Six-Toed People May Have Had Special Social Status In Pre-Columbian Society

hese days you have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to get a free ride to the top, but in ancient times, an extra toe was all it took. According to new archaeological evidence, people displaying polydactyly – referring to the possession of superfluous digits on the hands or feet – were given preferential treatment among the pre-Columbian Puebla communities that inhabited the Chaco Canyon in New Mexico a thousand years ago.

Writing in the journal American Antiquity, researchers report the finding of hand and foot-shaped artifacts and paintings at an ancient site known as Pueblo Bonito. Consisting of a vast number of rooms, including burial chambers and ceremonial alters, the Pueblo Bonito complex is thought to have been constructed in the late 9th century, before being expanded over the following 200 years as it developed into a site of major social and religious importance.

When initial excavations took place in 1896, archaeologists discovered the skeletal remains of 96 people, three of whom possessed an extra toe. This is somewhat surprising, since polydactyly only affects 1.32 out of every 1,000 people in the US. Discovering such a high prevalence of the condition at Pueblo Bonito therefore indicates that people with extra digits may have held a high social status in Chaco society, leading to improved reproductive success and the passing on of the genetic mutation responsible for the condition.

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