Childhood and Identity Acquisition in the Late Prehispanic Ónavas Valley, Sonora, Mexico

ABSTRACT

Identity acquisition is a lifelong process that begins prior to birth (passive), becomes more active with self-awareness, and continues throughout the enculturation process. We argue that in childhood, as a liminal period of the life course, individuals are subject to a combination of active and passive forces of identity acquisition, largely determined first by family/parental decisions, then by community decisions as part of the enculturation process. We test this idea by reconstructing episodes of identity acquisition across social age categories in a late prehispanic (AD 900–1300) skeletal sample from the site of El Cementerio from north-west Mexico, which represents the central community of a settlement system in the valley of Ónavas, Sonora, Mexico. Artificial cranial modification, dental modification, and the placement of funerary objects reflect intersecting identities and provide clues to social age and identity acquisition within the community.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity
• mortuary practices
• childhood
• social roles
• Northwest Mexico
• cranial modification
• dental modification

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cristina García-Moreno

Cristina García-Moreno completed her professional studies at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), with the title of Degree in Archaeology with a thesis on the oldest inhabitants of Northwest Mexico. She was awarded the Alfonso Caso Award in 2005 for the best thesis. From 2002 to 2008 she participated in both domestic and foreign research projects, and from 2008 to 2017 led the Southern Archaeological Project of Sonora, funded by Arizona State University. She is currently a permanent researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Sonora (Sonora Center).

Patricia Olga Hernández Espinoza

Patricia Olga Hernández Espinoza is a senior scientist at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), where she has been employed for nearly four decades. Since 1995, she has been part of the professional group that leads the Physical Anthropology Postgraduate Program at the Escuela Nacional de Antropología Historia (ENAH). Her research focuses on the bioarchaeology of pre-Hispanic and post-Hispanic period populations. She has published extensively in the general field of human skeletal biology with an emphasis on paleodemographic applications. She received a Bachelor of Arts (honours) degree and a Doctor of Philosophy from the ENAH. She also received a master’s degree on demography from El Colegio de México. She has received numerous honours, including the Premio INAH Javier Romero in 2003 for the best PhD thesis.

James T. Watson

James T. Watson, PhD (2005, University of Nevada Las Vegas) is Associate Curator of Bioarchaeology in the Arizona State Museum and Associate Professor in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. His research examines health and disease in prehistoric populations through skeletal remains. He is interested in understanding prehistoric human adaptations in desert ecosystems and the role local resources play in the adoption of agriculture and their impact on health.