May 21, 2015

Cannibalism in Mesoamerica Cooking Techniques

At the site of Tlatelcomila, near Mexico City, the human bones of 18 men, women and children, dated to 700-500 BCE, show signs of cannibalism. Flesh was cut from their bones and their bones were broken at the time of death. Many of the boness had a yellow or red tinge to them. Researchers used powder x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and ultraviolet visible spectroscopy to take a close look at the bones. They found the bones had been cooked by grilling and boiling. The reddish color is from blood, but the boiled bones were cooked with chilis.
Trujillo-Mederos and colleagues’ full article, “Savoury recipes and the colour of the Tlatelcomila human bones,” can be found in early view at the journal Archaeometry.

(My note; The evidence of cannibalism at this site has been known for years. This is the first study to determine how the remains were cooked).

Forbes has the report here;
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/05/20/ancient-mesoamerican-recipe-for-cooking-human-flesh-stuns-archaeologists/

A report from a few years back posted in Art Daily was about evidence of cannibalism in Tenochtitlan;
http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=67523#.VV11vmBkjR7