“The Missing Femur at the Mitla Fortress and its Implications.” Feinman, Gary M.; Nicholas, Linda M.; Baker, Lindsey C. Antiquity. Dec2010, Vol. 84 Issue 326, p1089-1101. 13p.
Archeologists have made many discoveries to support the idea that femora held very special meaning to the Aztecs and Mayas during pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Although the use of it greatly differs between the two civilizations, many believed it held each individuals power, whether that power was good or bad (Klein 2002; Marcus 2006). This may be why it held such significance over any other bones. To the Aztecs, the femur bone had a couple different meanings. In some cases, it was a war trophies. The Aztecs would remove it from sacrificed captives or their enemy freshly
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Tomb 7 was constructed during the Late Classic period at Monte Alban in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Inside, the remains of at least nine people were found, but three additional femora, all cut and painted, were also discovered. Lavishly furnished, the tomb contained over 500 items including bowls of rock crystal and sliver; items made of jade, obsidian, and turquois; gold pectorals, as well as a trophy skull that was covered with turquoise mosaic (Caso 1969). In addition to these items, multiple bones were found with detailed carvings etched into them, believed to be detailed records of historical and ancestral events (Marcus 1983). The presence of these items indicate the person buried here was an important one (Caso 1969; Rubín de la Borbolla 1969; Marcus 1983; Hamann 1997). When Tomb 7 was originally discovered it was reasonable to assume the carved and painted femora found inside were war trophies. But after new evidence was revealed during more recent finds, like the discovery of Terrace 56 at Lambityeco, it prompts one to consider the possibility that the femur was in fact retrieved postmortem and represents the continued reign of the deceased’s