ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses pioneering studies which provide models for thinking about ritualized, institutionalized or sanctioned violence against women and men in the California case. These include work of Wilkinson and Van Wagenen for a precontact site from Michigan, and Walker for precontact sites along the California coast. The great majority of the work on violence as culled from osteological evidence of trauma has tended to focus on male activities related to warfare. Data on trauma are presented for two regions, the La Plata River Valley and Black Mesa in the Kayenta area. These represent two extremes on the Pueblo continuum in terms of availability of resources, organizational state, position and location vis-a-vis other spheres of influence, health and quantity of trade items. While it is difficult to identify exact implement used in each case of cranial trauma at La Plata, modern forensic information suggests that fractures of the head can be made with any number of blunt or sharp implements.
