ABSTRACT
In the archaeological record, trophy taking is the removal of body parts from living or recently deceased people. This phenomenon as it is expressed during the Middle and Late Archaic periods (MLAP) in the southern part of the state along the Ohio River; all of the sites are located either on the river or nearby on one of its small tributaries or sloughs. In southern Indiana, trophy taking tended to involve the removal of entire forearms and heads, although MLAP people also took soft tissue only trophies such as scalps and tongues. Archaic period violence is usually associated with trophy taking, evidence for which is widespread in the Eastern Woodlands. Important nuances of the MLAP trophy taking may have been associated with magic inherent to human body parts that served to address cosmological views of death. MLAP trophies were not necessarily indicators of prowess in confict and reflect beliefs and practices unique to those people of the MLAP.
