Coprolite - one of my favourite words

Was Ancestral Pueblo culture peaceful or violent? The prevailing view among archaeologists has swung back and forth over the past 60 years. In the late 1980s, characterizations of the Ancestral Pueblo swung toward the violent with the discovery of remains showing evidence of cannibalism. Then, in 1992, Karl Reinhard found the strongest evidence yet in a coprolite (preserved fecal sample) from Cowboy Wash, Utah. Yet the stool contained none of the other residues he had found in hundreds of other samples of the hunter-gatherers' leavings. The question is more than just academic: The Ancestral Pueblo are the ancestors of the modern Pueblo people, whose heritage hangs in the balance. Reviewing the science, Reinhard ruminates in his article on the capricious nature of public opinion. He is a professor in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska and a Fulbright Commission Senior Specialist in Archaeology for 2004-2009.