"People from all over the world have made much of the Anasazi, a Navajo word for "ancient ones’ or, some say, "ancient enemies," believing them to have been deeply spiritual. But what if that peaceful image is wrong?"
"The Pollyanna image of a peaceful people has been cracked - some say shattered forever. The reason is the publication of Man Corn: Cannibalism and Violence in the Prehistoric American Southwest, by Turner and his late wife, Jacqueline. It is the first detailed account of cannibalism and violence on a regional scale in the prehistoric American Southwest, especially in the Chaco Canyon area."
"The title of the book comes from the Aztec word tlacatlaolli, a "sacred meal of sacrificed human meat, cooked with corn."
"Indigenous peoples" and their quaint rituals were covered in detail in Frazer's "The Golden Bough." A sampling (not for the squeamish):
http://www.bartleby.com/196/103.html