is being conducted, a visual examination of the
skeletal elements present should be carried out prior to the removal of any
remains. If it is determined that skeletal elements are missing, a more detailed,
systematic search must be conducted.
The extent of the search, as well as the type of search technique to be used,
will be highly dependent upon the terrain and any observed indications of animal
activity. Regardless of the search technique used, it must be systematic and not
haphazard or random. Owing to the presence of numerous, warm, moist orices
for ies to lay their eggs, the skull is typically the rst part of the skeletal
anatomy to decompose. As a result, the skull can often be found a distance
from the main concentration of remains.
Gravity, if the body is on a sloping hill or any incline, and the activity of
scavenging animals, such as rodents or canines, can result in the skull being
displaced after it has decomposed enough to be easily separated from the rest
of the body. Similarly, if skeletal elements are determined to be missing from
a body above or near a creek or stream, a search of the creek or stream bed
will be required in the direction of water ow. Heavier bones, such as the long
bones or pelvis, may be found closer to the original site; lighter bones, such as
the bones of the hand, wrist, foot, ankle or the scapula and clavicle, may be
found quite a distance downstream, depending upon the current.
Forensic evidence may lie between the skull and main concentration of re-
mains. Consequently, very detailed searches may need to be conducted in these
areas. Forensic odontologists are capable of positively identifying the deceased

by comparing dental radiographs/records of the suspected victim to the teeth
and bony structures surrounding the teeth that are recovered. The unique varia-
tions of one tooth may be all that is required to positively identify the deceased.
It is therefore imperative that all teeth be recovered. It may be the one tooth
that is not recovered that is the only tooth that can positively identify the
victim.
A visual examination of the upper and lower jaw will indicate whether a
tooth or teeth were missing before or after the death of the individual. The bony
structures (sockets) that surround the teeth and help hold the teeth in place are
reabsorbed if a tooth is lost premortem. The outer walls of the socket are not
discernible. In teeth lost postmortem, the walls of the socket are identiable
and the `socket' appears empty. Sometimes dirt can ll the socket. Use a soft
instrument, like a toothpick, to gently push some of the dirt out. If the walls of
the socket are identiable, the tooth was lost postmortem. If is determined that
`missing' teeth were lost before death (i.e. no visible socket), there is no need
to search any further for them. However, if teeth have been lost after death,
they may be recovered from the scene. For instance, if a skull is found away
from the other parts of the body, it is likely that some teeth may have been
dislodged/'lost' as the skull rolled away from the rest of the remains.
Teeth can also be dislodged as animals carry away the skull. If open tooth
sockets are observed, then a systematic search (usually with the searchers on
their hands and knees) will need to be conducted in the area between the skull
and main concentration of remains.
More specically, this area must rst be divided into a grid using string.
The debris in each grid should then be removed and sifted. Any tooth or other
physical evidence found must be documented by photographs, measurements
and sketches. Once documented, the evidence must then be placed in a paper
bag, which is then properly marked and sealed to establish chain of custody.
Once the surface debris has been sorted, 5-15 cm of soil from each part of the
grid will need to be removed and sifted. Teeth that may have settled in the dirt
may possibly be recovered in this fashion.
The grid location of any tooth or piece of physical evidence recovered should
be documented. If the remains are buried in a shallow grave, it is possible that
scavengers may have disturbed the burial and dragged individual bones or parts
of the body away from the grave site. Any indication of soil disturbance, such
as a small hole, should result in an expanded, systematic search of the area.
As when surface remains are not complete, special attention should be given
to identifying any possible paths used by animals. Once identied, these paths
should be extensively and systematically searched. It is also possible that a
scavenging animal, such as a coyote, fox or even a skunk, may carry parts of
the body back to its den. Therefore, look for dens along the way. Any dens
identied should be carefully investigated for the presence of remains.
When the deceased is an infant or young child, recovering as much of the
skeletal elements as possible is critical in providing the forensic anthropologist
with sucient remains to make an accurate estimate of age. Owing to the
underdeveloped nature of key characteristics, the gender and ethnic origin of
pre-pubescent individuals cannot be determined with condence.
Emphasis should be placed on identifying and recovering the individual com-
ponents of the skull, as well as, particularly, the long bones and epiphyses. Epi-
physes are typically missed in recoveries because they resemble gray, porous
clumps of dirt. Individuals working the sifters must pay special attention to
recovering these elements. Although it is highly recommended that a forensic
anthropologist participate in the actual recovery, if one is not available to assist
in the recovery of an infant or child, collect all dirt and debris and submit as
evidence to the medical examiner, coroner or crime laboratory. Later, a forensic
anthropologist can examine this evidence in the laboratory. The specic loca-
tion from which the dirt and debris was removed must be documented using
standard procedures. The forensic anthropologist may also be asked to assess
the remains for evidence of trauma.
It is important to identify and accurately document all indications of trauma.
Documentation of premortem trauma may assist in the positive identication of
the deceased. Identication of trauma which may have occurred around the time
of death may be signicant in the medical examiner's or coroner's determination
of manner and cause of death. Not all trauma will leave its trace on bone.
Some trauma may only aect the soft tissues and not survive the process of
decomposition; therefore, it is possible (but not probable), that in violent deaths
no indication of trauma is discernible on the skeleton. However, several areas
of the skeleton are critical if possible fatal injuries are to be identied and
evaluated. Fatal injuries usually occur in the head and thorax (chest).
Consequently, the skull, bones of the neck and upper back, shoulder and ribs
should be handled very carefully. Any unintentional damage which occurs to the
bones during recovery should be documented. Mistakes do happen, and can be
intensied if they are not identied to the forensic anthropologist. Estimating
when the fracture or injury occurred can be dicult, even without additional
damage to the remains. Informing the medical examiner/coroner/crime labora-
tory of a mistake will save the forensic anthropologist valuable time. Damage
to other important skeletal elements can occur if recovery personnel do not
handle the remains appropriately. The skull and mandible are important not
only in gender determination, but the face, in particular, is also critical if the
forensic anthropologist is to derive an opinion concerning ethnic origin. Often,
measurements of the skull are taken to assess gender and ethnic origin. An
incomplete or damaged skull will potentially eliminate the forensic anthropol-
ogist's ability to take accurate measurements. Never pick up the skull by the
orbits or cheek bones. These are very fragile areas where fracture from injury
commonly occurs. Inadvertent damage caused to these areas may diminish the
forensic anthropologist's ability to identify and appropriately evaluate fracture

patterns. Any damage done to the remains during recovery and handling should
be documented and communicated to the forensic anthropologist. Damage can
also occur to the bones during transportation from the recovery site to the crime
laboratory or medical examiner's/coroner's oce.
To avoid such damage, all long bones, the pelvis, the skull and the mandible
should be packaged in separate bags. Never place any other bones in the same
package with the skull, and never place other packages or equipment on top of
the package that contains the skull.
An experienced and well-educated and trained forensic anthropologist is a
valuable member of a recovery team.
The amount of information that can be obtained from the recovered remains
will depend upon the amount of the skeleton recovered, the condition of the
remains and the specic remains recovered. The more that is recovered, the
greater the amount of signicant investigative information that can be obtained
by these specialists.
Exhumations;
An exhumation or disinterment is the removal of a legally buried casket
from a cemetery. Persons legally buried may need to be exhumed because
of possible misidentication or the recovery of new information pertinent to
the cause of death. These conditions usually occur because the body was not
properly processed before burial. Exhumations are not complex.
A court order or written consent must be obtained before any exhumation.
Before beginning the exhumation, detailed information about the alleged de-
ceased, name, age, height, weight, sex and cause of death, will be needed. A
positive identication of the deceased will be required. The grave must be
photographed prior to digging, during the exhumation and after the casket is
removed. A soil sample from the grave site will also be needed to prove that
any toxins found in the body did not leach in from the surrounding ground. Soil
samples should be taken from all four sides of the grave as well as from beneath
the vault.
A soil standard is also required and should be taken from the area adjacent
to the grave. The casket and body should be removed and transported to the
facility where the autopsy will be performed. Once the autopsy is completed,
the body and casket are returned to the burial site. The entire sequence is
recorded photographically. Additional Information
General descriptions of excavation and surface recovery procedures have been
provided. The particular method used will depend on the terrain at the recovery
site. The secondary area of the recovery site should be checked for items of
evidence, such as tools used to bury the body, clothing, tire tracks, footwear
prints and trash left by the suspect. Prior to beginning excavation, contact
utility companies for the location of any buried cables or pipes. If the weather
dictates, have an enclosed tent available to cover the grave. If there is no shade,
provide at least a canopy to cover the workers. Heat exhaustion is not an
uncommon problem.
A variety of shovels can be used during excavation; however, as you get closer
to the remains, change to smaller digging instruments, such as a hand trowel,
bamboo stick or dental instruments.
The diggers will work faster than the sifters. Therefore, a sucient number
of people should be available to sift the removed soil. Try to build sifters so they
are 1.25 m above the ground for the comfort of those sifting. Use clean plastic
buckets to remove the soil from the excavation and transport it to the sifters.
Document where each bucket of soil came from in the grave site. The specic
location of any evidence recovered can be documented in context. The sifters

should be approximately 0.6-1.2 cm mesh. Educate the sifters to recognize
evidence. Work only during daylight hours and give the workers sucient break
periods. Do not tire them out on the rst day.
Boredom in the sifters will cause evidence to be missed. Water is needed at
the recovery site for drinking, cleaning hands and equipment, and for cleaning
items of evidence.
If the suspected burial site is on private property, a search warrant or written
consent is needed.
NOTE
The news media will try to get as close as they can to the burial site. Use
police barrier tape to secure and identify the outer perimeter of the site. Watch
for low-ying helicopters with reporters. Turbulence from helicopter blades can
cause tents used for shielding workers to collapse or evidence to be blown away.
Security must be provided at the site on a 24 hour basis. Individuals will try to
remove `souvenirs' during the night. In doing so, they threaten the integrity of
all remaining evidence. Security should be provided on site to prevent the theft
of equipment. Digging deep may result in a water table or a pocket of water
being hit. A sump pump and a generator will be required to remove this water.
Be prepared in advance to locate a sump pump, if needed.

Recovery sites are all dierent and investigators must be able to adapt to
them. Consequently, prior planning is critical. Equipment must be located in
advance and must be available on weekends and holidays. If you are unsure how
to recover these types of remains properly, don't do it! Anybody can dig a body
up, but, without the appropriate education and training, few can nd or identify
the evidence. The team concept cannot be overemphasized when recovering
human remains that are buried and/or badly decomposed or skeletonized. In

addition to the all-important rst ocer at the scene, the crime scene technician,
the coroner/medical examiner, the forensic pathologist, the investigator, the
forensic anthropologist and the state's attorney (or prosecutor), there are a few
other individuals whose expertise may be of great value to the case:

• Forensic entomologist A court qualied person who specializes in the study
of insects and applies his or her knowledge and skills to legal cases. Knowledge
of the life cycle of ies (eggs, maggots, pupa and adults) and beetles, potentially
enables the time of death to be rened. A protocol for the collection of specimens
will need to be followed; consult with the forensic entomologist.
• Forensic odontologist A court qualied dentist who applies knowledge of
teeth and dental variation to legal matters. He or she is capable of providing
a positive identication by comparing the deceased's teeth with known dental
records.
• Forensic sculptorist A court qualied person capable of performing a facial
reconstruction from a skull. Without these experts many cases would remain
unsolved due to a lack of positive identication of the deceased, or a lack of a
more accurate time of death. The time to locate these experts is now, not when
the remains are found.
Finally, the investigator who can do everything him- or herself usually has
several unsolved cases but a team of experts working together has few, if any,
unsolved cases.
This may provide investigators with insight into the physical evidence that
is obtainable when recovering human remains that are buried and/or badly
decomposed or skeletonized.
There is a number of points that should be brought to the readers attention.
Anthropological examinations can determine whether something is a bone
and, if so, whether it is human or animal in origin. Race, sex, approximate

height and stature, and approximate age at death often can be determined
from human remains. Damage to bone such as cuts, blunt- force trauma, and
bullet holes also may be examined. Personal identications can be made by
comparing X-rays of a known individual with skeletal remains. Anthropological
examinations usually are conducted on bones sent to the Laboratory for DNA
analysis or facial reproductions.
Clean and air-dry bones, if possible. Pack in paper bags and wrap in protec-
tive material such as Bubble Wrap or paper. If tissue is present on the skeletal
material, refrigerate until mailing, and then ship in a Styrofoam cooler. ÿ Col-
lect insect samples found on the remains in leakproof containers such as lm
canisters. Submit medical records and X-rays, if possible.
If you do have enough of the skull bones including the jaw bones these should
ne handled with care as Visual information specialists provide composite draw-
ings, two- and three-dimensional facial reconstructions from skeletal remains,
facial age progressions, postmortem reconstructions, and digital photographic
manipulations and retouches. Interviews required to prepare composite draw-
ings may be conducted either by having a visual information specialist travel to
the eld or by using video teleconferencing.
TEETH;
Personal identications can be made by comparing teeth with dental records
and X-rays.Pick up teeth with gloved hands or clean forceps. Air-dry teeth
and place in paper bags. Submit teeth with an odontological report, preferably
from an odontologist certied by an expert in Forensic Odontology, or a medical
examiner's/coroner's report. Submit teeth in the following order of preference:

1. Nonrestored molar. 2. Nonrestored premolar. 3. Nonrestored canine. 4.
Nonrestored front tooth.5. Restored molar. 6. Restored premolar. 7. Restored
canine. 8. Restored front tooth.
Record and Collect Physical Evidence. Ensure that all items are pho-
tographed prior to collection.
Mark evidence locations on the sketch. Complete an evidence log noting all
items of evidence collected.
If possible, have one person serve as evidence protector.
Two people should observe the evidence in place, then as it is collected,
initialed, and dated. Evidence items are marked directly only when positive the
marks will not interfere with future forensic examination.

Chapter 6
A body to be or not to be
154
CHAPTER 6. A BODY TO BE OR NOT TO BE 155
data 1 FORENSICS AND ANTHROPOLOGY.
Here I include part of what you should be looking for and what you should
know about an area or culture before you start work. You cannot go in blind
and to do so will leave egg on your face when you make that major mistake.
Your main enemy is Ego, a know all,and know little or nothing of what you
are doing, but most of all who you will be dealing with. Think, Listen,scan
the landscape,Learn, WHO, WHY and When? Below is an example on the
Maya-Spanish groups and for easy reading I have placed the data in Chapter
Sub Groups.
From my research over many years dealing with the civilizations of South
America I am now of the opinion that the Maya dates are in fact wrong. This of
course is understandable because of past data and also poor research by others.
It may be taken as a valid point in a debate on the Maya as well as the Aztec
Empires that there seems to be much confusion of who was who and when in
fact did the Empires start to fade.
I am suggestion that the present data on the Maya Empire as put forward as
evidence as fact in the Time-line is due to poor research in the present day and
does not t into the true Maya time-lines. I have placed an example a report
from Colombia and mentions a tribe called the 'MUISCA' and their time line
is said to be early 100-1600 AD
Builders clearing land for a housing project in Colombia have uncovered an
ancient burial site containing nearly a thousand tombs linked to two little-known
civilizations. The site covers some 12 acres (5 hectares) in the impoverished
Usme district in southeast Bogotá and includes one set of remains that some
researchers believe could be a victim of human sacrice. The possible victim is a
young woman who seems to have been buried alive, said Ana Maria Groot, one
of the lead anthropologists from the National University of Colombia working
at the site. "Her mouth is open as if in terror, and her hands seem contracted
as if she had tried grabbing hold of something," Groot said.
Another tomb contains the remains of a man with a curved tibia, or shinbone,
possible evidence that the man was a shaman, she added. Spanish observers in
the 1500s wrote of indigenous shamans spending long periods in caves with no
exposure to sunlight. A lack of sunlight would produce a shortage of vitamin
D, causing curving of the bones, explained Groot's colleague, Virgilio Becerra.
Two Mysterious Cultures Aside from such unusual nds, the site is unique
for its age and length of occupation, the anthropologists say. The tombs range
in date from around the rst century to the 16th century A.D., based on analysis
of pottery found with the remains. The rst 500 years of the site's use date to
the so-called Herrera period, when several small, obscure groups thrived in this
region of the Andean highlands during the development of agriculture. "The
agriculture became more intensive, more systematic at this time," Groot said.
"We have high expectations about nding what kinds of plants they cultivated."
From around A.D. 500 to 1500, the site seems to have been occupied by the
Muisca, another culture that is one of Colombia's most important but least
understood civilizations, Groot said.
Rife with artefacts from both periods, the Usme site is a potential treasure
trove of information, she added. "A settlement like Usme oers the chance to
research the settlement's development through dierent moments in a prolonged
occupation," she said. "We can identify those changes as expressed in their
cultural practices."
On-going analysis should reveal more about life expectancy, diet, disease,
and other aspects of daily life and social organization in the settlement, Groot
added.
It is here that information has been placed for reference but the Authors
themselves have very little information of who these tribal people were.
Because of the above report from the other Authors and a location my
research had to start far back in Mesoamerica as any cultures or tribes tended
to have a very slow growth unlike many other parts of our world.
The growing of crops; maize, seemed to be delayed and there was a major
delay. Bones discovered over many years in what was once the Maya Empire
tended to be lumped together as `Maya', at times no sex of the owner of the
bones was mentioned because through the archaeology teams uncovered them
it was highly unlikely that many of them had any idea what they were looking
at except they `looked human' and there was some signs of `trauma' on some of
them.
There are three main things to keep in mind when working on the Maya
Empire, Buildings and ruins, landscape and human remains. If you happen to
be one of those people who work in Forensics or want to, Archaeology or in this
case the vast subject of human Anthropology then right from the start you need
to know at least the basics of bones, human or otherwise you are going to be at
a major disadvantage. There is little point of being on site and nding a bone
in the soil or pond and stating, "Bone" in your report. You need to know what
sort of bone, who or what owned it, later how old is it, and most of all how did
it get there? There is no room for guess work in the eld or lab because those
days are gone!
If you only have a bone fragment then bag it and when ready take it back to
your lab or working bench top and then and only then nd out if you can what
it is name wise. All bone fragments should be placed in a bag and labelled for
each bag and fragment with date and place found.
LONG BONES IN HUMANS AND OTHER LAND MAMMALS.
In bones discovered in shallow graves or old burial mounds it is the skull, if
there is one, or the long bones of the upper and lower limbs that will be easy
to ID as human. Though we have found human long bones there may well be
fractures in some of them post mortem and great care taken on their removal
from site to the Lab.
Taphonomic Applications Forensic Anthropology
The eld of taphonomy is the study of the processes by which organic re-
mains pass from the biosphere into the lithosphere as the result of geology and
biological processes.
Archaeologists for the most recognized the importance of understanding
taphonomic processes to properly interpret human modications of organic ma-
terials. There is without doubt that a taphonomic assessment as an important
and vital component of forensic anthropological analysis.
Of course there are very many processes that can alter the appearance of
bone and related organic materials after death. Such factors in the transport
and dispersal of skeletal elements include animals, gravity, or water and uvial
processes. The properties of the bones inuence their reaction to these processes
and that must not be forgotten. Animal-related processes include trampling,

