Gallina culture victims of genocide?

Latest discovery of seven bodies, male, female and infants points to the possibility the Gallina culture may have been the victims of genocide. The article suggests that the little known Gallina culture could have been exterminated due to either cultural/physical appearance differences to other cultures in the area or as an side effect of the mega drought which occured at roughly the same time.
Quite gruesome the way they were killed, two of the victims seemed to be crouched in a defensive position and had their necks snapped right back between their shoulder blades. The article contains links to maps of the area they were discovered in, pictures of the positions the skeletons were found in and pictures of the tower that the original Gallina discovery's were found in the 1930's.

news.nationalgeographic.com (page 1)

Seven skeletons discovered in a remote New Mexico canyon were victims of a brutal massacre that may have been part of an ancient campaign of genocide, archaeologists say.

In particular, the skulls of two of the victims have an "unusual" flattened shape that has never been seen before in the Southwest, the experts said.
Such signs of a distinctive culture may help explain why the group was so plagued by violent conflicts with neighboring groups.

news.nationalgeographic.com (page 2)

Traces of the Gallina culture were first discovered in the 1930s by archaeologists working just a few miles from the newfound massacre site.
Scientists at the time described excavating a 25-foot-tall (7.6-meter-tall) circular stone tower that held the remains of 16 people, all of whom bore signs of gruesome deaths

This "megadrought" is also known to have spurred mass migrations throughout the region, including the abandonment of massive settlements built by the Anasazi, such as the sophisticated pueblos at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
snip.............
With such dire competition for water and land, the Gallina may have been particularly vulnerable if they were seen as outsiders with their own, isolated culture, the researchers speculated.

They have deformed skulls also that hadnt been seen previously in that area.

She says perhaps the most distinct clues revealed by the new discovery are the two deformed skulls that Nelson first observed.
"It's not just him that sees [the deformation]," she said. "It's there."
The skulls are flattened on the back, just below the crown, Nelson explained. The deformation must have occurred during infancy, when the victims' skull bones were soft and malleable.

Link to article on the Mega-drought

In a study published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team from Arizona and Colorado found that the Southwest suffered a six-decade megadrought from 1118 to 1179.

I'd be interested in any thought's or information anyone may have on this particular culture.

Anyway an interesting article on a culture that i hadnt heard much about previously that i thought some of you might enjoy. I always find old murder mystery's intriguing.

Cheers mojo.


[edit on 15/7/07 by mojo4sale]

What's your point?
No one is going to do anything.
It's what happened to the Assyrians, Armenians, In China, etc etc.
How many bodies have they found to consider it a genocide?
If there were only 7 thats not a big genocide.
The Assyrians lost their ancient home in Iraq
and 2/3 of the country executed.

Did you even bother reading the article!!
Every skeleton found of the Gallina culture have been murdered, usually in horrific fashion, the 7 skeletons mentioned in the article are only the latest discovery's. Experts in the field believe they may have been the victims of genocide.
If you have evidence to the contrary i suggest you email the archaelogists involved in the research and give them the benefit of your knowledge on the subject.
Otherwise i humbly suggest you actually read the information provided before you make uninformed judgements. If you had read the article you would have seen this.

news.nationalgeographic.com

"Almost all of [the Gallina ever found] were murdered," he said. "[Someone] was just killing them, case after case, every single time."

I thought it was interesting and worth posting for other members to read.




Btw didnt the Assyrians lose their ancient home after they invaded the Babylonian empire, Whats your point!!



[edit to add link]

[edit on 15/7/07 by mojo4sale]

Quite interesting, and not a culture I'd heard about before.

The skull flattening does suggest a subgroup (perhaps from Mexico?), and minorities are always vulnerable to exploitation and genocide. Bone manipulation is a permanent class identifier... if your people flatten their skulls as part of their rituals, then they're VERY easy to spot in a group.

This is the sort of material that a writer could make a rather wild and interessting fiction story out of (a serial killer, bent on genocide and the victim is a small cultural group.) It wouldn't take much to stalk and kill 30-100 people in 5 years or so, particularly if there was such a heavy drought.

Anyway... interesting stuff! I'll have to read more!

Originally posted by Equinox99

It's what happened to the Assyrians, Armenians, In China, etc etc.
How many bodies have they found to consider it a genocide?

It is right in your eyes right now, Afghanistan and Iraq.
And all done by Americans.
That's what I see right here right now.

How many bodies, 30,000 per MONTH, it has been awhile.

What is your say?

Interesting report on the possible parallels between the Gallina cultures demise and the disappearance of the Anasazi from the same area at around the same time. Also speculates on the possibility that the Gallina culture may have been the last remnants of the Moche.

anthropology.net

However it appears only the minority Gallina were massacred, as evidenced by similar grisly finds at other sites, which is odd because if there were so few of them, it’s unlikely that they had resources in sufficient quantity to warrant others coming along to wrest control of them - indeed, it’s hard to imagine the Gallina exercised control over anything of importance, so it’s unlikely that whoever massacred them was doing so for material gain, in the guise of food, water, livestock, grain or land.

Picture of cliff dwelling used by the Gallina.

news.nationalgeographic.com

An hour's hike from the nearest source of water and perched hundreds of feet over the valley below, the site "is an excellent example of just how scared these people must have been," said archaeologist Tony Largaespada.

Picture of stone tower here. Judging by their buildings you'd have to think these people were scared of something, and was it the same reason that caused the Anasazi to move.

news.nationalgeographic.com

Archaeologists first learned of the Gallina culture when a team of scientists came upon this circular stone tower in northwestern New Mexico in the 1930s.
Researchers at the time described the tower as standing some 25 feet (7.5 meters) tall, with outer walls 6 feet (2 meters) thick. Today only about 12 feet (3.5 meters) of the structure remain.

mojo

Could have been a ritual sacrifice done during the time when these people were having a hard time finding food.

If I no mistaken other cultures in south American did some plenty of mass murdering or ritual killings.

Correct me if I am wrong Byrd.

Yes, there were sacrifices, Marge. I'm afraid it's a mystery we probably will never solve -- but the other bits of data about it really are intriguing.

If there's a link to the Anasazi, they would have all been fleeing as a drought devastated that area of the United States. If there was some sort of suspicon that this particular group/subtribe had done some sort of evil magic on the rest of the people, then they could have been violently murdered.

The bodies weren't (apparently) all killed in the same manner (sacrifice).

It's an interesting riddle.

Thanks Byrd, maybe i'm just an old murder mystery freak but this story has really peaked my interest.
Did you find the connection that the author of the previous link tried to assert to the Moche at all far fetched or did it ring true in some aspects?
Do you have any research/links regarding the Anasazi to share?

Thanks mojo

There was a theory at one time that the Galinas were seen as a demon tribe because of their deformities. With the drought bringing tribes into confluence, they were singled out as bringing the drought and exterminated so that the rains would return.

@ direwolf. That certainly makes the most sense, but still odd that the murders were committed over an extended period of time. If it was other cultural groups nearby you would think that they would have attacked in force and attempted to wipe out the Gallina in one fell swoop not over the course of a generation.