MORTUARY PRACrICES AND THE SOCIAL ORDER AT LA QUEMADA, ZACATECAS,MEXICO Ben A. Nelson, J. Andrew Darling, and David A. Kice Epiclassic occupants of thesite of La Quemada leftthedisarticulated remains of 11-14 humans in an apparently sacred structure outside the monumentalcore of the site. Several lines of evidenceare reviewed to generate propositions aboutthe ritualmeanings andfunctionsof the bones. A comparative analysisreveals the complexity of mortuary practices in northern and western Mexico, and permitsthe suggestion that theseparticular remains were those of revered ancestors or community members. Thesacred structure is seen as a charnel house, in which the moreancienttradition of ancestor worship expressed in shaft tombswas essentially perpetuated above ground. Hostile social relationsare clearlysuggested, however, by other categories of bone deposits. Recognition of the rich variability of mortuary displaysleads to questions about their role in the maintenance of the social order. Los gruposque ocuparon el sitio de La Quemadaduranteel perfodo Epiclasicodejarontras de sf los restos desarticulados de once a catorce individuos en un temploubicado fuera del nucleomonumental del sitio. En este trabajo se revisan varias clasesde evidencia a fin de proponer una hipotesis acerca del significado yfuncion rituales de los huesos. Un analisis comparativo revela la compleVidad de las costumbres funerarias del norte y el oeste de Mexico, y permite sugerir que los restoshumanosen cuestion eran los de miembros venerados de la comunidad. El templo se considera como una estructura en la cual la antigua tradicion de veneracion de los antepasados, inicialmente manifestada en el Preclasico en las tumbasde tiro, fue perpetuada en una forma evolucionada. Sin embargo,otras categorfas de depositososeos sugierenclaramente la existencia de relaciones hostiles entre los habitantes del sitio. El reconocimiento de la rica variabilidad de despliegues mortuorios abre las puertas para la investigacion de sufuncion en el mantenimiento del ordensocial. In this paper we describe a deposit of human bone found on the floor of a large structure on Terrace 18 of La Quemada, a mainlyEpiclassic (A.D.600-900) site in Zacatecas, Mexico. Integration of ethnohistorical, archaeological, and osteological evidence allows us to consider alternativein- terpretations of the bone deposit:(1) that the bones represent the processing of the corpses of slain enemies; (2) that the bones belonged to sacrificial victims, either captives or selected members of the local community; and (3) that the bones are those of revered community members, whose memory was honored by preserving their remains in a charnelstructure. The evidence here appears most consistent with charnel treatment;up to six distinct burial practices arediscernible in the totalityof evidence from La Quemada, its hinterland, and neighboring areas. We question the assertion(Kelley 1978: 119; Piojan and Mansilla 1990:467;Weigand 1982: 91-92) that the bones of La Quemada represent a final catastrophic episode. Patternsof regional mortuary variabilitypermit the alternativesuggestion that mortuary displays functioned continu- ouslyto symbolize the sociopolitical order withinand amongfrontier polities.The variety of practices reveals the presenceof a rangeof ongoing mortuary programs, some of which probablyexpressed fundamentally different relationships between the living and the dead. In view of the abundance of skeletalremainsin the patio complexes that make up La Quemadaand other sites, it appears that northern centers such as La Quemada may have been dedicatedlargelyto feasts, ball games, and mortuary ritual. Ben A. Nelson,Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, 380 M.F.A.C.,BuJ%alo, NY 14261 J. Andrew Darling,Museumof Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079 DavidA. Kice, P-III Associates, Inc., 2212 South West Temple,Suite 21, Salt Lake City, UT 84115-2645 Latin American Antiquity, 3(4), 1992, pp. 298-315. Copyright t 1992 by the Society for American Archaeology 298