entrance fall, gnawing, and digestion.
Physical factors include rock-fall, water transport, sandblasting, weather-
ing, burial, diagenic movement, acid attack by roots, cryoturbation, release
and breakup by bottom-fast ice, and mineralization by ground water (Marshall
1989).
All of these can act independently or in unison to produce alteration of
bones. Both animal and physical processes need to be understood in recon-
structing the context of death and the sequences after death in forensic cases.
The usual sequence of disarticulation and scattering of mammal skeletons has
been documented through studies by Hill (1979) in Lake Turkana, Kenya; An-
drews and Cook (1985); and others. Hill and Behrensmeyer (1984) found the
pattern of disarticulation to be very predictable.
Human remains, exposed in outdoor scenes, can become disarticulated and
scattered in a pattern similar to other large mammals. Knowledge about such
patterns can be of use in scene recovery of remains and interpretation of missing
elements.
Fate of Human Remains.
Miller found considerable variation in patterns of animal chewing. Miller
(1969) adds that seasonal shifts involving freezing and thawing and/or wetting
and drying can also alter bone. In the UK and Ireland bone chewing and
scattering on site is carried out by a number of our native species of birds and
mammals which I have listed below.
FOXES BADGERS. RATS. CATS. DOGS. POLECATS. MICE AND VOLES
(CHEWING OR NIBBLING) BUZZARDS. RED KITES. MAGPIES. RAVENS.
CARRION/HOODED CROWS.
My experimental research with a fresh date sheep in Wales tended to show
that on the rst day the eyes were removed by the members of the crow family
and during the night foxes started the main process of opening up the sheep,
which during the day brought in red kites, buzzards and crows. Within two
weeks there was little left on site and the few bones including the skull left were
well scattered. Badgers fed on site but did not carry any food away and no
sheep remains of carrion value was left even fed on even the smaller species such
as blackbirds and nches.
Members of the crow family would take human REMAINS but none were
ever found at the badger setts. Foxes, cats and dogs fed on site at night and the
foxes did carry some bones away. I also noted that as this was in the Spring of
2011 that sheep wool had been plucked out and carried o to line the nests of
magpies, crows and ravens.
The same could be said of human remains and human hair would be taken
by birds head hair for nest lining and we tend to look down and not up when
looking for human remains. (Carleton 2013)
In the case of Europe and into Russia I need to add to the list of animals
and birds that are involved with human and animal remains. This is laid out
below.
BROWN BEAR. WOLF. ARCTIC FOX. RACOON. WOLVERINE. MINK.
STEPPE AND MARBLED POLECATS. PINE AND BEECH MARTEN. SABLE.
LYNX. PARDEL LYNX. WILDCAT. ALL DEER SPECIES. (Have been known
to chew and crunch bones) WILD BOAR. CRESTED PORCUPINE. EAGLES.
VULTURES. WILD DOGS.
Trampling marks can mimic cut marks. Such cut mark mimics can occur on
bones subjected to trampling and original true cut marks can be obscured by
the disturbance factors by animals and birds feeding on the dead. Mimics from
human-induced trauma can be critical in a forensic analysis. It is particularly
important to be able to support a conclusion that natural processes cannot be

ruled out. Many people fail to do this and see a more sinister reason for the
damage and of course o they go on their merry way looking for someone or
something that is not there in the rst place! Environmental assessment can
play an important role in interpretation.
The burial context such as large mammals burying part of the carrion (foxes,
wolves, bears) or a shallow grave in pattern of the marks on the bones all provide
clues.
The implication of this study for interpretation in archaeology and foren-
sic anthropology is clear: taphonomic factors must be considered in judging
possible tool marks on bone. Since animal chewing represents an obvious and
well-known taphonomic factor, researchers have accumulated useful information
on carnivore feeding patterns.
In a study of 125 carcasses in the Arctic, Haynes (1982) documented consid-
erable variation in the gnawing damage sustained by carcasses. Haynes (1983a)
noted that dierent patterns of bone alteration resulted from canids, hyenas,
bears, and felids. Sutclie (1971) notes that bone-chewing animals are not con-
ned to carnivores.
The herbivores cattle, red deer, reindeer, muntjac deer, camels, giraes,
wildebeest, kudos, gemsbok, and sable antelopes also have been documented to
produce chewing-type alterations on bones. Research also has documented that
the pattern of chewing varies for dierent bones, and that animal chewing can
produce spiral fractures that frequently are interpreted as evidence of human
activity in archaeology and potentially in forensic anthropology as well.
In a study of bison and moose remains, Haynes (1983) found that about 5%
of the bones showed spiral fractures due to trampling and 8% due to carnivore
activity. He suggested that up to 50% of the bones of smaller species may show
such fractures. As noted by Hill (1976), the internal structure of bone strongly
inuences the nature of the fracture. As a result of taphonomic research, ar-
chaeologists now routinely consider such factors in interpreting fauna remains
to assess the number of individuals present , the possible products of the hunt
and the possible use of tools. Agenbroad (1989) reported the presence of spiral
fractures that others might have interpreted as being of human origin on the
bones of 34 mammoths excavated at a natural sink hole trap in South Dakota.
The remains date between 21,000 and 26,000 B.P., well before the presence of
humans in the area.
Agenbroad identied the following processes that modied the bones at the
Hot Springs Mammoth Site:
biological (trampling, torsion/falling, carnivores), hydrological (spring eu-
ent, subaqueous down-slope movement), geological/structural and mechanical
(boulder fall, freezing, over bank fall). Animal chewing, and other causes of bone
breakage, can be confounding variables in forensic interpretations. On the one
hand, such processes can obscure evidence of the cause and manner of death.
On the other hand, some modications such as spiral fractures with impact
scars, can be dicult to interpret. It is necessary to examine the patterns using
taphonomic models of animal modication and careful scene reconstruction.
Applications in Forensic Anthropology
Weathering Patterns In the taphonomic process, weathering represents the
response of the bone to its immediate environment, e.g., soil, sun, etc. as
opposed to carnivore modications, trampling, uvial transport, and geochem-
ical changes, (Behrensmeyer 1978;Miller1975). From her research with bones
of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin in southern Kenya, Behrensmeyer
(1978)recognized six progressive stages of bone weathering:
Stage 0. Bone surface shows no sign of cracking or aking due to weath-
ering. Usually bone is still greasy. Marrow cavities contain tissue; skin and
muscle/ligament may cover part or all of the bone surface.
Stage 1. Bone shows cracking, normally parallel to the bre structure (e.g.,
longitudinal in long bones). Articular surfaces may show mosaic cracking of
covering tissue as well as in the bone itself. Fat, skin, and other tissue may or
may not be present.
Stage 2. Outermost concentric thin layers of bone show aking, usually
associated with cracks, in that the bone edges along the cracks tend to separate
and ake rst. Long thin akes, with one or more sides still attached to the
bone, are common in the initial part of stage 2. Deeper and more extensive
aking follows, until most of the outermost bone is gone. Crack edges are
usually angular in cross section. Remnants of ligaments, cartilage, and skin
may be present.
Stage 3. Bone surface is characterized by patches of rough, homogeneously
weathered compact bone, resulting in a brous texture. In these patches, all the
external, concentrically layered bone has been removed. Gradually the patches
extend to cover the entire bone surface. Weathering does not penetrate deeper
than 1.0 to 1.5 mm at this stage, and bone bres are still rmly attached to each
other. Crack edges usually are rounded in cross section. Tissue rarely present
at this stage.
Stage 4. The bone surface is coarsely brous and rough in texture; large
and small splinters occur and may be loose enough to fall away from the bone
when it is moved. Weathering penetrates into inner cavities. Cracks are open
and have splintered or rounded edges.
Stage 5. Bone is falling apart in situ, with large splinters lying around what
remains of the whole, which is fragile and easily broken by moving. Original
bone shape may be dicult to determine. Cancellous bone usually exposed,
when present, and may outlast all traces of the former more compact, outer
parts of the bones. (Behrensmeyer 1978).
The Behrensmeyer weathering model can assist in understanding and recon-
structing the post mortem interval . Although in human forensic cases that
interval is much shorter than in paleontological contexts, weathering changes
can frequently be key to ruling out perimortem trauma. Many of the palaeonto-
logical and archaeological principles outlined above have direct utility in forensic
anthropology areas of application are:
(1) estimation of post mortem interval (time since death);
(2) environmental reconstruction The Post-mortem Fate of Human Remains
or the detection of unknown post-mortem scenarios;
(3) reconstruction of post-mortem events; and (4) distinguishing evidence
of foul play from alterations caused by other taphonomic factors. Taphonomic
assessment of human remains diers from that of non-human animals not only
in the structural dierences between humans and non-human animals that may
inuence response to taphonomic forces, but especially in that human behaviour
frequently is involved normally in the post-mortem treatment of the dead. With
humans, post-mortem interpretation includes not only the possible eects of
weathering, trampling, et., but also embalming, cremation, or other types of
burning, burial, con enclosure and many other cultural factors as would be
found with the Maya but also in the area, BC and afterwards of other cultures
that even today little is known about or for that matter, explored by many
people in this eld of anthropology or archaeology because they wanted to think
`big' and in doing so missed gems of information of tribes and peoples that were
the seeds for their big ego's and anaemic written papers but most of all the very
rst peoples in this research project.
A PowerPoint presentation to a group of people in a room on the two main
empires of South America, the Maya and Aztecs is all very well and good but
when it comes to questions afterwards like; `Where did these people come from
and where did many of them vanish to before the Spaniards came to carry out
slaughter and pillage, like at least 300 years before that if not more?' There
would be a long silence I fear.(Carleton 2013)
Consideration has come to mean interpretation of all events aecting the
remains between death and discovery.
There is where the `expert' eld worker comes in but as I have found out
from the study of archaeology and reading reports, the so called interpretations
in many cases are awed to the point of stupidity because they were rushed.
Most forensic anthropologists also are experienced in aspects of archaeology
and in the interpretation of archaeologically recovered human remains, they
are most qualied to make such assessments. However as I have stated above,
mistakes are made and therefore making the evidence presented rather weak
when a much closer look is taken of it. It is all very well being 'academic' when
presenting facts but not a good idea to leave common sense back in the lab!
CARLETON'S ANTHROPOLOGY CODEX DATA 2013
Taphonomic assessment represents the most important contributions made
by anthropologists. This is especially true in the interpretation of skeletal evi-
dence for foul play.
Estimation of Post-mortem Interval ;
Although the study of arthropods associated with remains and other factors
can contribute to the estimation of the post mortem interval such interpretations
of a large skeleton remains involve assessment of its condition. Experience shows
how variable the rate of decomposition can be. Inuencing factors can be the
ambient temperature, amount of rainfall, clothing, burial type, burial depth,
extent of animal chewing and disarticulation, extent of perimortem trauma,
body weight, and general environmental conditions.

The pattern of post-mortem change varies regionally and among micro-
environments within each region. This also applies to the whole of the UK
and Ireland.
In parts of Europe (Spain and Turkey) rapid bloating, but extensive mum-
mication in the dry environment can take place where Tropical environments
can involve skeletonization within 2 weeks. Freezing and thawing as well as
mechanical injury can inuence the process. The formation of adipose in wet
environments can lead to exceptionally long-term preservation. The general pat-
tern of disarticulation and bone weathering documented in experimental studies
stemming from paleontological interests generally applies to humans as well. In
fact, Bielenstein (1990) demonstrates that Behrensmeyer's (1978) stages of bone
weathering match the sequence seen in modern forensic cases.
Much of the research on animal chewing of animal carcasses documented
above also has been extended to humans. Dierent animals leave distinct pat-
terns of tooth marks on human bone (Haglund et al. 1988; Haglund 1992;
Milner and Smith 1989; Ubelaker 1989; Willey and Snyder 1989).
The amount of carnivore activity varies considerably due to circumstances
that shelter the remains from animal access and the human population den-
sity in the area (Haglund et al. 1988). With human remains, ve stages of
sequential alteration due to canid scavenging. These are no bony involvement,
ventral thorax damage with one or both upper extremities removed, lower ex-
tremity involvement, only vertebral segments remaining articulated, and total
disarticulation.
Obviously, previous trauma to the remains or other unusual factors may
inuence the sequence of change. It could also show that volatile fatty acids
produced from soft tissue decomposition and anions and cations also from soft
tissue may be detected within the soil beneath human remains. Measurement of
these factors in controlled samples can allow accurate estimates of post-mortem
interval in some circumstances. Experimentation and experience have revealed
useful information on the decomposition process. Usually with surface burials,
most odour and much of the soft tissue are gone within 6 months (depending
upon the season). Sun bleaching, bone surface cracking, and the processes
indicate many months or even many years, depending upon the circumstances.
Thanks to the Body Farm in the USA we have moved forward but here in the
UK we need not hold out breath because of stupid planning laws! (Carleton(c)
2013)
The rate of post-mortem change can be impressive and in arid environments
such as coastal sands or peat bogs mummication can occur naturally, leading
to soft tissue preservation for hundreds or even thousands of years. This is
worth noting!
In a tropical environment where remains are exposed to scavenging animals,
a human body can become bones within 14 days. Such variability can occur
even within a single site. On river banks or in rivers if there are Crocs then it
could be goodbye to any remains.
Bass (1984) provides an excellent example of how dicult estimating time
since death can be. His examination of the remains within the recently dis-
turbed grave of a man who died 113 years previously revealed excellent soft
tissue preservation, extensive odour and clothing as well. He initially suspected
the remains were a recent deposit in the old grave. Later he learned that the
remains actually were those of the man described on the tombstone. A cast
iron con allowed the unusual preservation. I have found that the importance
of environmental reconstruction from taphonomic indicators, in my experience,
it can be of potential signicance in forensic anthropology.
Barnacles adhering to bones indicate exposure to salt water. Green algae

stain frequently is present on remains from moist shaded areas. Soil embedded
in orices indicates previous burial. Bleaching of bone surfaces usually indi-
cates prolonged sun exposure, although salt water can produce similar results.
Adipocere usually indicates a wet environment. Such observations usually re-
ect the known conditions surrounding the discovery site. Cobwebs are found
within a skull recovered from a garage. Soil lled bones with sun exposure are
expected from remains found from a grave disturbed years ago in a sunny area.
Remains originating from previous burial in a cemetery also can be detected.
Note:
In physical characteristics associated with the embalming process, artifacts
associated with the con, devices used in embalming, and levels of chemicals
in the soft tissue all provide clues to the remains' history.
Over the years I have looked at large mammal and human remains, starting
in the Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast where I worked in the Pathology Depart-
ment with a little input to the animal biology section and then in St. James
Hospital Dublin where daily it was `hands' on in the mortuary. Weekends al-
ways brought in a heavy workload and on a Monday morning we were busy with
the dead that came in drowned, hanged, gunshot and knife killings, drug over
doses, children of all ages, very sudden deaths at times and of course at a bag
of remains that you could smell before you even got there. In those days you
got your real training around a stainless steel table, maybe four depending on
the work load. You had a mental `tick' list well before you started;
Check ID of body, remove clothes and bag them, check for bruising all over
body, note sex and possible age, check for trauma wounds, check nails, measure
up the body. Have a smoke then make that rst cut. Then it was take uids
and bottle which included blood, some stomach contents, remove brain, heart
and lungs, liver and stomach. You had to work carefully but fast because two
tables away you had a `swimmer' and a `jumper' were waiting to meet you
and this had to be done before lunch if there was a lunch break. My thanks
to Sir Henry Biggart, Dame Ingrid Allen and Prof; Mary Vint of the Queen's
University Pathology Department Belfast who put a young man on the right
track all those years ago and to Prof; Robert Owen of St James Hospital who
taught me many things.
In Memory of those that walked the walk and did the talk. Thanks.
Ronnie Carleton (c) 2013
DATA TWO.
THE MAYA, THE HIDDEN PEOPLE.
That is one of the good things about human bones because they are all the
same worldwide WELL almost and a few may well be smaller than say adults
or people in the west compared with that of the peoples of South America or
Asia.
We cannot get away from the fact that long bones of an African tribal man
or woman are similar to those of a man or a woman living 3000 miles west or
1000 miles to the north of their village or town but what we don't know is where
the Maya people came from and where did they go or vanish to in a short period
of the earth's history.
Something happened in South America and the archaeology has been done
to death over the years by many people but for all that there is still more
questions than answers and I suggest that some of those answers and theories
have been wrong because of poor and rushed interpretations. That I know is a
bold statement of course but here I am dealing with anthropology of the Maya
civilisation and the evidence and research I have put together as part of the
codex;
A Mayan Glossary
Ahau The Maya word for "god" and for "high king". Ah kin. A high priest.
Atl-atl. Spear-throwing device. Bacab. A class of important gods. Balam (pl.
Balamob) Jaguar spirit. There are traditionally four of these, which watch to
keep evil away from Maya villages and householders, even today. The balamob
were benevolent but feared, and acted as guardians of the corn elds. Balché.
A strong wine. Cenote. A natural waterhole. Cenote is a corruption by the
Spanish of the Maya word dzonot, a large circular sink-hole created by the col-
lapse of limestone caves. The water in cenotes is ltered through limestone and
constituted one of the primary sources of drinking water for the Maya. Patterns
of settlement among the early Maya often followed the location of cenotes. Chi-
cle.The juice of the sapodilla tree, used in the making of chewing gum. Chilan.
A soothsayer or medium. Chultun (pl. Chultunob). A bottle-shaped cistern
constructed underground by the Maya. The entrances to these were surrounded
by plastered aprons which directed rainwater into the chultunob during the rainy
seasons. Corte. Indian woman's traditional full-length skirt.
Haab. One of the three Maya calendars, and the one which corresponds
most closely to ours in length. The haab is also known as the "Vague Year" by
archaeologists, since it is 365 days in length, or about a quarter day short of the
actual solar year.
The "Mayan Calendar" is the popular name for the 5,125-year organization
of time,number, astrology, and astronomy employed by the Maya in ancient
Mesoamerica. Archaeologists and historians of Mesoamerican civilization gen-
erally refer to this symbolic time grid as the Long Count.
The Long Count has three elements that are shared with the Western cal-
endar (which governs daily life in the rst world): a means of grouping large
periods of time, a base date, and an astrological component. Time.
The use natural astronomical motions to organize time in order to coor-

