Sowing the Dead

Chapter 9 discusses the social impacts of war in Uganda and, in particular, the interactions between the survivors and the victims of violence who are seeking proper burial. It shows how the bones of the Acholi massacre victims continue to assert their agency and hamper community healing. It also illustrates the persistent suffering experienced by those who survived the massacres and the dilemma they face in placating the unknown dead. The ability to solve this dilemma is complicated by a number of factors including the often-unknown identities of the deceased and the lack of resources required to perform the necessary burial rituals.

Introduction

Chapter 1 provides an overview for studying massacres from bioarchaeological and forensic anthropology perspectives. Various definitions of massacres and the difficulties of identifying one description of massacres that applies to all cultural and geographic contexts are explored. The idea that group-targeted structural violence resulting in mass death may also be defined as a type of massacre is then considered. Finally, contemporary examples of massacres are discussed in order to better understand the processes involved in this form of violence.

Rethinking Massacres

This research analyzes mass graves from the Middle Tennessee River Valley and highlights problems with how massacres are defined and identified in bioarchaeology. Definitions of mass graves and the utility of using these features to identify massacres in the past are explored. It is suggested that there are different types of massacres and that a three-tiered definition of massacres may be more appropriate. In order to form a more complete understanding of whether or not they represent the victims of massacres, this revised approach to studying massacres is applied to several human skeletal assemblages in this region.

Migrant Death and Identification

Chapter 11 explores undocumented migrant deaths on the U.S.-Mexico border. Recent changes to border policies have led to an increase in migrant deaths. In order to make sense of this humanitarian crisis, political economic theory that considers power and structural inequalities is applied. A careful review demonstrates how, coupled with historical trajectories in Latin America, the rise of neoliberalism has led to increases in social inequality and violence, resulting in increased migration as the oppressed flee in the hopes of finding a different life. Due to the dangerous conditions encountered along the journey, many migrants die every year attempting to find this new life.

Each One the Same

This study examines the social significance of extreme processing and performative violence at the massacre site Sacred Ridge in the North American Southwest. The analysis of the skeletal remains demonstrates that all of the victims were similarly processed and that processing of the body did not vary based on the age or sex of the victims. The similar processing indicates that this entire group of victims was viewed as the dehumanized other. This othering led to a lack of empathy among the perpetrators for the victims, leading to their ability to perform the massacre. The psychological and emotional factors affecting the different groups (victims, perpetrators, and witnesses) are explored and highlight how these dynamics can impact power relations.

Bones in the Village

This investigation re-examines some of the human skeletal remains from Crow Creek, which contained the mutilated remains of hundreds of victims of a massacre. In this study, the human skeletal remains from the Bone Bed and the Village contexts at this site are compared. Through careful, detailed osteological analysis, this research demonstrates the extent to which the perpetrators deliberately processed the victims. This would have taken some time, which suggests the perpetrators did not leave immediately after the attack.

Conclusion

The final chapter explores the theme of the volume and the contributions of the individual chapters to bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology. First, a review of the history of the meaning of the word massacre is presented. This is followed by a thoughtful discussion of the contributions of the chapters in this volume towards forming a better understanding of violence and massacres.

Khmer Rouge Regime Massacres

Chapter 8 discusses the impact of the Khmer Rouge regime on the people of Cambodia and the importance of documenting the evidence of violence. This study focuses on the important work being done at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center analyzing the skeletal remains of the victims. In particular, a recent study performed on a sample of Khmer Rouge victims is discussed and, through analysis of the perimortem trauma, confirms eyewitness accounts that blunt force trauma to the base of the skull was often utilized to execute the victims.

Applications of Coded Osteological Data from the Smithsonian Repatriation Database for the Study of Violence in the Past

Chapter 5 explores an innovative data mining approach in order to show that archived data can be used to answer important anthropological questions about mass violence. It shows that the use of archived data allows for the collection of larger sample sizes and the exploration of broader patterns of violence. The method is demonstrated through the examination of a large sample size of Arikara individuals from ten archaeological sites gathered from the Smithsonian Institute database. Through the application of this method, evidence for perimortem trauma was discovered for several individuals, including males, females, and subadults, and it included evidence of the mutilation of some victims.

Only the Men Will Do

Chapter 4 applies a gendered approach to studying mass violence among the Chachapoya in Peru. While the results of this analysis of the mass death assemblage at Kuelap demonstrates that both adults and subadults were among the victims, they also show a relatively low number of adult females. This suggests that the perpetrators specifically targeted the men and may have abducted the women. This act of violence indicates that the goal of the perpetrators was likely the destruction of this community, specifically the men and children. Thus, the experience of violence among the Chachapoya at this site may have varied based upon gender.