A new study describes a previously unknown prehistoric tribe of hunter-gatherers from the southern coast of Texas, who crafted musical instruments from modified human bones. The findings of the research conducted by Dr. Matthew Taylor, a biological anthropologist from Augusta University, were recently published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.
Taylor's research focuses on the cultural practices of the Late Prehistoric tribe, which inhabited South Texas between 1300 and 1528 CE. Setting out to analyze and classify a series of relics made from human bone, Taylor studied a total of 29 artifacts dated to the Late Prehistoric period, prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century CE.
Among the artifacts, Taylor discovered a musical rasp made from a human humerus, bearing 29 notches etched into its surface. He recognized its similarity to an instrument known as the omichicahuaztli, used in funerary rituals by pre-Hispanic Mexican cultures such as the Aztecs. The omichicahuaztli, often featuring geometric designs, was employed between 1250 and 1521 CE in the burial rites of kings and warriors, sharing many similarities with the Texan example.
"The transformation of a humerus into an omichicahuaztli or musical scraper indicates a significant level of cultural exchange," Taylor said, according to IFLScience. He proposes that the Texan rasp "may represent an emulation of Mexican religious practices," suggesting an exchange of technology and culture between the Aztec empire and Indigenous tribes of the South Texas coast during the Late Prehistoric period.
The artifacts were created using a technique known as groove and break, or the groove-and-snap technique, which involves making a circular incision around the bone until reaching the inner cavity, allowing for a clean break. "This process is labor intensive and represents hours of work," Taylor writes, noting the care that went into producing these skeletal curiosities.
The musical rasp would have been played by scraping another piece along the grooves, producing rhythmic sounds that likely held ceremonial or social importance. The other side of the bone rasp features zig-zagging geometric patterns, serving as decoration and further linking it to the omichicahuaztli of Central Mexico.
Taylor notes that while certain ancient cultures in Central and South America are known to have dug up and modified their ancestors' corpses as a form of veneration, that does not appear to have been the case in North America. "Although some may wish to equate the presence of these artifacts with the existence of cannibalism, this report does not support or refute that hypothesis," he explains. Despite practices like scalp-taking of enemies being common in other regions, there is no archaeological record of human bone war trophies in South Texas.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.