dinate social activities. From the counting of Moons in the Paleolithic to the
modern denition of the second by fractioning the Earth's orbit around the Sun,
astronomy has been the backbone of our calendars and time-keeping systems.
In the Western calendar, time is grouped into solar years, decades, centuries,
and millennia. We organize time according to the solar year in multiples of the
number 10, a good number to use if one counts on ngers. In the Long Count
time is grouped into multiples of the numbers 20 (ngers and toes) and also 13,
numbers that Westerners are less familiar with. In the Western calendar, time
is linear.
There's a starting point, 0, and straight lines move forward and backward
in time from that point. Signicance is thought to occur when a multiple of ten
is crossed, like the year 2000.
Western time only moves forward, but in the Long Count, time is both
forward and cyclic. The starting point of the Long Count is August 11, 3114
BCE and the end date is December 21, 2012, a span of 5,125.37 years or exactly
1,872,000 days. The world did not end. There are therefore a nite number of
days that must occur between the base date and the end date, and these days
are grouped in several blocks of time that cycle simultaneously. One time unit
used by the Maya, called a tun, measures 360 days and approximates the solar
year. 5,200 tuns make up the Long Count.
Another fundamental time unit is the katun, a period equal to 20 tuns (20 x
360 = 7,200 days or 19.71 years). A katun is very close (within 54 days) to the
mean synodic cycle of Jupiter and Saturn which is 19.86 years. It is very prob-
able that the katun represents in a numerological ideal form the Jupiter/Saturn
synodic cycle similar to the rounding o of the 365.24 days of the year to 360
degrees of the zodiac. The Maya regarded the katun of 7,200 days as a major
historic time period, a generation marker of sorts. There are 260katuns in the
Long Count as 20 x 260 = 1,872,000 days.
The baktun, a period of 144,000 days or 394 years, subsumes 20 katuns
and there are exactly 13 baktuns in the Long Count. Each baktun contains 20
katuns, it too is related to the cycle of Jupiter and Saturn conjunctions. 1 solar
year = 365.24 days 1 tun = 360 days = 0.99 years 1 Jupiter/Saturn conjunction
= 19.86 years 1 katurn = 20 tuns = 19.71 years 20 Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions
= 397 years 1 baktun = 20 katuns = 394 years The Long Count is a 5,125-year
span that is composed of 5,200 tuns (360 days), 260 katuns (7,200 days), and
13 baktuns (144,000 days). Most if not all we need to know about Maya time
and number is contained in these gures.
The Maya, Aztec's, Toltecs and nearly every distinct culture that lived in
Mesoamerican (ancient Mexico and northern Central America) used a count of
260 days that forms the core of a unique astrological system. There is a 20
day sequence of signs, called day-signs, that make up the 260-day count and
function like a zodiac. This eternally repeating sequence of 260 days is called
the tzolkin and it is composed of 13 repeats of the 20 day-signs (13 x 20 = 260).
Archaeologists call this 260-day count the divinatory calendar, or the sacred
calendar. I am of the informed opinion they don't really know!
Halach Uinic, "the chief of men" - a leader or king. Huipel A traditional
Maya wraparound, woven cotton dress, worn leaving the shoulders bare. La-
candón A region of rain forest between the Petén and the eastern slopes of the
Chiapas highlands. Also refers to the Maya people who inhabit this region.
K'awil Sustenance or alms, used as an oering to the gods. It could be any
precious substance, such as blood, semen, sap, maize, dough, gum from trees,
rubber, and so on. The god of sustenance is named K'awil. Ladino A person of
mixed Maya-Spanish race. Manta A square of cloth, used as a cloak or blanket;
still worn by the Maya today. Maya The Maya originated around 2600 B.C.
and rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day Mexico, Guatemala,
Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Inheriting the inventions and ideas of earlier
civilizations, the Maya developed astronomy, calendrical systems, hieroglyphic
writing, ceremonial architecture, and masonry without metal tools. Maya civ-
ilization started to decline around A.D. 900, although some peripheral centres
continued to thrive until the Spanish conquest in the early sixteenth century.
Mayan The language group of the Maya peoples, composed of 31 mutually un-
intelligible languages.
(The term should be reserved for Mayan languages.)
The word "Maya" should be used for the name of the people, either as a
noun or an adjective.)
Mesoamerica An ethno-geographical area in Central America, which in-
cluded Guatemala, Belize, the north-western edges of Honduras and El Salvador,
and the Mexican provinces of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche and part of
Tabasco. Milpa A corneld. Nacom A Maya military commander. Olmec A
highly elaborate Mesoamerican culture on the Mexican gulf coast which was at
its height from 1200 to 600 B.C. The Olmec inuenced the rise and develop-
ment of the other great civilizations of Mesoamerica, such as the Maya, and were
probably the rst to develop large religious and ceremonial centres with tem-
ple mounds, monumental sculptures, massive altars, and sophisticated systems
of drains and lagoons. The Olmec were probably also the rst Mesoamericans
to devise glyph writing and the 260-day calendar. Petén The northern por-
tion of Guatemala. Covered for the most part by rain forest, Petén was the
centre of Classic Maya civilization until its collapse, after which the area was
largely abandoned. Pok-a-tok A Maya ball game. Pom The resin of the copal
tree, used by the Maya for rubber, chewing gum and incense. Quetzal A rare
Central American bird. It was prized by the Maya kings for its brilliant blue-
green feathers. The male bird has a tail close to 60 cm. long. Today this bird
is nearing extinction. Sacbe Literally, "white road"; a Maya stone causeway
linking Maya buildings and settlements. Tecomates Thin-walled neck less jars
used by archaeologists to date Maya sites. Toltec The Toltecs ruled much of
Maya central Mexico from the tenth to twelfth centuries A.D. The Toltecs were
the last dominant Mesoamerican culture before the Aztecs, and inherited much
from Maya civilization. The Toltec capital was at Tula, 80 kilometres north of
Mexico City. The most impressive Toltec ruins, however, are at Chichén Itzá
in Yucatán, where a branch of Toltec culture survived beyond the civilization's
fall in central Mexico. Tzolkin The 260-day Maya calendar, also known as the
"Sacred Round". Uayeb The ve unlucky days in the 365-day haab calendar of
the Maya. Witz The rst mountain in the Maya creation story. Temples are
representations of Witz. Xibalbá The Maya underworld where people go when
they die. Yucatán The homeland of the rst Maya; from here, they spread to
Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and other provinces of Mexico. Yu-
catán was called the "Land of Turkey and Deer" by the Maya, because of the
abundance of edible wildlife found there.
The Maya Pantheon First Mother and First Father The First Mother and
First Father are the Creator Couple described in the Popol Vuh. All the other
gods who subsequently came into being were the ospring of this couple. The
First Mother, the Moon Goddess, was born six years before the First Father,
Hun Nal Ye. Also known as the Maize God and the Plumed or Feathered
Serpent, the First Father was responsible for overseeing the new creation of the
cosmos. Hunahpu and Xbalanque These Hero Twins overcame the forces of
death, paving the way for the conception of humans. They are usually shown
wearing red and white cloth headbands, a symbol of Maya rulership. The face
of Hunahpu serves as a glyph for the day name ahau, meaning king. The
Patrons of Writing The Hero Twins had two older brothers who were jealous of
the twins and did everything they could to make their younger brothers' lives
dicult. The Hero Twins changed their brothers into monkeys and they became
the patron gods of scribes.
The Maize God Like the Sun God, the Maize God is associated with life
and death. He follows the path across the sky, descends into the Underworld, is
reborn, and returns to the Sky World. The attened and elongated forehead of
this deity is often accentuated by a partly shaven head and eyebrows, leaving
patches of hair on the top of his head, which resembles a ripened ear of corn.
The Maya elite practised changing the shape of their osprings' skulls to
resemble the Maize God's elongated head by tying two boards front and back
against the infant's head but sadly those with a UFO and Alien interest tend
to put forwards that such skulls found are of an Alien being!
Itzam-Yeh: the Celestial Bird Also known as the Serpent Bird and Seven-
Macaw, Itzam-Yeh is associated with the four corners of the world. He also
marked the four corners of the temple, thereby establishing the sacred moun-
tain's summit. Itzamná: Lord of the Heavens Itzamná, or "Lizard House", is a
high-ranking god who was the rst shaman and diviner; the word itz can mean
shaman, a person who could open the portals to the spirit world. The Maya
elite considered him an ancient form of the omnipotent, supreme deity. Kings
and shamans contacted Itzamná to plead with him to open the way so sacred
nourishment would ow into the world to sustain humanity. He is also the in-
ventor of writing and the patron of learning and the sciences. K'awil: the god
of sustenance K'awil is associated with royal power, which originates with the
gods. He often appears on sceptres clasped by rulers during ritual ceremonies
and when they ascend to the throne. The Jaguar Sun God Almighty God the
Sun dwells in the highest levels of heaven. When he traces the path of the sun
across the sky in the daytime, his name is Kinich Ahau. When the sun falls
into the West Door and enters the Underworld, he becomes the fearsome Jaguar
God. Ix Chel: Lady Rainbow Wife to the high god Itzamná, she oversees weav-
ing, medicine, and childbirth. Like the First Mother, she is a moon goddess,
who is depicted sitting in a moon sign holding a rabbit. Chac: the Rain God
and Cosmic Monster Chac is a dragon-like monster with a crocodilian head and
deer ears. Since he exists on the perimeter of the cosmos, this cosmic monster
marks the path between the natural and supernatural worlds. In the creation
story, Chacs were placed at the four corners of the world. They bring the rains
by shedding their blood; they create thunderbolts by hurling down their stone
axes. Chac was also the name given to Maya elders who assisted at ceremonies
and sacrices.
The Lords of Death;
Many Maya gods dwell in the Underworld. The Lords of Death are depicted
as skeleton people or ugly bloated beings wearing ornaments such as disem-
bodied eyes taken from the dead. The Witz monster The Witz monster is the
symbol of the living mountain. Images of this creature were placed on tem-
ples to transform them into sacred, living mountains. He is depicted with a
zoomorphic face, a huge gaping mouth, and a stepped cleft in the chin.
AGUATECA: CLASSIC-period walled city in PETEXBATUN, Guatemala,
investigated by Takeshi Inomata, where evidence of elite CRAFT PRODUC-
TION was found. The city was abandoned suddenly due to WARFARE.
AHAU: The highest rank in Maya society was that of ahau, lord; this in-
cluded both the ruler and a larger group of males and females, not all of whom
were of equal rank. Ahau was an inherited status.
ALTAR DE SACRIFICIOS: CLASSIC Maya city along the Pasion River,
Guatemala, excavated under direction of GORDON R. WILLEY, with major

ceramic study by Richard E. W. Adams.
ALTUN HA: MINOR CENTER north of Belize City investigated by David
Prendergast and famous for a 4.4-kilogram carved JADE head of the Maya sun
god from a TEMPLE tomb. The JADE head is stored in Belize Bank in Belize
City.
ARCHAIC: Time period of development of agriculture, hunting of small an-
imals, and gathering wild plants before the introduction of pottery and farming
villages in the Maya area. It is best known at COLHA and by Belize surveys
by Richard MacNeish, and it predates 1000 b.c. in the MAYA LOWLANDS.
ASTRONOMY:
The DRESDEN CODEX provides details of Late POSTCLASSIC astronom-
ical knowledge, but much has also been gleaned from CLASSIC Maya visual im-
ages, the layout of buildings, and analogies with the POPOL VUH. The Maya
recorded and predicted the daily, seasonal, and yearly trajectories of the sun,
moon, planets, and stars in relation to the Earth, as well as solar and lunar
solstices and equinoxes, the rising and setting of planets, and the likelihood of
comets.
BAKING POT: MINOR CENTER along the Belize River, investigated by
Oliver and Mary Ricketson of CARNEGIE INSTITUTION, Gordon Willey's
Belize Valley survey in 1950s, and more recently by Belize archaeologists Jaime
Awe and Allan Moore.
BAKTUN: The largest unit of time in the Maya counting system, referring
to a period of 400 years.
BALL COURT: Usually at the center of cities, a rectangular playing eld
with sloped or vertical walls and sometimes circular ball court markers along the
centre line. Here, according to depictions on painted pots and stone carvings and
recounted in the POPOL VUH, two or more players used a RUBBER BALL
in a game that may have been for life or death, sometimes played with war
captives.
BALL GAME: A Maya game of chance, skill, and trickery reecting life.
Playing ball engaged one in the maintenance of the cosmic order of the universe
and the ritual regeneration of life. War captives were brought to play ball,
but also the central location of BALL COURTS at Maya cities places them as
central to the political lives of the Maya court in many additional ways.
BARRA PHASE: Earliest pottery in Maya area, on Pacic littoral about
1800 b.c.
BARTON RAMIE: A small community consisting mainly of house mounds,
which was the focus of Gordon Willey's pioneering settlement pattern study
along the Belize River during the 1950s.
BECAN: The defensive wall at Becan suggests early WARFARE, involving
the central Mexican state of Teotihuacan, since GREEN OBSIDIAN was asso-
ciated with the defensive wall and Teotihuacan controlled the green obsidian
quarry.
BERLIN, HEINRICH: Made critical discovery that EMBLEM GLYPHS are
names of Maya cities, which, along with discoveries by PROSKOURIAKOFF
and KNOROZOV, were instrumental in the decipherment of Mayan HIERO-
GLYPHS.
BLOODLETTING:
Blood oerings made by the Maya to their GODS. OBSIDIAN blades, stingray
spines, and knotted ropes are shown in scenes on carved monuments and painted
pictorial pots being used to pierce the tongue, lips, genitals, or other body parts
to make blood oerings to the GODS, such as on a stone sculpture from Yax-
chilan. The cloth bundles often shown held by royal women during accession
ceremonies at Yaxchilan may have contained the BLOODLETTING equipment.

BOATS: Canoes depicted on carved bones from a BURIAL in a TEMPLE
at TIKAL, in carved manatee rib bones from ALTUN HA and MOHO CAY,
from pottery replicas from ORLANDO'S JEWFISH in southern Belize, and on
painted murals from CHICHEN ITZA were powered by canoe paddlers, with
no evidence of the use of sails.
BONAMPAK: Painted murals on interior walls of buildings depict scenes of
WARFARE, capture, and torture by the Late CLASSIC Maya of this city in
the southern MAYA LOWLANDS, as studied by Mary Miller.
BURIALS: Interment of the common Maya was normally under house oors
or in the construction ll of a new building, whereas the royal Maya were buried
in their TEMPLES. Both types of burials were associated with grave oerings.
CAHAL: After the AHAU, the next lower social level, still considered nobil-
ity. Cahals were rulers of small sites, as well as nobles who assisted the AHAU
in battle and in various royal ceremonies. Both AHAU and cahal were inherited
statuses.
CAHAL PECH: MINOR CENTER in the outskirts of the modern town of
San Ignacio, Belize, important for Middle Preclassic development. The site was
investigated by Jaime Awe, and the reconstruction of Late CLASSIC architec-
ture was done by Joseph Ball and Jennifer Taschek.
CALAKMUL (KALAKMUL): CALAKMUL was the major seat of power
of the KAAN or "Kingdom of the Snake," which rst arose further north but
built Calakmul into a Late Classic Era superpower ally of CARACOL and rival
to TIKAL. A series of 11 painted vessels, dubbed Dynastic Vases, describe the
ascensions of the Kaan rulers, including ancestral and legendary gures.
CALENDAR: Using the GMT (Goodman-Martinez-Thompson) correlation
to the Christian CALENDAR, the Maya CALENDAR originated in 3114 BCE.
and was used to provide dates using a base 20, with numbers written from the
top in multiples of 400 years, multiples of 20 years, and multiples of 20 days
(months), using a sophisticated MATHEMATICAL SYSTEM and the numbers
1 through 19 indicating the date.
CALENDAR ROUND: The 365-day vague year and the 260-day TZOLKIN
CALENDARS combined to form the Maya Calendar Round. It took 52 (vague)
years for the same day on each calendar to co-occur (260 × 365 = 18,980 days).
A Calendar Round date consists of the Tzolkin date followed by the vague year
date, such as 1 Kán 1 Pop.
CANCUEN: Southern Maya lowland city at juncture of highland-lowland
trade route, investigated by Arthur Demarest.
CARACOL: Maya city in western Belize, excavated by Diane and Arlen
Chase, with sacbes linking a large suburban area to the central city.
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION: Focus of major research at UAXACTUN in
the southern MAYA LOWLANDS, CHICHEN ITZA and MAYAPAN in the
northern MAYA LOWLANDS, and KAMINALJUYU in the southern Maya
highlands until its closure in 1958. Notable archaeologists were Alfred V. Kidder,
Oliver and Mary Ricketson, A. LEDYARD SMITH, ROBERT E. SMITH, Harry
Pollock, Jesse Jennings, Ed Shook, and TATIANA PROSKOURIAKOFF.
CAVES: Common in the limestone topography of the MAYA LOWLANDS,
and commonly used by the ancient Maya for rituals. This was perhaps due to
the rich symbolic imagery in Maya mythology of the watery underworld. Caves
have been studied in western Belize by Jaime Awe (following earlier studies by
David M. Prendergast), in the PETEXBATUN by James Brady, and in Naj
Tunich by Andrea Stone. Caves in the Maya area contained painted images,
pottery vessels, and sometimes BURIALS.
CEREN: CLASSIC Maya community buried by the Loma Calerda volcanic
eruption and later discovered and excavated by Payson Sheets, with outstanding
preservation of houses and volcanic casts of plants and furrows in elds. Now a
World Heritage site (listed with the United Nations), Ceren is protected by the
government of El Salvador and open to the public for tourism.
CERROS: Late Preclassic community on the shores of Corozal Bay in north-
ern Belize (opened as a tourist site by Belize government), famous for painted
masks on TEMPLES and other monumental buildings and for iconography that
archaeologist David Freidel demonstrated to show precocious development lead-
ing to CLASSIC civilization.
CHAAC (CHAC): Maya rain god and name of northern Maya lowland site
near SAYIL, investigated by Michael Smyth, with TEOTIHUACAN-style ar-
chitecture indicating some form of trade or contact with central Mexico. Chac,
the god of rain and lightning, is often shown with axes and snakes, which he
used to aect the weather.
CHAU HIIX: MINOR CENTER between ALTUN HA and LAMANAI in
northern Belize, investigated by K. Anne Pyburn.
CHERT: A hard stone naturally occurring in the limestone platform of the
MAYA LOWLANDS and used widely for chipping stone tools.
CHICHEN ITZA: A city in the northern MAYA LOWLANDS that grew
to prominence after the collapse of the Late CLASSIC cities in the southern
lowlands. Research here by the CARNEGIE INSTITUTION of Washington fo-
cused on restoration; the age of the city and the explanation for the Toltec-style
architecture remain under discussion.
CHILAM BALAM: Books written by native Maya in several Yucatecan com-
munities during early colonial days, variously informative on religion and ideol-
ogy. Chilam Balam was a native priest who evidently foretold the arrival of the
Spaniards. The Chilam Balam of Chumayel, Tizimin, and Mani are the most
famous, having been translated into English.

