Body language: An integrative approach to the bioarchaeology and mortuary practices of the Taos Valley

The primary goal of this dissertation was to test whether the body can be used as a material correlate in mortuary practices to elucidate social structure. Societies where the mortuary practices reveal little differences in grave goods, lack associated grave goods, or reveal relatively few differences in the method of burial are considered egalitarian societies with little social complexity. Based upon the premise that people are created by the activities they perform, not only do the physical remains provide information about kin groups and genetic affiliation, the lifeways will also provide essential information about the social complexity of a group and, when placed within the mortuary context, will allow us to make better predictive statements regarding past populations.;The Taos Valley provided an excellent forum from which to test whether the body can be used as an interpretive force in understanding mortuary practices because the Taos Valley burials lack grave goods and the majority of the individuals available for analysis resided in a small portion of the Taos Valley---The Rio Grande del Rancho Valley. In addition, individuals from both the Valdez and Talpa Phases were available for research and the inhabitants initially aggregated at one location, Pot Creek Pueblo, whose occupation was short in duration dating from the A.D. 1260s to 1320s.;In the dissertation, I first provide a comprehensive bioarchaeological analysis of the majority of the human skeletal remains from the Taos Valley. I then use this data to provide interpretations regarding the impact of the pithouse to pueblo transition in the Taos Valley on the inhabitants' health, occupational practices, trauma, and mortuary practices. Then, I combine the results of the bioarchaeological analysis with the mortuary practices in order to elucidate the social structure of the Taos Valley inhabitants during both the Valdez and Talpa Phases.;The results of this study indicate that the occupational practices of the inhabitants underwent significant changes between the Valdez and Talpa Phases. During the Talpa Phase, a female corn-grinding society was identified and labor was divided between two female labor groups, corn-grinders and non-corn grinders. Talpa Phase males participated in more strenuous labor than Valdez Phase males. Health stayed relatively constant, although Talpa Phase males enjoyed better health than any other group. The combination of bioarchaeological analysis and mortuary practices indicated a shift in the social organization from household organization during the Valdez Phase to the Talpa Phase in which power and prestige was based upon religious knowledge, supporting Fowles' (2004) concept of hierocracy. The population's mortuary practices alone indicated an egalitarian community, and combining the mortuary practices with the bioarchaeological data from skeletal analysis gave greater insight into the social structure in the Taos Valley.