Thighbones Were Scepters for Ancient Zapotec Men

nationalgeographic ^ | July 15, 2009 | Charles Q. Choi

[JoeProBono]

For men of the ancient Zapotec civilization, ancestral thighbones may have been carried as status symbols.

Based on centuries-old stone carvings in southern Mexico, archaeologists had long suspected that Zapotec men brandished human femurs.

"The thought was that the femurs are those of the ancestors of the rulers, serving like staffs of office or symbols of legitimacy," explained archaeologist Gary Feinman of the Field Museum in Chicago.

Now grave excavations have confirmed the practice, according to a new study. What's more, it seems that commoners got a leg up too.

Flourishing from about 500 B.C. to A.D. 1000 in the Valley of Oaxaca, the Zapotec were contemporaries of the ancient Maya and Aztec.

[JoeProBono]

Men dressed in the traditional costume of a Zapotec woman walk during a parade in the town of Juchitan in southern Mexico.

[Winstons Julia]

Is that your great-grandpa’s femur in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

[GeronL]

bump

[GSP.FAN]

[cranked]

A definate multi-use mechanism. Works wonders on a man’s head.

[JoeProBono]

[Right Brother]

"Honey, back in the day, you woulda been held up as a symbol of royalty"

[vetvetdoug]

Didn’t Sampson kill hundreds of enemy warriors with the jawbone of a Democrat?

[wastedyears]

Those are men?

[ApplegateRanch]

"The thought was that the femurs are those of the ancestors of the rulers, serving like staffs of office or symbols of legitimacy,"

Then again, they may have been taken from an enemy or predecessor, and were used as a warning to anyone else who might get feelings of uppitiness.

IIRC, this practice dates clear back to King Guzzle (or,perhaps I'm confusing him with his Grand Wizer) in the Kingdom of Moo. I'll have to check with Doc Wonmug, to refresh my memory.

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks GeronL and ApplegateRanch. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·