CHOLAN: The spoken and written language of the CLASSIC Maya of the
southern lowlands. Cholan includes two groups: the Chol and Chontal group
and the Cholti and Chorti group. Chorti may have dominated the southern
MAYA LOWLANDS before A.D. 1000. The coastal plain from southern Belize
to the area of Quirigua on the MOTAGUA RIVER of Guatemala, the north
coast of Honduras, and inland to COPAN was populated by Chol speakers.
CHUNCHUCMIL: Northern Maya lowland city investigated by Bruce Dahlin,
without monumental architecture. It arguably was a trading depot controlling
coastal SALT from nearby SALT ats.
CITY-STATES: By the Late CLASSIC, the lowlands were divided into city-
states, each with a capital city and smaller towns, villages, and agricultural
lands. The degree to which they were independent or centralized under one or
more larger polities is controversial, but it likely changed over time and space
with WARFARE and alliances.
CLASSIC MAYA COLLAPSE: Many explanations have been proposed to
explain the abandonment of Late CLASSIC cities in the southern MAYA LOW-
LANDS, depopulation of much of the area, and the collapse of the CLASSIC
royal dynasties. Proposed explanations include WARFARE, ecological disaster,
climatic change (drought), disease, overpopulation, and popular revolt.
CLASSIC PERIOD: The time roughly between a.d. 300 and 900, when
Maya royalty erected STELAE at lowland cities with dates in the MAYA LONG
COUNT corresponding to the time of royal dynasties.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Sediment cores in lagoons provide pollen and soil
evidence for a changing landscape, including drier weather. These changes co-
incided with major political upheavals in the MAYA LOWLANDS, including
the CLASSIC MAYA COLLAPSE, HIATUS, and abandonment of CHICHEN
ITZA, all of which have been proposed as either explanatory or coincidental.

COBA: City in the northern MAYA LOWLANDS, investigated by William
Folan. It did not collapse but continued into POSTCLASSIC, perhaps due to
the proximity of water.
CODEX (PLURAL = CODICES): Maya book made using bark from g
trees that was prepared with a gesso and then painted with HIEROGLYPHS
and images. Only four codices are known to have survivedMadrid, Dresden,
Paris, and Grolierand they focus on astronomical matters and date to after
the CLASSIC period.
CODICES: See CODEX.
COLHA: A site located beside an outcrop of high-quality CHERT in north-
ern Belize, where vast quantities of CHERT stone tools were produced by house-
hold WORKSHOPS and distributed within northern Belize and beyond from
the Late Preclassic to Early POSTCLASSIC, according to the site's excavators,
Tom Hester and Harry Shafer.
COPAN: A city in modern Honduras that grew to prominence in the CLAS-
SIC period and is known in particular for its hieroglyphic staircase and artistic
style of sculpting STELAE in the round. From the time of John Stephens's
nineteenth-century accounts, the site has received intensive investigation by ar-
chaeologists from Harvard, Tulane, Penn State, the University of Pennsylvania,
and the country of Honduras.
COPPER: Bells, rings, and other items made from copper alloy traded from
Honduras or west Mexico were found at a variety of lowland Maya sites dat-
ing from the POSTCLASSIC period, notably from the Cenote of Sacrice at
CHICHEN ITZA.
COSMOLOGY: The Maya cosmos was a sky-Earth with the actions of hu-
mans intertwined with celestial movement of the stars as recorded in the CAL-
ENDAR. The balance and continuity of daily life among the Maya required
ritual interactions with the GODS. The world consisted of the heavens, con-
taining GODS; the Earth, containing humans; and the underworld, containing
underworld GODS. The living world was quadripartite, with directions associ-
ated with dierent colours. There were thirteen layers of heaven and nine layers
of the underworld.
COUNTING SYSTEM: Numbers were written using a dot to represent the
value 1, a horizontal bar for 5, and a stylized shell for 0. The counting system
was based on multiples of 20 and the Maya had the concept of 0, which was
quite sophisticated and was rarely used in other ancient civilizations.
COZUMEL: A POSTCLASSIC island trading locale o the eastern coast of
the Yucatan, also the location of a pilgrimage shrine, investigated by Jeremy
Sablo and William Rathje.
CRAFT PRODUCTION: CHERT tools manufactured in household WORK-
SHOPS at COLHA; SALT produced in independent WORKSHOPS at STINGRAY
LAGOON, DAVID WESTBY, ORLANDO'S JEWFISH, and other underwater
sites in Paynes Creek National Park; and elite pots and books at AGUATECA
indicate variability in production from household to specialized, with elite con-
trol of production also variable.
CREATION STORY: As told in the POPOL VUH and depicted in scenes
on CLASSIC painted pots, the Maya world was created from a meeting of the
GODS from the primordial sea (Plumed Serpent) and the primordial sky (Heart
of Sky) to discuss the emergence of the Earth from the sea and the creation
of plants, the sun, the moon, and stars, and people. The rst people were
created from corn, with an earlier attempt from wood having ended up creating
monkeys.
CUELLO: Northern Belize site where the earliest Maya pottery, farming, and
architecture were rst identied by Norman Hammond, dating to 1000 BCE.

CURL NOSE: A ruler whose accession to the throne at TIKAL marks the
beginning of TEOTIHUACAN inuence at the city. Two BURIALS thought to
be those of Curl Nose and his successor, Stormy Sky, include imported vessels,
made at either TEOTIHUACAN or KAMINALJUYU. They include vessels with
distinctive TEOTIHUACAN painted decoration on stucco. A TIKAL STELA
bears portraits of either Curl Nose or Stormy Sky wearing TEOTIHUACAN
military regalia, including the TEOTIHUACAN god Tlaloc on shields, and spear
throwers typical of TEOTIHUACAN.
DAVID WESTBY SITE: A Late CLASSIC SALT works in Punta Ycacos
Lagoon, Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, excavated by Heather McKillop.
DEFENSIVE WALLS: Defensive walls have been found at a number of
southern lowland sites, notably TIKAL, EL MIRADOR, SEIBAL, and BECAN,
and at a number of sites in the northern Yucatan. They are nowhere so common
and pervasive as in the PETEXBATUN region, where even small communities,
agricultural elds, and water sources were fortied during the Late CLASSIC
period.
DE LANDA, BISHOP: Franciscan priest who was appointed the rst Bishop
of the Yucatan but was recalled to Spain for overzealous conversion of the
Maya, including an auto-da-fé at Mani in the northern Yucatan in which Maya
CODICES were gathered and burned. In his defense while in jail in Spain, de
Landa wrote Relación de las Cosas de Yucatan, which, ironically, is regarded as
a major documentary source of the contact period Maya.
DEMOGRAPHY: Ancient population estimates are usually based on count-
ing the number of house mounds and multiplying by a factor representing an
estimate of an average family, often 5.6 people. Although this method neglects
to include houses for which there are no mounded remains, the lack of cemeter-
ies or written death records makes any other method of population estimating
dicult.
DISTANCE DATES: Often used to record dates of CLASSIC Maya events
on STELAE. A Distance Date refers to the time since the initial LONG COUNT
date on the STELA.
DOS PILAS: City in the PETEXBATUN region of the southern MAYA
LOWLANDS, investigated by Arthur Demarest, where endemic WARFARE
and alliances with other CITY-STATES were a feature of Late CLASSIC.
DRESDEN CODEX: One of four surviving Maya books, or codices, with
hieroglyphic text and images painted on prepared bark paper and fan-folded.
The Dresden Codex was found in the Dresden Library in Germany by Ernst
Förstemann, who translated it and brought it to the attention of scholars.
DZIBILCHALTUN: City in the northern MAYA LOWLANDS that enjoyed
prominence from the Late Preclassic through the CLASSIC period.
ECOTOURISM: A form of tourism that brings together a concern for local
involvement in tourism with preserving an area's natural and cultural heritage.
Ecotourism may hold part of the key to reducing the looting of Maya sites by
increasing local interest in preserving sites for tourism and increasing tourists'
interest in preserving sites.
E GROUP: Groups of buildings found at many lowland sites, notably UAX-
ACTUN, TIKAL, DZIBILCHALTUN, and CHICHEN ITZA that have clear
astronomical importance as observatories. A Late Preclassic building at UAX-
ACTUN, for example, faces a platform with a line of three TEMPLES. From
the building, the summer solstice sun rises behind the northern TEMPLE, the
equinox sun rises behind the central TEMPLE, and the winter solstice sun rises
behind the southern TEMPLE.
EK BALAM: Northern MAYA LOWLAND city with occupation from the
Preclassic period onward, investigated by George Bey and Bill Ringle.

EL CHAYAL: Outcrop of high-quality OBSIDIAN near modern Guatemala
City, widely used by the CLASSIC Maya for making blades and other objects.
EL MIRADOR: Large southern LOWLAND MAYA city that grew to promi-
nence in the Late Preclassic and was then abandoned, investigated by Ray Ma-
theny and Bruce Dahlin and, subsequently, by Richard Hansen.
EL PILAR: City that straddles the border between western Belize and
Guatemala, reconstructed as an archaeological and ecological binational park
by Anabel Ford and open to the public.
EMBLEM GLYPH: The hieroglyphic name of a CLASSIC city; more than
eighty such glyphs have been identied. Written on STELAE, they often recorded
the defeat of a city and are now used by archaeologists to reconstruct the polit-
ical history of the CLASSIC period.
E-VII-SUB: A TEMPLE at UAXACTUN with four staircases and monu-
mental masks, regarded as a prototype of Late Preclassic architecture. Exca-
vated by Oliver Ricketson of the CARNEGIE INSTITUTION of Washington
project.
FRENCHMAN'S CAY: Late CLASSIC Maya trading port with the remains
of three coral rock building platforms, in the Port Honduras Marine Reserve,
investigated by Heather McKillop.
GOD A: The skeletal god of death, God A also was the god of violent sacrice
such as decapitation and was usually denoted by a black band across his eyes.
He appears in Early CLASSIC Maya art and in the CODICES.
GOD K: God of royal descent (K'awiil), re, and lightning. He was shown
as a scepter held by rulers and also as a gure with an upturned snout; a celt,
smoking tube, or torch on his forehead; and a serpent foot. Kulkulkan succeeded
him in the POSTCLASSIC.
GOD L: CLASSIC period MERCHANT GOD.

GOD M: The CLASSIC period MERCHANT GOD was eclipsed during the
POSTCLASSIC by this MERCHANT GOD, who is identied by his pendulous
lower lip, black face, and long, pointed nose.
GODS: A host of gods, goddesses, and other supernatural beings mediated
the world of the ancient Maya. Some of these gods are known historically from
their appearance in the POPOL VUH, the codices, or the books of CHILAM
BALAM and were prehistorically depicted on painted pots, carved monuments,
clay gurines, and other artwork.
GREEN OBSIDIAN: Stone used by the Maya for blades and other objects.
The only known source of green obsidian is Pachuca, north of modern Mexico
City, which was controlled by TEOTIHUACAN during the CLASSIC period and
was part of the POLITICAL ECONOMY of the CLASSIC Maya. This indicates
some level of communication, direct or indirect, between TEOTIHUACAN and
the Maya. Green obsidian found at POSTCLASSIC Maya sites indicates trade
with later highland people.
HAAB CALENDAR: A 365-day CALENDAR that closely approximates the
true solar year of 356.2422 days. It is often referred to as the vague year
CALENDAR, because it includes ve days called wayeb at the end of each
cycle of eighteen named months, each with twenty numbered days.
HALLUCINOGENS:
Used by dynastic leaders in pursuit of VISION QUESTS. Nobles sought al-
tered mental states by using hallucinogenic enemas, by smoking tobacco, by fast-
ing, and by BLOODLETTING. Figures painted on CAVE walls at Naj Tunich
are depicted as if they were in an altered state of consciousness. Hallucinogens
included extract from the Bufo marinus frog, mushrooms, and perhaps poison
from stingray spines and other marine fauna used by the CLASSIC Maya.
HERO TWINS: A pair of twins discussed in the historic text the POPOL
VUH and depicted graphically on CLASSIC Maya painted pots and scenes on
carved stone. The adventures of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque,
establish the relationships between humans and the celestial and underworld
GODS and the place of the CALENDAR and the BALL GAME in facilitating
human existence. In one adventure, they assign a star to each of the four corners
of the world, establishing the quadripartite worldview, or COSMOLOGY, of
the Maya. The Hero Twins battle VUCUB CAQUIX and play the original
BALL GAME with the lords of the underworld (XIBALBA), thus establishing
the relations between the underworld and the living world.
HIATUS: A time between a.d. 534 and 593, when the power of TIKAL
and the northeast PETEN in the Early CLASSIC halted temporarily. TIKAL
stopped erecting carved STELAE during this period, coinciding with the dom-
inance of other lowland Maya cities.
HIEROGLYPHS: Maya writing. Maya glyphs are phonetic in that they are
based on spoken language, Chol being the language at the time of the CLASSIC
period in the southern MAYA LOWLANDS. The basic component of a glyph
is a sound consisting of a consonant-vowel-consonant combination. Some Maya
glyphs represent words, but others are sounds that are used together to form
words. The hieroglyphs were used to record historical information about the
lives of the dynastic Maya during the CLASSIC period and continued to be
used in writing in the POSTCLASSIC, with some focus on ASTRONOMY, the
CALENDAR, and rituals.
HOLMUL: Prototype site in the southern MAYA LOWLANDS where George
Vaillant and Robert Merwin reported distinctive PROTOCLASSIC pottery ves-
sels, sparking debate about their local or intrusive origin, subsequently investi-
gated by Francisco Estrada-Belli.
HUN HUNAHPU: Father of the HERO TWINS, also known as the MAIZE
GOD.
ILOPANGO: Volcanic eruption in the fth century that caused regional dev-
astation in the Zapotitan Valley in El Salvador, making the area uninhabitable
for about 200 years. Ceren, itself later destroyed by the Loma Caldera volcanic
eruption radiocarbon dated to between a.d. 610 and 671, was one of the rst
communities to occupy the valley after the Ilopango eruption.
INGENTA: An electronic journal retrieval service available at university
libraries and by subscription for downloading articles from the Internet.
INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE: Modication of the landscape by terracing or
by draining wetlands in order to increase production, often related to increased
population of the Late CLASSIC MAYA LOWLANDS, as at PULLTROUSER
SWAMP, Belize, or the MAYA MOUNTAINS of western Belize.
INVISIBLE ARCHITECTURE: Refers to houses built directly on the
ground without stone platforms or any other type of foundation. Many such
houses leave no mounded remains and are invisible to modern archaeologists,
which may cause researchers to dramatically underestimate population esti-
mates that are based on house mound counts.
ISLA CERRITOS: An Early POSTCLASSIC trading port located o the
north coast of Yucatan for the inland city of CHICHEN ITZA. Excavated by
Anthony P. Andrews, the site has a harbour and abundant central Mexican
OBSIDIAN.
ISOTOPE ANALYSIS: A chemical test done on human bone and teeth that
provides dietary and other information about individual Maya. Carbon iso-
topes (C13/C12) distinguish between corn and other plant foods consumed, as
the foods have dierent photosynthetic pathways (dierent ways that plants
absorb sunlight). Nitrogen isotopes (N18/N16) distinguish between marine and
terrestrial or riverine animals eaten. Oxygen isotope analysis (O18/O16) iden-

ties the source location of water consumed, thereby identifying an individual's
area of origin.
ITXTEPEQUE: A source of high-quality OBSIDIAN in the Maya highlands
east of modern Guatemala City. It was a common source of OBSIDIAN in the
Late CLASSIC, and it dominated POSTCLASSIC OBSIDIAN production in
the MAYA LOWLANDS for blade making.
ITZAMNA: The paramount male god, also known as Lizard House. He
is the aged creator god, God D, and is commonly depicted in CLASSIC and
POSTCLASSIC art. He is identiable as an aged god with a Roman nose.
Itzamna and his consort, IX CHE, are the progenitors of all other GODS and
also are the old couple in the POPOL VUH. Itzamna is credited with inventing
writing. He is shown as a Maya scribe on pottery vessels and also is shown
engaged in divination and other scribal and priestly activities.
IX CHEL: Also known as Lady Rainbow. She is clearly the most important
goddess and is consort of the sun. However, as goddess of the moon and ruler of
the night sky, she opposes the sun in her eorts to defeat the sun each day and
make it descend into darkness. At the time of European contact, Ix Chel was
the goddess of childbirth, pregnancy, and fertility. Ix Chel also was associated
with weaving, fertility, and midwifery. There were shrines dedicated to her
on COZUMEL and Isla Mujeres o the eastern coast of the Yucatan to which
people made pilgrimages.
IZAPA: A Preclassic site on the Pacic coastal plain of Chiapas that has
art styles and iconography midway between OLMEC and later Maya, and has
depictions of VUCUB CAQUIX and the long-lipped god.
JADE: Greenstones, including jade, serpentine, and albite, have been iden-
tied from outcrops along the MOTAGUA RIVER drainage in Guatemala and
were elaborately carved at lowland Maya sites into elite pendants, later recov-
ered from burials and caches.
JAGUAR: A very common animal in ancient Maya iconography and mythol-
ogy, perhaps because both the Maya and jaguars shared the rainforest. The
jaguar was especially identied with the sun in both its daytime and nighttime
form, the latter associated with XIBALBA, where he sometimes rode a caiman
across the nighttime sky. Other jaguar gods included the Water Lily Jaguar, a
zoomorphic creature with a WATER LILY on his forehead and often a collar of
bulging eyeballs around his neck. Among his many roles, the Water Lily Jaguar
acted as a throne and walked in underworld processions. As a powerful rain-
forest animal, the jaguar is common in shamanistic or ritual transformations in
Mesoamerica.
JESTER GOD: A god common in CLASSIC Maya iconography but having
its origins in earlier OLMEC times at La Venta. The Jester God had a head
ornament dangling over his head and was often, but not exclusively, associated
with Maya royalty, as with King Pacal's grave at Palenque.
JSTOR: An electronic journal retrieval service (journal storage) at http://www.js-
tor.org for downloading the text of articles from the Internet, available at many
libraries or by subscription.
KAMINALJUYU: A site located on the outskirts of modern Guatemala
City, investigated by Alfred V. Kidder, Jesse Jennings, and Ed Shook in the
1940s and by William T. Sanders and Joseph Michels of Penn State in the
1970s. Kaminaljuyu was an important Late Preclassic and CLASSIC city,
with TEOTIHUACAN-style architecture and pottery vessels, suggesting mil-
itary takeover, trade, or alliances with central Mexico between a.d. 400 and
700.
KATUN: A unit of time in counting and the CALENDAR, representing a
period of twenty years.

