The bioarchaeology of the Sierra Tarahumara mountains of northwest Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua states) has been overlooked by anthropologists, partly due to the absence of monumental architecture, but also because many of the sites are difficult to access.
This research award will allow field excavations and laboratory analyses that will clarify questions of biological identity and interaction in the Sierra Tarahumara mountains. For example, were prehistoric cultures of the Sierra Tarahumara, northwest Mexico influenced by outside groups (such as those in the better-known American Southwest or Valley of Mexico)? What is the relationship of prehistoric occupants to indigenous people who inhabit the region today (Tarahumara, Pima, Guarijio)?
To address these issues, the researchers will excavate and analyze at least six previously uninvestigated burial caves within a region where no controlled bioarchaeological investigation has been undertaken within the past 17 years. Data will be collected to address two questions: First, did the Sierra Tarahumara serve as a corridor for prehistoric contacts between Mexico and the classical Southwest? Second, do the cultural and skeletal remains show affiliation with one of the three current populations in the region (Tarahumara, Pima, Guarijio) and with the American Southwest? To address the first question, artifacts, skeletal metrics, and dental data (metric and non-metric) may indicate some migration from outside took place into the Sierra Tarahumara. To address the second, dental and skeletal metric data collected from the caves will be statistically compared with those of previous regional studies and known museum collections within northern Mexico. Further, radiocarbon dates will be required to establish the sequential chronology of newly investigated sites.
This study contributes to existing knowledge of Mexican history in three critical ways: 1) Determining the biological affinities of the interred will shed light on the ancient cultures of the greater Southwest, including areas now in the United States; 2) Documenting and analyzing the relationships among poorly known prehistoric cultural practices and lifeways; and 3) Demonstrating the prehistoric ranges, distributions, and lifeways of past populations may aid descendant modern people in recovering cultural heritage lost through Colonialism. This study will provide biological and cultural information that can be applied in Mexican history, indigenous politics, history of settlement, and territoriality throughout the Sierra Tarahumara region.
Further, as this project will be conducted in conjunction with archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, important ties with Mexican scholars will be formed. This will enable future international study, along with information, technology, and student exchange to take place.
