A newly excavated Zapotec burial has yielded a fresh interpretation of the ancient, grisly Mesoamerican custom of removing thighbones from the dead.

Across pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, femurs were believed to contain an individual's power. Aztecs treated them as war trophies, while Zapotec royalty are thought to have used them like sceptres, as symbols of ancestral political might.

The new excavation, in a relatively humble residential dwelling at the ancient community of Mitla, suggests that ancestral thighbone-wielding "may not have been a practice limited to rulers," wrote researchers led by Field Museum archaeologist Gary Feinman in a study published in December in Antiquity.

Thighbone customs of the Zapotec civilization, which reigned from the late 6th century BC to the early 16th century in what is now the Oaxaca valley of Mexico, are best known from burials at a pair of sites.

The first, a famous 16th-century tomb in the city of Monte Alban that was excavated in the 1930s, yielded the remains of nine individuals, along with three extra femurs, and a wealth of finely crafted goods. These extra femors had been cut and painted, and were interpreted to indicate Aztec-style trophy use.

In the 1970s, an 8th-century tomb was excavated, this time in the smaller town of Lambityeco. It was part of a palatial residence, clearly occupied by rulers, six of whom had been buried there – but only three of their thighbones remained. The rest of the femurs were missing.

Friezes on the wall depicted men holding what appeared to be femurs, giving rise to the interpretation of thighbones as scepters. Subsequent burial excavations have supported this hypothesis, but the sites have tended to be poorly preserved, with skeletons missing many bones.

The burial excavated by Feinman at Mitla was extremely well-preserved, and had never been disturbed – except, that is, by someone who broke open the coffin, removed a thighbone, then carefully resealed it, leaving a bowl as an offering.

According to Feinman's team, that offering suggests a veneration for the deceased. As the burial was beneath a residence – Zapotec dead were commonly buried in this fashion, with dwellings occupied for generations – it had likely been opened by a descendant.

Meanwhile, the upper portion of the skeleton was in slight disarray, while the lower portion was undisturbed except for the missing femur. The researchers interpret this as evidence that whoever re-opened the coffin knew where it was, but not how it was aligned. They accidentally broke into the top part first, jostled the remains, then realized their mistake and gently removed the thighbone.

The residence was located on a terraced hillside known as the Mitla Fortress, and was part of a relatively nondescript neighborhood, well down from the dwellings of rulers at the top. It was, however, in the center of the neighborhood, atop a rocky promontory that would have made it an ideal lookout. The researchers think the residence was occupied by someone like a ward boss, revered by his descendants.

To Feinman, the Mitla burial supports the interpretation of Zapotecs using thighbones as political symbols, and suggests it was a more widespread custom than thought, not restricted to their society’s rulers or elite.

The symbolic use of ancestral thighbones at Lambityeco, and quite possibly in the later tomb at Monte Albán, may indicate the importance of personal and lineal networks for legitimizing power.

This may have been especially true in the last stages of Zapotec civilization, when the power of central authorities dwindled. Prominent local families gained strength, and this was displayed in something like a coat-of-arms – but, in keeping with tradition, it was thighbones.

Images: 1) Burial site at Mitla, with arrow pointing to missing femur./Antiquity. 2) Frieze at Lambityeco depicting man holding a femur./Antiquity.

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Citation: "The missing femur at the Mitla Fortress and its implications." By Gary M. Feinman, Linda M. Nicholas and Lindsey C. Baker. Antiquity, Vol. 84 No. 326, December 2010.