Bioarchaeological studies are highly successful in accessing multivalent past social identities. This study applies social identity theory to contexts of violence, developing a theoretical framework to investigate identity-based violence at the Epiclassic (600–900 CE) central Mexican shrine site of Non-Grid 4, where at least 180 individuals were ritually sacrificed and interred. Ethnohistoric and archaeological data indicate that geographic origin was a culturally significant indicator of social difference in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. This study therefore reconstructs the residential histories of sacrificed individuals (n = 73), analyzing radiogenic strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and stable oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotopes to consider how the perception of social difference, inferred from geographic origins, contributed to the selection of victims of ritual violence. Biogeochemical results demonstrate that 70% of sampled sacrificed individuals were born and lived their early lives outside of the Basin of Mexico, migrating into the region later in life. In contrast, only 22% of individuals were born and lived in the Basin their entire lives. Observed paleomobility patterns among sacrificial victims thus suggest that they were targeted for identity-based violence based on their divergent geographic origins in the volatile socio-political landscape of the Epiclassic Basin of Mexico.

生物考古学研究在获得过去的社会认同方面非常成功。这项研究将社会认同理论应用于暴力背景，建立了一个理论框架来研究非网格4墨西哥中部神社的Epiclassic（600-900 CE）基于身份的暴力，在那里至少有180人被祭祀和拘禁。民族史和考古学数据表明，地理起源是西班牙裔中美洲之前社会差异的重要文化指标。因此，本研究重建处死个人住宅历史（Ñ  = 73），分析放射性锶（⁸⁷ SR / ⁸⁶ SR）和稳定氧（δ ¹⁸O）同位素，以考虑从地理起源推断出的对社会差异的感知如何有助于选择仪式暴力的受害者。生物地球化学结果表明，有70％的被献祭者在墨西哥盆地外出生并过着早年的生活，后来移居该地区。相比之下，一生中只有22％的人在该盆地出生和生活。因此，在牺牲受害者中观察到的古迹模式表明，他们基于墨西哥Epiclassic盆地动荡的社会政治格局中不同的地理起源，而针对基于身份的暴力。