Violent interaction as a form of non-verbal communication has three distinct actors: aggressors, victims and witnesses. Social identities of individuals within these groups are negotiated and enforced through performative violence such as hobbling or torture. Sacred Ridge site is a habitation site occupied during the Pueblo I period, sometime between AD 710 and 825. An assemblage consisting of 14,882 bone commingled fragments representing at least 33 individuals was discovered during excavation. The hobbling of some individuals in the form of blows to the ankle is suggested by damage to the lateral and medial areas of the calcaneus. Torture in the form of blows to the bottoms of feet is evidenced by damage to the plantar surfaces of various other foot bones. These performative acts might have formed the basis for social control of victims and witnesses by aggressors. Taphonomic analysis of human remains can be used to examine behaviors of each group creating the assemblage.
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