KILLER BEE: A Late CLASSIC SALT works excavated by Heather McKil-
lop in Paynes Creek National Park.
KIN: A Maya day.
KINGSHIP: During the CLASSIC period, power and authority were focused
on the king, articulated and publicly reinforced and reinterpreted by the public
display of carved STELAE bearing his image and accounts of his (or occasion-
ally a queen's) exploits. Rulers combined supreme political authority with a
quasi-divine status. They were mediators between the supernatural and the
real worlds. Through regular public and private ceremonies involving dance,
blood sacrice, trances, and enemas, the king engaged divine power.
KINICH AHAU: The Maya sun god, also known as God G. He transformed
himself into a JAGUAR each night as he travelled through XIBALBA (the
underworld). He was otherwise closely associated with the JAGUAR. Kinich
Ahau may actually have been a variant of ITZAMNA. Perhaps the most famous
CLASSIC Maya depiction of Kinich Ahau is the large (4.4 kilogram) carved
JADE head taken from a tomb in a TEMPLE at ALTUN HA, Belize. The
head of Kinich Ahau also was featured on stone or stucco masks on TEMPLE
façades. In addition, the head of Kinich Ahau was a glyphic substitute for the
number 4.
KINSHIP: The ancient Maya identied their place in society from their kin-
ship, identied by the ancestral home with ancestors buried under earlier houses
at the same location. This tracing of kinship laid the foundations for the CLAS-
SIC period concept of KINGSHIP, in which a ruler governed by divine power
and authority through dynastic ties.
KNOROZOV, YURI: Correctly determined that Mayan HIEROGLYPHS
were phonetic rather than pictographs, which was critical in decipherment of
the glyphs.
LA AMELIA: A Maya city near ITZAN, in the lower Pasión River region of
the Petén Department of Guatemala. It formed a polity in the Late CLASSIC
(600 to 830 CE), and was involved in the war between TIKAL and CALAKMUL
followed, in 650, by the take over of DOS PILAS, leading to centuries of war
until this region collapsed around 830, being the rst of the Classic sites in this
area to be abandoned.
LADYVILLE: A location near Belize City's International Airport, site of
surface recovery of the rst PALEOINDIAN uted point by Thomas Kelley of
the COLHA Project.
LA ESPERANZA: An OBSIDIAN outcrop near the modern community by
that name in western Honduras. La Esperanza was a minor source of OBSID-
IAN used at Quirigua and WILD CANE CAY, but its OBSIDIAN was more
commonly used by people in lower Central America, outside the Maya area.
LAMANAI: City on Northern Lagoon dating from the Middle Preclassic
through the POSTCLASSIC, without suering the CLASSIC period collapse.
This city had a Franciscan mission and nineteenth-century sugar mill and was
excavated by David Pendergast and Elizabeth Graham.
LA MILPA: CLASSIC Maya city in north western Belize, investigated by SIR
J. ERIC S. THOMPSON and subsequently by Norman Hammond, with a site
layout reecting the quadripartite cosmogram of the Maya universe, according
to project surveyor Gair Tourtellot.
LONG COUNT: A CALENDAR system that dened a period of about 5,200
years based on 13 BAKTUN cycles (multiples of 400 years), reecting the CRE-
ATION of the world as described in CLASSIC images and the POPOL VUH.
LUBAANTUN: City in southern Belize investigated in the 1920s by the
British Museum and subsequently in 1970 by Norman Hammond, known for
its sandstone buildings and lack of STELAE, dating to the Late CLASSIC.
Famous for the alleged discovery by Anna Mitchell-Hedges of a human-shaped
crystal skull, now in Kitchener, Canada, which was more likely obtained from
a European antique store and planted at the site.
MACEHUALOB: The lowest social status among the Maya. Below the
AHAU and CAHAL, these were the commoners in Maya society.
MAIZE GOD: Also known as God E. He is HUN HUNAHPU from the
POPOL VUH or Hun Nah Yeh. He was depicted in the CLASSIC period as the
tonsured Maize God, representing HUN HUNAHPU, the father of the HERO
TWINS from the POPOL VUH. He sometimes was shown with his head at-
tened like a mature maize ear. Alternatively, he was shown as the foliated Maize
God, with a maize ear emerging from a human head. The resurrection of HUN
HUNAHPU symbolized the planting and growth of a new maize crop. His death
by decapitation was a metaphor for the harvesting of corn and for death. In the
Late POSTCLASSIC, the Maize God was sometimes represented as the diving
god, shown on murals at Tulum and also depicted at MAYAPAN and MOHO
CAY.
MAJOR CENTERS: The capitals of lowland polities, showing the hiero-
glyphic records on carved stone monuments (STELAE) of the ruling Maya dy-
nasty of the particular CITY-STATE.
MAMON POTTERY: Middle Preclassic pottery (700300 b.c.) found at
many sites in the southern MAYA LOWLANDS.
MANO: A cylindrical stone held in two hands and used to grind corn on the
surface of a METATE, or stone grinding implement.
MARCO GONZALEZ: Trading site in the southern part of Ambergris Cay,
Belize, that played an important role in SEA TRADE and coastal-inland trade,
as investigated by Elizabeth Graham and David Pendergast.
MARRIAGE ALLIANCES: Royal Maya engaged in marriage alliances to ce-

ment relations. In the wider sphere of regional geopolitics, intermarriages some-
times occurred with politics at some distance, whereas WARFARE was usually
initiated with polities closer geographically, usually neighbors. The greatest dis-
tance for interpolity marriage was between Palenque and COPAN, which are 109
kilometres apart. For the other seven known instances of interpolity marriage,
the average distance is 64 kilometres.
MATHEMATICS: Using a dot to indicate 1, a bar for 5, and a stylized shell
for 0, the Maya could write any number, and they used their mathematics to
record historical and astronomical events.
MAYA LONG COUNT: A CALENDAR system used in the CLASSIC PE-
RIOD, based on bars and dots, that provides dates for events with the year zero
corresponding to 3114 BCE.
MAYA LOWLANDS: A at, tropical rainforest area on the limestone plat-
form of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. The lowlands
are environmentally diverse and include the MAYA MOUNTAINS and Puuc
Hills. The CLASSIC Maya civilization developed in the southern Maya low-
lands of Belize and the PETEN district of Guatemala, whereas the northern
Maya lowlands of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula were the focus of POSTCLAS-
SIC orescence.
MAYA MOUNTAINS: Three granite batholiths that rise to over 1,000 meters
in southern Belize, providing GRANITE, quartz, and other minerals, as well
as the origins of many rivers, notably the Belize River, Deep River, and Rio
Grande.
MAYAPAN: A walled city in the northern lowlands that dominated the
Late POSTCLASSIC in the northern MAYA LOWLANDS, investigated by the
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION of Washington in the 1930s and 1940s and later
by Marilyn Masson.
MERCHANT GOD: The god of XIBALBA, known as God L. As lord of the
underworld, God L transformed himself into a JAGUAR each night as he trav-
eled through XIBALBA. He was shown as an old man or as a black JAGUAR,
often wearing a cape and a large wide-brimmed hat with owl feathers and some-
times an actual head of an owl. His bundle or backpack identied him in his
merchant role.
MERCURY: A cache of mercury was recovered from under a BALL COURT
marker at LAMANAI. The mineral was available in Honduras during ancient
Maya times.
METATE: A rectangular stone grinding surface, often with three supports,
used by the ancient Maya to grind corn and ubiquitous at ancient Maya sites.
Metates were made of GRANITE, limestone, or imported volcanic basalt, with
a hand-held cylindrical MANO used to grind on the surface.
MIDDEN: Garbage heaps, commonly associated with households and con-
taining broken pottery and other broken artifacts disposed of along with food
remains. Middens were often moved and used as ll in construction; they are
now also used by archaeologists to reconstruct the changes in pottery styles that
form the backbone of the system for dating sites.
MILITARY STRATEGIES: Reasons for WARFARE varied from raids to ob-
tain captives, to sacking and destroying the capital of a polity (as at AGUATECA
in the PETEXBATUN), to conquering and subjugating a polity (as Calakmul
did with TIKAL and Naranjo. Military tactics included attacking the cen-
tral acropolis of capitals to capture the AHAU and his entourage. Some cities
took defensive measures to counter such attacks, such as building DEFENSIVE
WALLS.
MILPA/SLASH AND BURN/SWIDDEN AGRICULTURE: A form of agri-
culture in which a section of the forest is burned and then the land is planted
by dropping seeds into holes made with a stick as the farmer walks. The elds
are used for two to eight years and then abandoned to regenerate, as nutrients
are eventually lost and weeds take over. This extensive form of farming, used
by the modern Maya, uses more land than intensive farming methods such as
raised or drained elds and terracing, which the ancient Maya also used.
MINOR CENTER: Small cities, not the political capitals of a CLASSIC
Maya CITY-STATE, often having signicant monumental architecture and carved
monuments with hieroglyphic records of ties with a royal dynasty.
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA: DNA extracted from ancient bones and modern
Maya people, and used to reconstruct population movement and settlement in
the Maya area.
MOHO CAY: A CLASSIC Maya trading port located in the mouth of the
Belize River. The city tied coastal canoe trade with riverine trade, providing
the Maya at inland cities with resources from the sea and from farther away
along coastal Caribbean transportation routes.
MOTAGUA RIVER: An important avenue of trade and transportation be-
tween the southern Maya highlands around KAMINALJUYU, the EL CHAYAL
OBSIDIAN outcrop, and the Caribbean coast of modern Guatemala for canoe
trade to the MAYA LOWLANDS. Also the location of major known sources
of JADE and other greenstones desired by the Maya for highly crafted status
objects.
MOTUL DE SAN JOSE: A southern Maya lowland city investigated by
Antonia Foias.
MUTAL: The kingdom of MUTAL (TIKAL) battled with the Kingdom of
KAAN (Calakmul) for control of the Mata heartland. Mutal eventually won,
but neither Kaan nor Mutal ever recovered. The end of the war marked the
beginning of the Maya collapse. The Maya 100 Years War lasted from 526 CE to
682 CE. The name Tikal means "place of voices" in the language of the local Itza
Maya. Its original name is lost in time, but may have been Yax Mutalcapital
of the mighty Mutal kingdom. Anciently, Tikal was a commercial and military
superpower and an important ritual center. See Map.
NAKBE: A prominent Middle Preclassic city investigated in the southern
MAYA LOWLANDS by Richard Hansen.
NIM LI PUNIT: A site discovered by oil workers and subsequently investi-
gated by Jaime Awe, Norman Hammond, and Richard Leventhal. This MINOR
CENTER in the foothills of southern Belize has some twenty-ve carved mon-
uments, in contrast to their absence at nearby LUBAANTUN.
NOHMUL: A MINOR CENTER in northern Belize investigated by Norman
Hammond. The site has two areas of monumental architecture connected by a
SACBE.
OBSIDIAN: Volcanic glass occurring in the volcanic areas of highland Mesoamer-
ica and widely traded throughout Maya prehistory to make sharp-edged blades,
used for ritual BLOODLETTING (as seen depicted on Maya painted pottery
and stone carvings) and other more mundane uses. Chemical identication of
trace elements of OBSIDIAN can link artifacts to their outcrops, making OB-
SIDIAN the basis for many studies of ancient Maya trade.
OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALIZATION: The CLASSIC Maya had skilled
workers for constructing buildings, quarrying stone for buildings and monu-
ments, producing the most nely made painted pots and stone tools, and for
writing records on paper, STELAE, architecture, and pottery and other objects.
OLMEC: The earliest civilization in Mesoamerica, with capitals at San
Lorenzo (1200900 b.c.) and La Venta (900400 b.c.) on the Gulf of Mex-
ico coast, predating the Maya and inuencing its development (number system,
CALENDAR, and precious development) throughout the Pacic coast and par-
ticularly around IZAPA.
ORLANDO'S JEWFISH: Underwater site in Punta Ycacos Lagoon, Paynes
Creek National Park, in southern Belize, submerged by sea level rise, where brine
was boiled in pots to produce SALT in specialized WORKSHOPS, excavated
by Heather McKillop.
PACBITUN: A city in western Belize investigated by Paul F. Healy, known
for musical instruments from elite graves and for a long prehistoric record.
PADDLER GODS: Gods that transported people in canoes to the under-
world. Their most famous depiction is on incised bones accompanying the king
in a TEMPLE BURIAL in TIKAL. The Maize Paddler God and the JAGUAR
Paddler God guided the canoe through XIBALBA, with the JAGUAR usually
in the front and the Stingray Paddler God in the center.
PALEOINDIANS: The earliest post-PLEISTOCENE occupants of the Maya
area, not identiable ethnically as Maya, known by isolated recoveries of dis-
tinctive OBSIDIAN or CHERT uted projectile points, as at LADYVILLE,
Belize.
PAUAHTUN: The old quadripartite god, also known as God N, who sup-
ported the four corners of the sky. He was shown wearing a turtle carapace or
conch shell on his back during the CLASSIC period and in the CODICES. He
also is identied by his cut out shell nose and crocodile jaw headdress. By the
contact period, Pauahtun was known as the four bacabs, who each held up a
corner of the sky.
PETEN: Modern political district in Guatemala located in the southern
MAYA LOWLANDS, dominated by tropical rainforest and the central area
where the CLASSIC civilization developed, including TIKAL.
PETEXBATUN: A region between the Pasion and Usumacinta Rivers in
the southern MAYA LOWLANDS investigated by Arthur Demarest and col-

leagues Takeshi Inomata, Juan Valdes, Hector Escobedo, Joel Palka, Antonia
Foias, Nicholas Dunning, Lori Wright, and James Brady. Endemic WARFARE,
CRAFT PRODUCTION, and political and military alliances were forged here
during the Late CLASSIC, including such cities as DOS PILAS, Tamarindito,
Punta de Chimino, and AGUATECA.
PIEDRAS NEGRAS: A city on the Usumacinta River in Guatemala, inves-
tigated by University of Pennsylvania researchers and subsequently by Stephen
Houston. The city had drains for water management.
PLAZUELA GROUP: The basic unit of Maya settlement, in which several
buildings are arranged around a square plaza. The system was used both for
Maya households and for TEMPLES and palaces in city centers.
PLEISTOCENE: The most recent ice age, ending about 9500 b.c., after
which there is art factual evidence in the form of isolated OBSIDIAN and
CHERT projectile points of the rst human use of the Maya area by people
termed PALEOINDIANS.
POLITICAL ECONOMY: Control of the production and distribution of
some goods, particularly high-status pottery vessels and exotic goods of high
value, by Maya royalty at urban cities. Contrast with SUBSISTENCE ECON-
OMY.
POLYCHROME POTTERY: A feature of the CLASSIC period in which
vessels were painted using multiple colors, usually red and black on an orange
or cream base, with brown and blue less common. This style was in contrast to
the predominantly red pots of the Preclassic and the incised decoration of the
POSTCLASSIC.
POPOL VUH: A historic text from highland Guatemala that recounts the
Maya story of CREATION, in particular the exploits of the HERO TWINS. It
is depicted pictorially in scenes on CLASSIC painted pottery vessels and carved

