Part+1

Download and review the attached file which describes the burials recovered from an excavation at the site of Tlatilco. Your assignment is to analyze these burials in order to say something about what they mean (in archaeological terms). We will discuss in class ways in which we can analyze burials to extract information about social status and role, wealth differences, occupations, exposure to injury and disease, along with other attributes.

Read about Mortuary Programs in these files (long but you won't need to read all of them - just the theory/method parts)

As part of your midterm project you need to develop a context for the analysis of human remains. Review the information you have already examined in terms of some key questions anthropologists have posed: How do states evolve? We have looked at ways archaeologists have identified the development of states - from Henry Wright and Vincas Steponaitis who review systems of decision making and the distribution of surplus. A third way to examine the development of state society is to document if the society in question was organized into different ranks is to analyze the human remains from burials produced by a society. The Tlatilco burials described in the hand out can be analyzed to understand how this society was organized.

Your task is to develop a context and methodology (following the ideas proposed by Binford and Rothschild) so that a reader understands what and why you plan to analyze the burials at Tlatilco to see if they can be interpreted as evidence of a ranked society. This part of the project will help you establish what research questions you are proposing to answer in your analysis.