Blood in the Villages: Situating Massacres within Broader Social Processes

Bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology offer unique perspectives on studies of mass violence and present opportunities to interpret human skeletal remains in a broader cultural context. Massacres and other forms of large-scale violence have been documented in many different ancient and modern contexts. Moving the analysis from the victims to the broader political and cultural context necessitates using social theories about the nature of mass violence. Massacres can be seen as a process, that is as the unfolding of nonrandom patterns or chain of events that precede the events and continue long after. Mass violence has a cultural logic of its own that is shaped by social and historical dynamics. Massacres can have varying aims including subjugation or total eradication of a group based on status, ethnicity or religion. Important research has been performed interpreting lethal skeletal trauma but a broad spectrum of different types of violence exists that must be taken into consideration. This includes incidents where multiple individuals are massacred as part of some larger cultural performance or cases of ethnocide where certain groups are targeted. Massacres can be part of large scale warfare, or they can be isolated incidents. It is an important part of violence studies to be able to explore the cultural history that may lead to a specific manifestation of massacre. The goal of this session is to present case studies that integrate the evidence from human remains with the broader cultural and historical context through the utilization of social theory to provide a framework for interpretation. This organized session will highlight case studies of massacres across time and space that stress innovative theoretical models that help make sense of this unique form of violence. The primary focus will be on how massacres are used as a strategy of violence across time and cultural/geopolitical landscapes.