stone monuments, and so has great antiquity and use for interpreting the ancient
Maya worldview.
POSTCLASSIC PERIOD: The time after the collapse of the southern MAYA
LOWLAND CITY-STATES (a.d. 9001500) until the arrival of the Spaniards,
when cities in the northern MAYA LOWLANDS such as CHICHEN ITZA and,
later, MAYAPAN rose to prominence.
PRESTIGE ECONOMY: Often referred to as the POLITICAL ECONOMY
or ritual economy, this included the production, distribution, and use of goods
and resources for the royal Maya and other elites.
PRIMARY STANDARD SEQUENCE (PSS): A band of HIEROGLYPHS
below the vessel rim of Late CLASSIC vases with HIEROGLYPHS indicating
the date and other essential information about the activity depicted.
PROSKOURIAKOFF, TATIANA: Trained as an architect, she worked for
the CARNEGIE INSTITUTION of Washington and then the Peabody Museum
at Harvard, making a major breakthrough in the decipherment of Mayan HI-
EROGLYPHS by discovering that they recorded historical information about
Maya royalty.
PROTOCLASSIC: A period of distinctive POLYCHROME POTTERY in-
cluding dishes with four mammiform supports. The style is regarded variously
as intrusive from El Salvador following a volcanic eruption or as a local devel-
opment, either part of the Late Preclassic or Early CLASSIC.
PULLTROUSER SWAMP: Drained or RAISED FIELDS and associated
settlements in northern Belize investigated by Peter D. Harrison and Billie Lee
Turner, who suggested that they were built to intensify agricultural production
resulting from a Late CLASSIC population increase.
PUSILHA: Major Late CLASSIC site investigated by the British Museum
in the 1920s, with carved monuments removed to Britain, and subsequently

investigated by Geo Braswell. The site also has a bridge over the Moho River
and has distinctive Late CLASSIC unit-stamped pottery.
RAISED (OR DRAINED) FIELDS: Swamps that are drained by digging
canals and piling the muck on top of the resulting raised beds, which are con-
tinuously cultivated. Such elds produce multiple crops per year and make
more-intensive use of the land than SLASH AND BURN agriculture, thereby
supporting more people. This draining of swamps may have been done as a
response to Late CLASSIC population increases at PULLTROUSER SWAMP,
Albion Island, or along the Candelaria River, or as a Late Preclassic tactic of
aggrandizing elites, as at Albion Island. Some swamps may also be naturally
canalized. Regular rectilinear patterns called gilgae develop in swamps during
the dry season when the swamps become desiccated and the ground cracks.
RELACIÓN DE LAS COSAS DE YUCATAN: A treatise that BISHOP DE
LANDA wrote while in prison in Spain, written in defense of his treatment of
the Maya of the Yucatan. The book was later to become the most detailed
account of the sixteenth-century Yucatecan Maya. Tragically, DE LANDA had
burnt most of the existing Maya books, which was part of the reason he was
recalled to Spain and imprisoned.
RUBBER BALL: A solid rubber ball used in the ritual BALL GAMES of
the Maya. It was made from the sap of the Sapodilla tree.
SACBE: A raised roadway, also called a causeway, made of limestone rubble
and surfaced with plaster. It connected parts of a single community, as at
TIKAL, CHICHEN ITZA, and CARACOL, or ran between communities, as
the road departing COBA.
SALT: A very important commodity among the Maya. WORKSHOPS ex-
cavated in Punta Ycacos Lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park by Heather
McKillop supplied salt for the Late CLASSIC inland Maya in nearby cities, but
the temporal and geographical importance of salt produced by this method of
boiling brine in pots over res is unknown. This method also contrasts with the
extraction and use of salt gathered from the salt ats along the north coast of
the Yucatan, proposed by Anthony Andrews as supplying the CLASSIC Maya
of the southern MAYA LOWLANDS.
SAN BARTOLO: Site of a discovery of rare painted wall murals in the south-
ern MAYA LOWLANDS by William Saturno, dating to Late PRECLASSIC
period.
SAN MARTIN JILOTEPEQUE: A source of high-quality OBSIDIAN west
of modern Guatemala City that was commonly used by the Preclassic lowland
Maya, but used less in other times. Also known as Rio Pixcaya.
SANTA RITA: Coastal community, now mainly buried under the modern Be-
lize city of Corozal, well known for now-destroyed Late POSTCLASSIC painted
murals. One building here is maintained by the Belize government as a tourist
site.
SAYIL: A TERMINAL CLASSIC city in the northern MAYA LOWLANDS
investigated by Jeremy Sablo and Gair Tourtellot. The site has little ground
cover, allowing surface collection of artefacts to interpret ancient activities.
SEA TRADE: Trade and travel of varying distances along the Yucatan coast
that facilitated trade and settlement of the coast and oshore islands (cays).
SEGMENTARY MODEL: A model in which power is seen as having been
decentralized within a CITY-STATE and in which the MAYA LOWLANDS
are seen as having consisted of some eighty rather independent CITY-STATES
during the CLASSIC period. The seminary model contrasts with the centralist
model, in which the lowlands are viewed as having been more centrally orga-
nized.
SEIBAL: A lowland Maya city along the Pasion River, which was the focus
of major excavations under GORDON R. WILLEY. Jeremy Sablo 's ceramic
study here set standards for recording using the TYPE-VARIETY SYSTEM of
ceramic classication.
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS: Pioneered by Maya archaeologist GORDON
R. WILLEY. Settlement pattern studies include examination of the way in which
ancient Maya settlements were distributed across the landscape, the organiza-
tion of buildings and spaces within communities, and the spatial organization
within structures; this information reects the social, economic, and ideological
aspects of Maya society.
SHORT COUNT DATES: TERMINAL CLASSIC and POSTCLASSIC dates
that were written without the BAKTUN number, so that, without other infor-
mation, the date cannot be traced to the beginning of the Maya CALENDAR.
SKY BAND: A representation of the Milky Way, depicted by a rectangular
band divided into sections with images of animals interpreted as representing
ancient Maya constellations. Depicted in the Dresden and Paris CODICES and
on the face of buildings at CHICHEN ITZA and Acanceh. The Milky Way is
also sometimes shown with a Cosmic Monster and sometimes as a double-headed
snake.
SLAVES: May or may not have been used by the Maya. Whether or not
slaves were a regular part of CLASSIC Maya society, it is known that war
captives were temporarily enslaved before eventual sacrice, torture, and/or
being forced to participate in a terminal BALL GAME.
SMITH, A. LEDYARD: A CARNEGIE INSTITUTION of Washington ar-
chaeologist who directed major architectural excavations at UAXACTUN and
later for Harvard University at SEIBAL and ALTAR DE SACRIFICIOS. He
set the standards for excavation of Maya architecture.
SMITH, ROBERT E.: A CARNEGIE INSTITUTION of Washington ar-

chaeologist best known for his seminal ceramic study of UAXACTUN, which
formed the foundation for all subsequent Maya pottery studies. The UAX-
ACTUN ceramic complex terms are now standard terminology, including Late
Preclassic Chicanel, Early CLASSIC Tzakol, and Late CLASSIC Tepeu.
STELA (PLURAL = STELAE): Stone slabs placed vertically in the ground
in front of TEMPLES in the central plazas of cities and carved with images
of Maya royalty, HIEROGLYPHS, andduring the CLASSIC perioddates in
the Maya LONG COUNT.
STINGRAY LAGOON: A Late CLASSIC SALT works excavated by Heather
McKillop in Punta Ycacos Lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park. The site is
also used to demonstrate sea level rise, as it is now 110 centimeters below sea
level.
SUBSISTENCE ECONOMY: The production of food and resources basic to
daily life by individual households and within Maya communities. This model
is in contrast to the POLITICAL ECONOMY controlled by the urban royalty.
SWASEY: The earliest pottery known from the MAYA LOWLANDS, rst
identied by Norman Hammond at CUELLO and subsequently found at other
northern Belize sites and beyond, consisting of well-made vessels and dating to
about 1000 b.c.
TALUD-TABLERO: A distinctive style of façades on buildings, consisting
of alternating inward-sloping talud panels with vertical tablero panels. This
style was characteristic of TEOTIHUACAN architecture and was a marker
of the inuence of that highland state, as at KAMINALJUYU, TIKAL, and
CHAC.
TEMPLE: A stone rubble-lled platform supporting a small upper room of
stone or of pole and thatch, used for ceremonies. The platform was reconstructed
over time and contained BURIALS of important personages, with Maya royalty
buried in the largest temples in lowland cities.
TEOTIHUACAN: A competing and coeval state in central Mexico, with a
city of the same name north of modern Mexico City. Teotihuacan dominated
highland Mexico between a.d. 100 and 700, making military and MARRIAGE
ALLIANCES with the CLASSIC Maya, possibly including the cities of KAM-
INALJUYU, COPAN, and TIKAL. The relationship between Teotihuacan and
the Maya is hotly debated among Maya archaeologists and epigraphers, however.
TERMINAL CLASSIC: Time of endemic WARFARE, political unrest, and
economic unrest in the southern MAYA LOWLANDS (a.d. 800900), when
CITY-STATES fell and were abandoned. This period, however, witnessed the
rise to prominence of cities such as CHICHEN ITZA in the northern MAYA
LOWLANDS and coastal communities, especially trading ports.
TERMINATION RITUALS: Rituals performed when a building was no
longer to be used or before it was rebuilt. Caches of broken pots or other
oerings found in ancient TEMPLES are interpreted as termination rituals.
TERRACED HILLSLOPES: A series of horizontal ridges made in a hillslope.
In the MAYA MOUNTAINS of Belize, the Rio Bec region in Mexico had slopes
that were terraced to prevent soil erosion, make farming possible, and arguably
to allow fertilization and more-intensive use of the land than MILPA farming,
perhaps as a response to Late CLASSIC population increases.
THOMPSON, SIR J. ERIC S : A leading Maya archaeologist from Britain
who excavated at LUBAANTUN, San Jose, MAYAPAN, and elsewhere, coined
the term PLAZUELA GROUP, and made many important strides in hiero-
glyphic research.
TIKAL: A Maya city that became one of the major powers during the CLAS-
SIC period in the southern lowlands. It was the focus of a major research project
by the University of Pennsylvania and then the Guatemalan government, in

which several of the major TEMPLES as well as outlying structures have been
investigated. The name Tikal means "place of voices" in the language of the
local Itza Maya. Its original name is lost in time, but may have been Yax Mu-
talcapital of the mighty MUTAL kingdom. Ancient, Tikal was a commercial
and military superpower and an important ritual center.
TIPU: A Maya community in western Belize where Fransiscan missionaries
established a mission. Excavations have been made there of a church with more
than 500 Maya buried in Christian fashion and with a Spanish-style community
layout.
TREE CROPPING (ORCHARDS): Remains of fruits of trees with edible
fruits such as chocolate, native palms, mammee apple, and nance indicate de-
liberate planting and tending of trees around ancient houses to supplement the
Maya diet, especially on small Caribbean islands with limited arable land.
TRIBUTE: May have been demanded of those conquered by the Maya. Trib-
ute payment ts well within the view of CLASSIC Maya politics involving mil-
itary imperialism, with conquered polities owing tribute to their new overlords.
Although HIEROGLYPHS record historical and political rather than economic
events, scenes on painted pots show oerings, including tribute payments.
TUN: A unit of time in Maya counting and the CALENDAR, corresponding
to one year.
TURQUOISE: A trade good for the Maya. Late POSTCLASSIC trade tied
the Maya area into a broader Mesoamerican interaction sphere, with turquoise
being among the trade goods recovered from SANTA RITA Corozal, Belize, and
elsewhere.
TYPE-VARIETY SYSTEM: A system of classifying pottery shards widely
used by Mayanists to establish a site's chronology based on changes in decoration
and surface nish.

TZOLKIN CALENDAR: A 260-day Maya ritual CALENDAR, as docu-
mented by Diego de Landa and the POSTCLASSIC Maya CODICES, as well
as in earlier times. The Tzolkin CALENDAR was used to predict a person's
destiny from his or her birth date and also to predict proper times to plant
cornan ancient farmer's almanac.
UAXACTUN (WAXAKTUN): A site near TIKAL that was extensively exca-
vated in the 1920s and 1930s by Oliver Ricketson, A. LEDYARD SMITH, and
others of the now-defunct CARNEGIE INSTITUTION of Washington. This
site is most famous for E-VII-SUB, a Late Preclassic TEMPLE decorated with
masks. ROBERT E. SMITH'S ceramic report on this site is the foundation for
all subsequent studies of Maya pottery.
UINAL: A period of twenty days comprising a Maya month.
UNESCO CONVENTION OF 1970: An international agreement by most
world countries to respect each other's cultural patrimony. Ensuing federal leg-
islation in each country made it illegal to import or export antiquities, including
Maya artifacts.
UXMAL: UXMAL (Yucatec Maya: Óoxmáal) is a large Maya site 47 miles
(78 km) south of Mérida, Yucatán (Yucatan).The place name is Pre-Columbian
and it is usually assumed to be an archaic Maya language phrase meaning
"Built Three Times," although some scholars of the Maya language dispute this
derivation. Uxmal holds some of the most complex and beautiful examples of the
regional Puuc-style architecture, and its magnicent pyramids and structures
make it a popular tourist destination.
VENUS: A very important celestial body to the Maya. The Maya made
extensive calculations on Venus, perhaps because they associated it with WAR-
FARE. The appearance of Venus in the morning or evening sky was often as-
sociated with war imagery in CLASSIC-period art, and there are tables about
Venus in the DRESDEN and Grolier CODICES.
VISION QUEST: A mental trance state sought by Maya rulers and other
elite. Dynastic leaders are depicted in scenes such as those in carved stone at
Yaxchilan, engaged in vision quests: Blood oerings dripped onto bark paper
are ignited, and the leader is transformed in the ensuing smoke to communicate
with the GODS and seek their power and insights to lead the people. Vi-
sion quests were aided by smoking tobacco, fasting, using HALLUCINOGENS
from mushrooms or the Bufo marinus frog, and from blood loss through ritual
BLOODLETTING.
VUCUB CAQUIX: A anthropomorphic vulture found in the POPOL VUH,
rst depicted at IZAPA and common in CLASSIC Maya iconography.
WARFARE: Practiced extensively among the Maya. Historical records of
defeat on Maya STELAE, DEFENSIVE WALLS, and pictorial depictions of
battles such as the murals of BONAMPAK indicate that warfare was endemic
by the Late CLASSIC and may have precipitated the Maya collapse. Warfare
continued in the POSTCLASSIC, as evidenced by fortications at many cities
in the northern MAYA LOWLANDS.
WATER LILY: A common motif in Maya imagery. The Water Lily Serpent
symbolized still water and was a substitute for the number 13; it was shown
with a snake body and a downturned bird head wearing a lily pad and ower
headdress, often accompanied by a sh nibbling at the ower. Water lily imagery
is common at DZIBILCHALTUN, ALTUN HA, and LAMANAI. The Water Lily
Serpent was a common headdress for CLASSIC Maya royalty.
WEAPONS: Scenes on CLASSIC Maya painted pots and stone carvings
show royal Maya with spears and war captives, but little attention has been
directed to research on the weapons used in WARFARE. The CLASSIC Maya
had CHERT stone points suitable for hafting onto spears. Small dart points were
introduced during the POSTCLASSIC, evidently from central Mexico. Caches
of stone spear points were found along the DEFENSIVE WALL systems at DOS
PILAS along with a cache of adult male skulls, decapitated while still eshed,
in a pit outside the exterior wall.
WILD CANE CAY: A coastal Maya trading port in the Port Honduras
Marine Reserve of southern Belize, excavated by Heather McKillop, that was
important in the Late CLASSIC and grew to prominence during the POST-
CLASSIC canoe trade.
WILLEY, GORDON R.: Bowditch Professor of Archaeology at Harvard
University, who directed major projects at BARTON RAMIE, the Belize River,
SEIBAL, ALTAR DE SACRIFICIOS, and COPAN. He was a leading and in-
uential gure in Maya archaeology in the latter part of the twentieth century.
WORKSHOP: A location where goods were produced for use elsewhere, for
purposes beyond the needs of regular household production. Some examples
were CHERT tools produced in household workshops at COLHA, SALT pro-
duced in independent workshops in Punta Ycacos Lagoon in Paynes Creek Na-
tional Park, and elite paraphernalia produced in royal households at AGUATECA.
WORLD TREE: Symbolized by the Ceiba tree, or axis mundi. The quadri-
partite worldview of the Maya universe with the world tree at its center is
pervasive in Maya art and architecture.
XIBALBA: The Maya underworld, equated with the primordial sea. It was
the locus of a battle in form of the BALL GAME, fought by the HERO TWINS,
as told in the POPOL VUH.
XUNANTUNICH: A MINOR CENTER in western Belize occupied late in
the Late CLASSIC and abandoned at the end of the CLASSIC period, inves-
tigated and restored by Wendy Ashmore and Richard Leventhal and currently
open to the public.

