A Santería/Palo Mayombe ritual cauldron containing a human skull and multiple artifacts recovered in western Massachusetts, U.S.A

Abstract

Santería and Palo Mayombe are West African-derived religions/sects with components of Catholicism, and both involve the ritual use of nonhuman skeletal remains which make them an increasing object of forensic interest. Palo Mayombe specifically involves also the use of human skeletal remains placed within ritual cauldrons or ngangas along with multiple ritual artifacts. A case of a nganga recovered from a periodically drained canal in Western Massachusetts, U.S.A. is presented. This nganga contained multiple items indicating its origin, including railroad spikes, coins, other metal objects, a stone, a glass bead, and multiple labeled and unlabeled sticks and was associated with a knife. It also contained skeletal remains of a bird and a snake as well as a nearly intact human skull of an adult male. The origin of the human remains is likely from a cemetery or as a former anatomical specimen. The find of this nganga is atypical in that it is away from the usual urban centers of Palo Mayombe in the U.S.A., and forensic practitioners should be aware that such sources of human remains may occur in their jurisdictions.

Keywords: Cauldron; Forensic; Nganga; Palo Mayombe; Santería.