Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1988 - 19

bloodlettingritual seems to havebeen
one wayof affirminga ruler's relationship
to his dead forebearsand to the supernatural world-thus confirmingthe
legitimacyof his ownregime.This artifact
is amongthe earliest findsthat document
bloodlettingrituals.
But the unearthingof the Kichpanha
bone froma non-royalgrave carries startlingimplications.ManyMayanistshave
assumed that writingoccurredprimarily
in monumentalart created to commemorate historicevents. But the findingof the
Kichpanhabone in a Late Preclassic/Protoclassichome burialsite and not in the
zone reserved for monumentsmayindicate, the report notes, "that it is . . . probable that writingwas . . . widespread,was
executedin a variety of perishablemedia
and was highlydevelopedat a muchearlier time than had previouslybeen
considered."
If Knives
Could
Speak
But whywas a bloodlettinginstrument
foundin a relativelyplebeiangrave
of the more intriguing
mound,not in a palaceor monument?
Onerecent archaeologicalfinds
The answer may be that the grave dates
is the Mayabone artifactcovback to a time when petty chiefsruled,
ered with hieroglyphsthat has
before a centralizedpoliticalauthority
been discoveredin the ruins of
emerged amongthe Maya.The report
Kichpanha,Belize.Througha
carefulstudy of this implement concludesthat before these petty chiefs
and its context, three American couldpossiblyhave"gainedthe fullsuparchaeologistsmay,as their joint port of the peasantry,they first had to let
bloodand make other sacrificesto justify
report puts it, "actuallyhave
their claimsfor supremacy.. . . Thus, it
gaineda small'window'into
the earliest stages of Maya
maybe less surprisingthan it initiallyapcivilization."
pears, that such an unusualartifactwould
be foundin such a smallmound... at a
inThe hieroglyph-inscribed
rather early time in the Mayaprehistoric
strument was foundby Eric C.
Gibsonof TrinityUniversity,
sequence."
Leslie C. Shawof the University
of Massachusettsat Amherst
Breadbasket
and DanielR. Finamoreof Bos- Sky-High
ton Universityat a grave within
HiramBinghamscored a coup in
Yale's
a low-lyinghouse moundin
1911when he rediscoveredPeru's
Kichpanha,whichis a wetlands magnificent"Lost City of the Andes,"
site about 20 milesinlandfrom
MachuPicchu.But today,almosteight
the Caribbean."This artifact,"
decades later, these mile-high,isolated
ruins are stillthe subject of intense puzsays the report, "containsthe
first knownMayahieroglyphs
zlementamongarchaeologists.How,
engravedon bone, and is among amongother mysteries,was the city able
the earliest evidenceof Maya
to feed itself?The sparse arable acreage
withinits confinescouldnot haveproEight
writingfoundto date
delicateglyphsdepictingseven
duced the needed subsistencecrops, let
heads and one humanfigureare alone the marketablesurplus that most
inscribedon its surface."
ancientuplandcommunitiesused for tradThe bone is about seven
ing with the lowlands.
inches long, taperingfroma
This puzzlemay nowhavebeen solved
widthof one inchto about
by a youngUCLAarchaeologist,Reinaldo
E. Chohfi.If Chohfi'sadmittedlytentative
three-quartersof an inchand may have
ideas are sound, he has locateda Machu
been used as a knife.It was found
amidstthe pelvicbones of a man buried
Picchu"breadbasket"-a stretch of tableland calledMaranpampa.This littlebetween 100B.C.and A.D.150."Probastudied area, three times larger than all of
bly,"the report says, "this carved bone
the MachuPicchusite, is just one mile
was an implementused for bloodletting
from that ruined city as the crowflies.
... in a sacrificialritual, perhaps by the
Chohfi'scoup was made possibleby his
individualwith whomit was interred."
shrewdanalysesof aerialphotos showing
Suchauto-sacrificehas usuallybeen conthe MachuPicchuregion."I was able to
sidered the provinceof Mayarulers; the

Friends of the AlbuquerquePetroglyphs,
the CentralNew MexicoAudubonSociety, the localSierra Clubchapter,the
AmericanAssociationof University
Women,and variousother neighborhood
associations.The Friends of the Albuquerque Petroglyphs,for instance, stirred
publicinterest by arrangingfor the public
to visit and otherwise become awareof
the area'srare glyphs.
As GordonBronitsky,a resident of Albuquerqueand archaeologicalconsultant
to the NorthwestMesa EscarpmentTask
Force TechnicalTeam,comments,"Passage of the quarter-centtax was the result of a uniquecoalitionof citizensof all
kindswho saw archaeologicalresources
as publicresources, and acted for the
benefitof the community,both nowand in
the future."

detect in these photographs,"Chohfisays,
"three distinct, discontinuousareas.
These rangedin tone fromlightto dark
gray-the lightgray representingland
with little nativevegetation;the middle
gray,a zone of short trees and bushes;
and the dark gray a zone of tall trees.
"Maranpampastood out because it had
a series of trees growingin a straightline,
as wellas other [non-natural]rectilinear
features. Allof this pointedto a potential
archaeologicalsite."
Followingup, Chohfiflewto Peru and,
whackinghis waywith a machetethrough
the last leg of his journey,led a small
party to the extensivealluvial-terracesite
where, amongother things,they found
mortar and grindingstone artifacts
(inset). He and an associatepromptly
namedthe placeMaranpampa-"levelfield
with good soil."
"It wouldappear,"Chohifisays, "that
Maranpampacouldbe viewedas Machu
Picchu'smajorproductionannexor zone.
Maranpampawould,if present-dayvegetation were clearedaway,be plainlyvisible fromMachuPicchu.Of course, their
relationshipcan be verifiedonlyafter an
absolutechronologyis developedfor
Maranpampa."
Fish Story
Clemente
sort of fishinggear did CaliforWhatnia'sNativeAmericananglerscarry
in their tackle boxes 1,400years ago?
This questionwas partiallyansweredduring the summer of 1984when a U.C.L.A.
team excavateda well-preserved"tackle
box"frombeneath a shell middenon San
ClementeIsland, offsouthern California.
Today,after extensivelab analysis,it
seems clear that the San Clemente
fishingkit, whose age and provenanceare
now solidlyestablished,is the most complete such kit ever discovered.
Usingsuch ancientgear, a modernangler wouldvery likelyend up with a creel
fullof fish: the kit's 82 fishingaccessories
includeboth circularand compositefishhooks, drills,scale scrapers, thumbprotectors, knives,and asphaltline weights.
This battery of artifactswas carried
aroundin a pouchor bag eight inches
(about20 centimeters)long, whichwas
made of sea grass reinforcedwith twine
and beads.
Fish remainsfrom the site are currently
beinganalyzedby RoySails,of U.C.L.A.

San

July/August1988

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Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1988

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1988