YAXUNA: A northern lowland Maya city investigated by David Freidel.
ZODIAC: The Maya version, including VENUS, the Pleiades, and Gemini,
among others, may have consisted of thirteen groups of stars that cycled every
twenty-eight days. Both the Paris and DRESDEN CODICES refer to the zodiac,
and it is represented on sculptures at CHICHEN ITZA and Acanceh, as well .
The ancient Maya believed in recurring cycles of creation and destruction
and thought in terms of eras lasting about 5,200 modern years. The current cycle
is believed by the Maya to have begun in either 3114 B.C. or 3113 B.C. of our
calendar, and is expected to end in either A.D. 2011 or 2012. Maya cosmology is
not easy to reconstruct from our current knowledge of their civilization. It seems
apparent, however, that the Maya believed Earth to be at and four-cornered.
Each corner was located at a cardinal point and had a colour value: red for
east, white for north, black for west, and yellow for south. At the centre was
the colour green. Some Maya also believed that the sky was multi-layered and
that it was supported at the corners by four gods of immense physical strength
called "Bacabs". Other Maya believed that the sky was supported by four trees
of dierent colours and species, with the green ceiba, or silk-cotton tree, at the
centre. Earth in its at form was thought by the Maya to be the back of a giant
crocodile, resting in a pool of water lilies. The crocodile's counterpart in the sky
was a double-headed serpent - a concept probably based on the fact that the
Maya word for "sky" is similar to the word for "snake". In hieroglyphics, the
body of the sky-serpent is marked not only with its own sign of crossed bands,
but also those of the Sun, the Moon, Venus and other celestial bodies. Heaven
was believed to have 13 layers, and each layer had its own god. Uppermost
was the muan bird, a kind of screech-owl.(Barn Owl) The Underworld had nine
layers, with nine corresponding Lords of the Night. The Underworld was a cold,
unhappy place and was believed to be the destination of most Maya after death.
Heavenly bodies such as the Sun, the Moon, and Venus, were also thought to
pass through the Underworld after they disappeared below the horizon every
evening.
Very little is known about the Maya pantheon. The Maya had a bewildering
number of gods, with at least 166 named deities. This is partly because each
of the gods had many aspects. Some had more than one sex; others could be
both young and old; and every god representing a heavenly body had a dierent
Underworld face, which appeared when the god "died" in the evening. Some
Maya sources also speak of a single supreme deity, called Itzamná, the inventor
of writing, and patron of the arts and sciences. His wife was Ix Chel, the
goddess of weaving, medicine and childbirth; she was also the ancient goddess
of the Moon.
The role of priests was closely connected to the calendar and astronomy.
Priests controlled learning and ritual, and were in charge of calculating time,
festivals, ceremonies, fateful days and seasons, divination, events, cures for dis-
eases, writing and genealogies. The Maya clergy were not celibate, and sons
often succeeded fathers. All Maya ritual acts were dictated by the 260-day Sa-
cred Round calendar, and all performances had symbolic meaning. Sexual ab-
stinence was rigidly observed before and during such events, and self-mutilation
was encouraged in order to furnish blood with which to anoint religious articles.
The elite were obsessed with blood - both their own and that of their captives
- and ritual blood-letting was a major part of any important calendar event.
Blood-letting was also carried out to nourish and propitiate the gods, and when
Maya civilization began to fall, rulers with large territories are recorded as hav-
ing rushed from one city to the other, performing blood letting rites in order to
maintain their disintegrating kingdoms. Priests were assisted in human sacri-
ces by four older men who were known as chacs, in honour of the Rain God,
Chac. These men would hold the arms and legs of a sacricial victim while the
chest was opened up by another individual called a nacom. Also in attendance
was the chilam, a shaman gure who received messages from the gods while in
a trance, and whose prophecies were interpreted by the assembled priests. The
Maya believed that when people died, they entered the Underworld through a
cave or a cenote. When kings died, they followed the path linked to the cosmic
movement of the sun and fell into the Underworld; but, because they possessed
supernatural powers, they were reborn into the Sky World and became gods.
Death from natural causes was universally dreaded among the Maya, particu-
larly because the dead did not automatically go to paradise. Ordinary people
were buried beneath the oors of their houses, their mouths lled with food and
a jade bead, accompanied by religious articles and objects they had used when
alive. The graves of priests contained books. Great nobles were cremated - a
practice of Mexican origin - and funerary temples were placed above their urns.
In earlier days, nobles had been buried in sepulchres beneath mausoleums. Some
Maya even mummied the heads of dead lords. These were then kept in family
oratories and "fed" at regular intervals. Following the Spanish conquest, there
was a great deal of overlap between Maya and Christian belief systems. Some
archaeologists have suggested that the systems were similar in many respects:
both burned incense during rituals; both worshipped images; both had priests;
both conducted elaborate pilgrimages based on a ritual calendar.
Most Maya today observe a religion composed of ancient Maya ideas, ani-
mism and Catholicism. Some Maya still believe, for example, that their village
is the ceremonial centre of a world supported at its four corners by gods. When
one of these gods shifts his burden, they believe, it causes an earthquake. The
sky above them is the domain of the Sun, the Moon and the stars; however,
the Sun is clearly associated with God the Father or Jesus Christ. The Moon is
associated with the Virgin Mary. Many Maya are convinced that the mountains
which surround them are analogous to the ancient temple-pyramids.
Mountains and hills are also thought to be the homes of ancestral deities:
elderly father and mother gures who are honoured in the home with prayers
and oerings of incense, black chickens, candles and liquor. In many Maya vil-
lages, traditional shamans continue to pray for the souls of the sick at mountain
shrines. The Maya also believe in an Earth Lord - a fat, greedy half-breed who
lives in caves and cenotes, controls all waterholes, and produces lightning and
rain. There is also a supernatural belief in the spirits of the forest. Some villages
today have four pairs of crosses and four jaguar spirits or balam at the village's
four entrances, in order to keep evil away. In agricultural rites, deities of the
forest are still invoked, and it is still believed that evil winds loose in the world
cause disease and sickness.
Maya Civilization Time-line Evolution of Maya culture Olmec1200-1000 B.C.
Early Preclassic Maya 1800-900 B.C. Middle Preclassic Maya 900-300 B.C. Late
Preclassic Maya 300 B.C. - A.D. 250 Early Classic Maya A.D. 250-600 Late
Classic Maya A.D. 600-900 Post Classic Maya A.D. 900-1500 Colonial period
A.D. 1500-1800 Independent Mexico A.D. 1821 to the present.
B.C. 11,000 The rst hunter-gatherers settle in the Maya highlands and
lowlands.? 3114 or 3113 BC The creation of the world takes place, according
to the Maya Long Count calendar. 2600 Maya civilization begins.? 2000 The
rise of the Olmec civilization, from which many aspects of Maya culture are
derived. Village farming becomes established throughout Maya regions. 700
Writing is developed in Mesoamerica. 400 The earliest known solar calendars
carved in stone are in use among the Maya, although the solar calendar may
have been known and used by the Maya before this date. The Maya writing
system is considered by archaeologists to be the most sophisticated system ever

developed in Mesoamerica. Maya wrote using 800 individual signs or glyphs,
paired in columns that read together from left to right and top to bottom.
Maya glyphs represented words or syllables that could be combined to form
any word or concept in the Mayan language, including numbers, time periods,
royal names, titles, dynastic events, and the names of gods, scribes, sculptors,
objects, buildings, places, and food. Hieroglyphic inscriptions were either carved
in stone and wood on Maya monuments and architecture, or painted on paper,
plaster walls and pottery. The unit of the Maya writing system is the glyphic
cartouche, which is equivalent to the words and sentences of a modern language.
Maya cartouches included at least three or four glyphs and as many as fty. Each
cartouche contained various glyphs, as well as prexes and suxes. There is no
Maya alphabet. Maya writing is dicult to interpret for a number of reasons;
First, glyphs do not represent just sounds or ideas, they can represent both,
making it dicult to know how each glyph or cartouche should be read. In
addition, many Maya glyphs can have more than one meaning, and many Maya
concepts can be written in more than one way. Numbers, for example, can be
written with Maya numerical symbols or with the picture of a god associated
with that number, or a combination of the two. Some glyphs represent more
than one phonetic sound, while also representing an idea. This means that a
single idea can be written in many dierent ways. For example, the name of
the Palenque ruler, Pacal, whose name literally means "Hand-shield", appears
sometimes as a picture of a hand-shield, sometimes phonetically as pa-cal-la, and
at other times as a combination of picture symbols and phonetics. Deciphering
Maya texts has become easier with the aid of computers, drawings and the
knowledge accumulated over a century of scientic investigation.
The hieroglyphic writing of the Maya has not been completely deciphered,
however, and can still only be interpreted, rather than read. To date nearly 85
percent of known Maya hieroglyphics have been decoded. The Maya considered
writing to be a sacred gift from the gods. Most ancient Maya could not read,
because the knowledge of reading and writing was jealously guarded by a small
elite class, who believed that they alone could interact directly with the gods
and mediate between the gods and the common people. Detail from the Tablet
of the 96 Glyphs, in the tower of the "Palace" at Palenque. This is considered
one of the most beautiful inscriptions ever carved by the Maya. From the very
beginning, the Maya used writing as a propaganda tool, rather than as a means
of recording accurate details of history. In a hierarchical society where the elite
competed for prestige and leadership positions, writing was used to reinforce a
ruler's military power and to legitimize his descent from noble ancestors and the
gods. Writings on stone monuments were designed to place rulers in the most
favourable light possible, and ancient sculptural inscriptions deal primarily with
historical events, marriages, births, military campaigns and victories, rulers and
other dynastic aairs. Maya glyphs were also painted on codices made of either
deer hide or bleached g-tree paper that was then covered with a thin layer of
plaster and folded accordion-style. The inscriptions in the codices were painted
by highly trained scribes, and record rituals, chronologies and important events.
Most of the Maya codices were burned by the Spanish during the sixteenth cen-
tury when they tried to convert the Maya to Christianity. The few codices which
have survived, however, are a valuable source of information about the religious
beliefs of the Maya and their ritual cycle, and record information about the gods
associated with each day in the Maya calendar as well as astronomical tables
outlining the cycles of Venus and other celestial bodies. Following the arrival
of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, many Maya dictionaries, glossaries and
prayer books appeared. These are an important resource in the interpretation
of Maya hieroglyphics. The Maya also learned in the sixteenth century to record
their own languages using Roman letters, and later Maya works do not feature
hieroglyphic writing, but a phonetic rendering of Maya languages in Roman
script. The four known prehispanic codices discovered to date deal exclusively
with religious and astronomical matters. They are mostly written in archaic
Yucatec, one of the 31 Maya languages. The Dresden Codex is 78 pages long,
and was probably written at Chichén Itzá between A.D. 1200 and 1250. Some
archaeologists believe it may be a half-century older and that it could have been
written elsewhere in Yucatán. The Dresden Codex contains almanacs, accounts
of days, predictions, tables of eclipses and movements of the planet Venus, as
well as prophecies. It is three and a half metres long and is believed to have
been painted by at least eight scribes. The Madrid Codex is composed of two
fragments - it is also called the Tro-Cortesano Codex. It has 112 pages, and
contains religious writings and predictions. The Paris or Peresano Codex is 22
pages long, and contains predictions and a calendar. The Grolier Codex is the
most recently discovered of the codices and was rst exhibited publicly at the
Grolier Club in New York in the early 1970s. It appears to have been found in
a wooden box in a cave in Chiapas. It is in poor condition, and contains about
half of a 20-page table concerned with the movements of the planet Venus. It has
been dated to A.D. 1230, making it the oldest of known pre-Conquest codices.
Other important Maya books include the following: The Popol Vuh is the great
epic of the Quiché Maya and preserves their sacred and secular history. It was
recorded by Quiché Maya rulers in Chichicastenango between A.D. 1554 and
1560, using Roman characters. The Chilam Balam are books of songs, prophe-
cies and calendars, preserved by oral tradition and transcribed over and over
again. These books contain the observations, calendars and prophecies of the
seer or magician named Balam, and are known by their place of origin. The
Annals of Cakchiquel are also known as the Solola Memorial, and were written
in 1605, in the Cakchiquel language. The Annals were rst translated into En-
glish and later into Spanish, and are similar in content to the Popol Vuh. An
Account of Things in the Yucatan was written by Father Diego de Landa, who
was responsible for the destruction of countless ancient Maya texts, codices and
documents. Some consider his book to be an explanation of why he had so many
records destroyed; others see it as a penance undertaken by Landa to atone for
destroying so much recorded history. There are also 93 miscellaneous historic
and geographic accounts written by the Maya. They discuss aspects of the ora,
fauna, inhabitants and ruins, and include customs, traditions and history. In
1962, the Maya hieroglyphs were rst catalogued. Since 1980, a great deal of
progress has been made in deciphering new glyphs found at Palenque, Tikal
and other sites. Because the writing was often intended as propaganda, care
must be taken in its interpretation. However, the on-going work of decoding
the glyphs holds promise that many of the mysteries surrounding the Maya may
one day be solved. 300 The Maya adopt the idea of a hierarchical society ruled
by nobles and kings.
100 The city of Teotihuacan is founded and for centuries is the cultural,
religious and trading centre of Mesoamerica. 50 The Maya city of Cerros is
built, with a complex of temples and ball courts. It is abandoned (for reasons
unknown) a hundred years later and its people return to shing and farming.
A.D. 100 The decline of the Olmec's ?. 400 The Maya highlands fall under
the domination of Teotihuacan, and the disintegration of Maya culture and
language begins in some parts of the highlands. 500 The Maya city of Tikal be-
comes the rst great Maya city, as citizens from Teotihuacan make their way to
Tikal, introducing new ideas involving weaponry, captives, ritual practices and
human sacrice. 600 An unknown event destroys the civilization at Teotihua-
can, along with the empire it supported. Tikal becomes the largest city-state
in Mesoamerica, with as many as 500,000 inhabitants within the city and its
hinterland. 683 The Emperor Pascal dies at the age of 80 and is buried in the
Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque. 751 Long-standing Maya alliances begin
to break down. Trade between Maya city-states declines, and inter-state conict
increases. 869 Construction ceases in Tikal, marking the beginning of the city's
decline. 899 Tikal is abandoned. 900 The Classic Period of Maya history ends,
with the collapse of the southern lowland cities. Maya cities in the northern
Yucatán continue to thrive. 1200 Northern Maya cities begin to be abandoned.
1224 The city of Chichén Itzá is abandoned by the Toltecs. A people known
as the Uicil-abnal, which later takes the name Itzá, settles in the desolate city.
1244 The Itzá abandon Chichén Itzá for reasons unknown. 1263 The Itzá begin
building the city of Mayapán. 1283 Mayapán becomes the capital of Yucatán.
1441 There is a rebellion within Mayapán and the city is abandoned by 1461.
Shortly after this, Yucatán degenerates from a single united kingdom into six-
teen rival statelets, each anxious to become the most powerful. 1511 A Spaniard
named Gonzalo Guerrero is shipwrecked and washed up on the eastern shore
of Yucatán. He defects to the Maya, tattooing his face, piercing his ears and
marrying into a Maya noble family. Guerrero later becomes an implacable foe
of the Spaniards and does much to help the Maya resist Spanish rule in Yu-
catán. 1517 The Spanish rst arrive on the shores of Yucatán under Hernandez
de Cordoba, who later dies of wounds received in battle against the Maya. The
arrival of the Spanish ushers in Old World diseases unknown among the Maya,
including smallpox, inuenza and measles. Within a century, 90 per cent of
Mesoamerica native populations will be killed o. 1519 Hernán Cortés begins
exploring Yucatán.
1524 Cortés meets the Itza people, the last of the Maya peoples to remain
unconquered by the Spanish. The Spanish leave the Itza alone until the sev-
enteenth century. 1528 The Spanish under Francisco de Montejo begin their
conquest of the northern Maya. The Maya ght back with surprising vigour,
keeping the Spanish at bay for several years. 1541 The Spanish are nally able
to subdue the Maya and put an end to Maya resistance. Revolt continues,
however, to plague the Spaniards o and on for the rest of the century. 1542
The Spanish establish a capital city at Mérida in Yucatán. 1695 The ruins of
Tikal are discovered by chance by the Spanish priest Father Avedaño and his
companions, who had become lost in the jungle. 1712 The Maya of the Chia-
pas highlands rise against the Mexican government. They will continue to do
so o and on until the 1990s. 1724 The Spanish Crown abolishes the system
of encomienda, which had given Spanish land barons the right to forced Maya
labour, as long as they agreed to convert the Maya to Christianity. 1821 Mexico
becomes independent from Spain. In general, life becomes more tolerable for
the Maya than it had been under Spanish rule. 1822 An account of Antonío
del Río's late eighteenth-century explorations of Palenque is published in Lon-
don. The book raises a great deal of interest in further exploration of the "lost"
Maya civilization and settlements. 1839 American diplomat and lawyer John
Lloyd Stephens and English topographical artist Frederick Catherwood begin a
series of explorations into Maya regions, revealing the full splendour of classical
Maya civilization to the world for the rst time. 1847 The Yucatán Maya rise
up against the Mexican government, rebelling against the miserable conditions
and cruelty they have suered at the hands of the whites. The rebellion is so
successful that the Maya almost manage to take over the entire peninsula in
what has become known as the War of the Castes. 1850 A miraculous "talk-
ing cross" in a village in central Quintana Roo predicts a holy war against the
whites. Bolstered by arms received from the British in Belize, the Maya form
into quasi-military companies inspired by messianic zeal. The ghting continues

