Places of life, places of death: caves in pre-Hispanic Huachichil conscience in northern Mexico

Abstract

In 1931, a US geologist took ten skulls from a pre-Hispanic burial cave in historic Huachichil territory in northeastern Mexico and brought them to a US museum. To assist in repatriation efforts, this thesis uses ethnoarchaeology to suggest how ancient Huachichiles may have used caves and what they may have believed about those caves. Drawing from ethnographic accounts from the US Southwest, Aridoamerica, and Mesoamerica, this thesis establishes two possible models of belief that Huachichil cosmology may have followed regarding caves. A second pre­ Hispanic Huachichil burial cave and its surrounding caves are also examined using participant observation and interviews with a local Elder to determine any traditional knowledge related to ancient Huachichil cave use. The bioarchaeological analysis of the ten skulls from the first burial cave sheds some light on ancient Huachichil lifestyles. While there is little remaining traditional knowledge that would indicate ancient Huachichil cave beliefs, experiences with the ten skulls and the second burial cave affirm the Indigenous understanding that human remains are powerful and retain some essence of the person they belonged to. Repatriation is vital because human remains have consciousness and agency and are worthy of respect.