until 1901. 1860 The Yucatán Maya rebel again. 1864 Workmen digging a canal
on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala discover a jade plaque inscribed with a
date of A.D. 320. The plaque becomes one of the oldest known objects dated in
the Maya fashion. 1880 A new tide of government intervention in Maya life be-
gins as governments attempt to force the Maya to become labourers on cash-crop
plantations. This destroys many aspects of Maya cultural traditions and agri-
cultural methods preserved over 4,000 years. Towns which had been protected
for the Maya soon become a haven for mixed-race ladinos who prey economically
on the indigenous Maya and usurp all positions of social and economic power.
1910 Rampant government corruption leads to the Mexican Revolution. 1946
American photographer Giles Healey is taken to the Maya city of Bonampak
by the native Lacandón who live nearby. Healey becomes the rst non-Maya
ever to see Bonampak's stunning wall-paintings, which reveal new details about
Maya civilization. 1952 The Priest-king Pascal's tomb at Palenque is discovered
and excavated by Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz, marking the rst time a
tomb has been found inside a Maya pyramid. Prior to this, Maya pyramids were
believed to be temples with a purely religious or ceremonial purpose. 1962 Maya
hieroglyphic signs are rst catalogued. Uncontrolled looting of Maya tombs and
other sites begins around this time in the southern lowlands, continuing until
well into the 1970s.
1992 A Quiché Maya woman from Guatemala named Rigoberta Menchu,
who has lost most of her family to the death squads and is known for speaking
out against the extermination of the Maya, wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
MAYA MYTH AND ARCHAEOLOGY CONFLICT.
Over many years in the modern age and worldwide, groups of people of all
shades of colour and religions have for, their own reasons and agenda's, tried
very hard to link the Ancient World Empires with Alien's and UFOs most of
the time making claims that such Empires have indeed had contacts of a Forth
Kind.
Such Empires such as the Maya, Aztec, and Egyptian, did in fact study the
stars, have Sun and Moon Gods and Goddesses and arrange their civilizations
around the Solar System as did African, North American Native peoples, the
Celt's and other tribes. Artwork and stonework as well as tablets many times,
look to the stars and the people of that time believed in the Gods and Goddesses
of the sky as well as for navigation, and seasonal events that tted in with
farming and civilizations. All this was normal for such an Empire or Tribe.
*There is no evidence to support researchers on this topic anywhere as fact
and I suggest it is more to do with poor interpetations of old scripts and drawings
and wishful thinking. As for Aliens suggest people keep taking the tablets!
(Carleton 2013)
On saying that the paranormal of the Empires went hand in hand with
religion, beliefs and and tribal thinking and no civilizations or world tribes
could have moved forward without paranormal thinking. Of course even the
paranormal today has been juggled and reshaped to suit the needs of people
but sadly like those that believe Empires and tribes of the past had Alien help
to get where they were still want to go down this road of ction and no evidence
to support it as fact. What is the paranormal and if we take away 'para' and
leave 'normal' what is 'normal.?'
The human brain such as it is tends to take in shapes, colours, noise, smells
and no two humans alive today can have the full interpretation of what they
have seen or read as the same, unless it is conrmed as 'truth' by others even
if there is no valid evidence to support the nding. Much the same can be
said about parts of Maya and Aztec anthropology and archaeology as well as
the many head-bangers out there who believe in Alien worlds that in the past,
helped shape our planet and the people on it. The Maya of course had been
around a long time well before and after they were an Empire. Their towns and
city-states came and went, some deserted for one reason or the other which I
deal with later and the size of their Empire when it was one was indeed large.I
will also mention from time to time the 'paranormal' links when needed for
reference for the reader because I feel that without doing so the reader may
not realise how much such paranormal events had a major part to play in the
Maya culture through the ages. The Maya were in many ways complicated as a
research study and all the data researched was mainly conicting at times which
did mean much cross reference with Universities and learning centres in South
America rather than relying on all data from the 'white eyes' as fact.
It would be unwise to think or even suggest that where the Maya Empires
were that because the Empire fell that the Maya also became extinct. Many
generations later they are still there and even though 'splinter' groups have
evolved the old ways are deep rooted within the native peoples of the research
area. From and anthropology point of view in order to trace this past to present
day peoples living in the research area many discipline's need to be employed in
future research. This should include archaeology, DNA biology, human biology,
and bone forensics.
THE DAWN OF A CIVILIZATION.
It will surprise many that data relating to the Pleistocene Period and pre-
history in central and South America was in fact applied wholesale to archaeol-
ogy records and is wrong. There is no data that will stand up to scrutiny that
Clovis hunters swept down from North America and and took over the killing
of game. Some may have reached a few parts in South America because Clovis
points have been found in some sites and nding them south of Panama is so
rare or not at all points to insecure archaeology evidence that this happened on
a large scale. There is little doubt in my mind that some tribal groups therefore
did have ancestors that did migrate from North America in passing but no evi-
dence where they came from or who they were. When it comes to the Archaic
period in Mexico and south east from there I am therefore talking about a time
line from 9500-2500 BC and this was down to small bands of nomadic foragers
and some with domestic type plants that in time became the food source for
Mesoamerican tribes and cultures. This was a time of low populations and fast
moving bands of peoples even though many more plants were being domesti-
cated. Around 1800-1600 BC that small agricultural villages could now be found
,with pottery being used and the rst attempt to build monuments (Paranormal
belief ) Archaeology evidence about this is lacking or sparse and suggest that at
times and even now could be very controversial because so far as I gather from
my own research there is no real evidence that would stand up in the Mexico
area of 6000 BC earth works. If there was it would have been discovered by
now but that does not mean it won't be in the future and it may come down
to studying the landscape and plant species in such areas. Plant domesticated
species pollen may well turn up and for reference I have listed the types below;
Maize, Amaranth, Huauzontli, Chia, Common bean, Sieva bean, Scarlet runner
bean, Tepary bean, Squash, Pumpkin, Cushaw squash, Bottle gourd, Calabash
Tree Gourd, Chayote, Chilli pepper, Tomatillo. OTHERS; Fruits, spices and
drinks; Papaya, Soursop, Sapota, Guava, Prickly Pear, Cocoa, Vanilla, Annatto.
Cotton, Agave and Indigo. It should be noted that the earliest gourd rind has
been dated at 8030-7915 BC and the date for Squash seed is put at 8000 BC to
6000 BC. Care must be taken with such dating as pointing at 'domestication'
rather than local plants of that time but C. Pepo seeds ( Squash) found and
are larger than the wild type do point to 8000 BC and therefore I suggest crop
farming on a small scale.

I do have a problem with the Gourds because the early type found are not in
any way related to Africa but to Asia, so Asia is where they came from just after
the late Pleistocene Period but am also suggesting here that such domestication
of Bottle Gourds was going on for 10,000 years. Early Maize grown, though
small can and has been dated 6000 BC but direct dating is in fact 4300 BC and
from the Tehuacan Valley area at 3500 BC and at rst were thought to come
from wild plants but has since been conrmed as 'farmed'. For the moment I
will ignore the Spanish invasion and murder of native people but will return to
it later in this research. The maps of the research area is below.
As one can see the area is massive and many river courses and water tables
across it.
Everywhere people went had to be on foot and sometimes by boat. Move-
ment on foot was never in a straight line and always at so it could take a
week or more to cover 100 miles. Jungle here always takes over once the ruins
and dwellings are left and this could be one of the reasons why I feel there are
more ruins and burial grounds to yet be discovered as well as tablets and other
archaeology items of interest. I will not rule out the real possibility of outside
cultures reaching the research area by sea in the past but will cover sea travel
later in my research. I say this because if a culture was a sea going culture,
could read the stars and currents and use the wind then I feel that some did in
small boats and sail rafts.
3000 BC Crop farming Early maze pollen
2000 BC Olmecs
1000 BC Olmecs die out Gulf coast Epi- \Olmec cultures.
1 AD First recorded kings Tikal. Copan.
100 AD First Maya Dynasty
200 AD
300AD
400 AD
500 AD
600 AD
700 AD Maya-Spanish Maya collapse Puuc centres Chichen Itza
Maya collapse
900 AD
Maya nal collapse.
1000 AD
1100 AD
Maya Pan 12OO AD
1300 AD
1400 AD
As you can see this is the result but not the end of the Maya and there is
a long history of migrations to and from the area after the Maya Empires were
gone. Today the Gene pot has been added to by diverse cultures and peoples
as well as the Europeans, Africa and Asia. In the early days slaves were also
introduced from Africa and Asia. Sorting out the main tribes and cultures in
the research are has been a headache to say the least but I have listed the real
possibility in the next chapter. I will not be dealing with all the tribes of South
America, only the ones that have links to the area or did.
POSSIBLE LINKAGE TO THE MAYA.
In all there are 30 Mayan groups.
TZ'UTUJIL (MAYANS) Many of this group live in the town of Santiago
Atitan in Guatemala and are mainly crop farmers. They still used the Mayan
language, still believe in spirit beliefs linked also to the Roman Catholic religion
and also a small number to the Protestant religion. There are a number of
rituals still carried out by this group, one dealing with sacred bundles, carefully
wrapped human remains,but are linked directly to pre Christian Mayan deities
but also Christian Saints. The population in 2010 for this group is 84,000. There
has been over the years major conict with government forces and violence. On
top of that the Protestant Evangelists which also include some Mayan people
have been a thorn in the side of those people who still believe in Maximon, a
religious gure to who they pay homage with gifts and at times money. Egies
of this gure dressed in human clothing and with a cigar placed between his lips
can still be found. As I see it, the trouble with Christians is that they will not
let the people have their own religion or choice. This of course has also led to
conict. The Mayan Calendar is used for such rituals in some areas but only
goes up to 2012 and someone suggested that the world will end. The world may
end for this group because of pressure from religious cults and governmental
laws and by-laws in the pipeline.
KUNA. Population around 50,000 and mainly in San Blas with a very small
number in Colombia. The language is Kuna but is a Chibchan language. The
beliefs is spirit belief with a mixture of Christianity. Most of the villages are
on the tiny islands of the San Blas archipelago, Panama City, and Colombia
with traditional dress is the Molas for women who also tend to have short hair
and wear a yellow scarf. They have funding to protect their rainforest areas
and shing area. It is not known if there was any major contact with the Maya
Empire.
MISKITU. Population around 150,500 in 2012 with Miskitu as the main
language and is part of the Misumaipan language but suggest may be related
to the Chibchan family tree. The locations is E. Nicaragua and NE. Honduras.
They are boat and shing people and known as a coastal people who live in
an area that is known as the 'Mosquito Coast' and with much inter marriage
with other groups which includes native Americans and Afro-Caribbain cultures.
Children of such relationships are known as 'Miskitu'. It should be noted with
the blood relationships that as well as Christianity there is also a strong belief
still in spirit worship. Shamans are still active. Because they are coastal people
there is every possibility that they had some contact with the Mayans in the
past and after the fall of the Empire.
There were more than likely, were other cultures that were migrants or slaves
adsorbed into the Mayan culture and came from North America, mainly the
desert American native peoples. The Timeline of Maya history, and I suggest
that the timespan for the Pre-classic period was from 2000 BC to 250 AD, the
Classic-period 250-900 AD, Post-Classic 900 AD until 1521 when the Spanish
took Mexico and defeated the Aztec at Tenochtitlan. The Spanish conquest of
the Maya highlands was completed by 1530 and in 1697 in the South lowlands
the Mayan leader Can Ek surrendered to the Spanish.
It must be kept in mind that the Northern Mayan lowlands, Yucatan, was
taken too of course in 1540 and Mayapan was abandoned, this walled Capital was
the last to fall. There is I suspect something not right about the data of others
on the time line because dates were recorded in the Long Count, the ve-place
notation system in use by the lowland Maya of the Classic-period, and con-
verted later to Gregorian calendar dates by the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson
correlation formula which is said to match with the Maya date 9.0.0.0.0 with
December 11th, 435 of the Christian era. It may well be a question of interpre-
tation of dates as so often happens as seen in the Holy Land and Egyptian data
time lines but it would seem that the invading Spanish came in force and on
a number of Fronts to conquer all the native peoples in this research area and
even push northwards into what is known as the USA today.
El Castillo. Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. This Mesoamerican step pyra-

mid's platform, along with its four stairways of 91 steps, totals 365, or the
number of days in a calendar year. Aztec Calendar. The Aztec calendar was
an adaptation of the Mayan calendar. It consisted of a 365-day agricultural
calendar, as well as a 260-day sacred calendar. (This is a digital composite.
Color added for visibility.) Among their other accomplishments, the ancient
Mayas invented a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity. At right
is the ancient Mayan Pyramid Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. The Pyramid
of Kukulkan at Chichén Itzá, constructed circa 1050 was built during the late
Mayan period, when Toltecs from Tula became politically powerful. The pyra-
mid was used as a calendar: four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform
at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent to the number of days in a calendar
year. The Maya calendar was adopted by the other Mesoamerican nations, such
as the Aztecs and the Toltec, which adopted the mechanics of the calendar unal-
tered but changed the names of the days of the week and the months. An Aztec
calendar stone is shown above right. The Maya calendar uses three dierent
dating systems in parallel, the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and
the Haab (civil calendar). Of these, only the Haab has a direct relationship to
the length of the year. A typical Mayan date looks like this: 12.18.16.2.6, 3
Cimi 4 Zotz. 12.18.16.2.6 is the Long Count date. 3 Cimi is the Tzolkin date.
4 Zotz is the Haab date.
So if the above data is correct then you have two slices of archaeology
bread with the timeline lling below. Summary of the Chronology and Cul-
tures of Mesoamerica Period Timespan Important cultures, cities aleo-Indian
10,0003500 BCE Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, obsidian and pyrite points, Iz-
tapan, Archaic 35002000 BCE Agricultural settlements, Tehuacán Preclassic
(Formative) 2000 BCE250 CE Unknown culture in La Blanca and Ujuxte,
Monte Alto culture, Mokaya culture Early Preclassic 2000 BCE1000 BCE
Olmec area: San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán; Central Mexico: Chalcatzingo; Val-
ley of OaxacaP: San José Mogote. The Maya area: Nakbe, Cerros Middle
Preclassic 950 BCE400 BCE Olmec area: La Venta, Tres Zapotes; Zoque area:
Chiapa de Corzo; Maya area: El Mirador, Izapa, Lamanai, Naj Tunich, Taka-
lik Abaj, Kaminaljuyú, Uaxactun; Valley of Oaxaca: Monte Albán, Dainzú
Late Preclassic 400 BCE200 CE Zoque area: Chiapa de Corzo; Maya area:
Kaminaljuyu, El Mirador, Uaxactun, Tikal, Edzná, Cival, San Bartolo, Altar
de Sacricios, Piedras Negras, Ceibal, Rio Azul; Central Mexico: Teotihua-
can; Gulf Coast: Epi-Olmec culture Classic 200900 Classic Maya Centers,
Teotihuacan, Zapotec Early Classic 200600 Maya area: Calakmul, Caracol,
Chunchucmil, Copán, Naranjo, Palenque, Quiriguá, Tikal, Uaxactun, Yaxha;
Teotihuacan apogee; Zapotec apogee; Bajío apogee. Late Classic 600900 Maya
area: Uxmal, Toniná, Cobá, Xunantunich, Waka', Pusilhá, Xultún, Dos Pi-
las, Cancuen, Aguateca, La Blanca; Central Mexico: Xochicalco, Cacaxtla,
Cholula; Gulf Coast: El Tajín and Classic Veracruz culture Terminal Clas-
sic 800900/1000 Maya area: Puuc sites Uxmal, Labna, Sayil, Kabah; Petén
Basin sites Seibal, El Chal Postclassic 9001519 Aztec, Tarascans, Mixtec, To-
tonac, Pipil, Itzá, Ko'woj, K'iche', Kaqchikel, Poqomam, Mam Early Postclassic
9001200 Tula, Mitla, Tulum, Topoxte Late Postclassic 12001519 Tenochtitlan,
Cempoala, Tzintzuntzan, Mayapán, Ti'ho, Q'umarkaj, Iximche, Mixco Viejo,
Zaculeu Post Conquest Until 1697 Central Peten: Tayasal, Zacpeten
The problem of course is nding more archaeology and anthropology evi-
dence in the future which I know is out there, hidden by jungle and waiting to
be discovered. Are you up for it?
Ronnie Carleton (c) June 2013


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FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY.

June 17, 2013

Ronnie Carleton (c) 2013

0.1 This book and research deals with Forensic

Anthropology linked to Archaeology and hu-

man remains in the past and today.

EVERYTHING DEAD HAS

Like teeth and all. When I looked at a jawbone it seemed to be smiling at me

was going back for them unless it was in bright sunshine.

for shing and later bones and skulls to collect.

I every thought I would have in a study, I am still learning.

1.1 Forensic anthropology and reading the land-

Unlike forensic pathology or medical pathology, forensic anthropology is for the

Now, Forensic anthropology can roughly be described as the application of

pologists have been specialists in physical anthropology, which is the study of

human biological function and variation, particularly skeletal biology. Within

the last 20 years, forensic anthropologists with know-how in archeological meth-

and anywhere there is standing stones and circles.

Forensic anthropologists apply standard scientic techniques developed in

physical anthropology to identify human remains, and to assist in the detection

of crime or ID of a missing person.

and variations of the human skeleton in individuals and populations comple-

ments the forensic pathologist's emphasis on soft tissue if needed.Therefore, the

of forensic anthropology as a profession but ego as far as I am concerned I look

on it as just another string to my bow and used as a tool.

This has expanded by some specialists to include: forensic taphonomy, which

is the interpretation of mostly outdoor death scenes and postmortem (after

death) processes, and forensic archaeology, the recovery of scattered or buried

remains. The examination process of human remains by the forensic anthropol-

ogist includes three tasks.

anomalies, pathology, individual features) of the victim or other mammal should

the need arise.

Forensic Anthropologists are often called upon to partake in or even di-

mortem changes in order to understand the condition of human remains. In an

outdoor scene, these changes can be characterized as decomposition of a body,

alterations, scattering by scavengers, freezing, and the like. Postmortem changes

must be distinguished from antemortem (immediately before death) conditions

That is why archaeology knowledge is also important too.

methods in archaeology include:

infrared photography, metal detectors, and ground-penetrating radar.

Accurate methods of excavating buried remains can be critical in the loca-

methods demand complete documentation of the history for each artifact, so

maintaining a record for each piece of evidence recovered at a scene is a normal

physical anthropologist may participate in searches by police or medical exam-

fatality incident or human rights investigation. These searches may be focused

on a certain location or a broad area.

dogs (dogs trained to nd the scent of a decomposing body), or divers.

Processing a scene containing buried remains requires a signicant amount of

prevent loss of small bones, ngernails, teeth, or any other evidence.

One thing that a forensic anthropologist must be able to do is estimate the

are of little use on site so get someone who can.

The skeleton is formed by the development of ossication centers. An ossi-

individual variation of the person. By the time a fetus is completely devel-

Bone development may dier considerably from person to person. As a result,

indicators as possible for a single set of remains.

fragments. Use the four above tools.

thing has hidden clues for ID.

Forensic Bone Anthropology;

phalanges femur patella tibia bula tarsals metatarsals;

vertebra ulna innominate sacrum cocyx radius carpals metacarpals phalanges

great variation in size is accompanied by similar variation in shape which makes

identication of individual bones relatively straightforward. Some bones, how-

garoo, phalanges, metatarsals and metacarpals require greater expertise. Prior

for shing and later bones and skulls to collect.

Forensic anthropologists apply standard scientic techniques developed in

dogs (dogs trained to nd the scent of a decomposing body), or divers.

Processing a scene containing buried remains requires a signicant amount of

prevent loss of small bones, ngernails, teeth, or any other evidence.

The skeleton is formed by the development of ossication centers. An ossi-

Bone development may dier considerably from person to person. As a result,

phalanges femur patella tibia bula tarsals metatarsals;

identication of individual bones relatively straightforward. Some bones, how-

missing their articular surfaces. In part this is a reection of experience as os-

Donald Brothwell's Digging up Bones has a broad coverage of the archaeolog-

Dean's (1990) Introduction to human evolutionary anatomy is the most stim-

(1979) provide a useful guide to the identication of some Australian mammals.

of the skeleton in documenting geographic variation and racial classication.

by Graves (1922) who concentrated on postmaturity ossication and atrophic

this is a reection of poor preservation in most osteological collections. The

ulna of the forearm. Ossication of the humerus is complex as eight dierent

with other bones, however, classication accuracies of greater than 95 percent

results for metacarpal ve. Sex determination using metacarpal dimensions is