This chapter addresses specifically the problem of human mobility and population dynamics in rela... more This chapter addresses specifically the problem of human mobility and population dynamics in relation to trade networks and Yuaxuná's political, social and economic relationships, as well as a consequence of the process of urbanization. Resting on theories on mobility, and supported by microevolutionary theory, the residential histories of Yaxuna’s folk are examined by means of two independent approaches. Individual provenience is analyzed by means of strontium stable isotopes, a methodological tool recently adopted by bioarchaeology that allows researchers to detect individuals of foreign origins (who were not born locally but that would eventually be buried at Yaxuna. Locals’ biological affinity with (or distance to) other human groups within the region is analyzed by means of dental morphology, which reflects the (epi) genetic component in populations. The very concept of “morphological affinity” rests on microevolutionary theory and predicts that miscegenation will lead to a blending in phenotypical characteristics (or epigenetic traits). Inversely, human groups who remain isolated from each other, tend to become progressively dissimilar. This chapter illuminates these concepts on a collective scale and then discuss on a more individual level the roles of Yaxuna’s newcomers.
The human experience of Yaxuna’s settlers is the focus of this chapter. This includes metabolic d... more The human experience of Yaxuna’s settlers is the focus of this chapter. This includes metabolic diseases and physiological stress episodes during childhood, occupational patterns and robusticity. We address daily dietary habits here and discuss them in terms of social status, sex and gender. Diet and access to dietary resources constitute one of the essential elements that characterize society. While food intake is related to the individuals’ biological needs to survive and reproduce, the kind and quality of diets are as related to prevailing availability and subsistence pattern, as to the roles individuals’ play within their society. Both isotopic signatures and indirect indicators of diet and daily habits (like oral pathologies – carious lesions and dental wear) are called upon here to discern and discuss the quality of health and lifestyle.
This chapter explores and regionally contextualizes the basic vital information of those four doz... more This chapter explores and regionally contextualizes the basic vital information of those four dozen individuals that make up the skeletal series from the site. Here we examine the male and female social actors of Yaxuna and discuss the relevance of adult vs. juvenile and infant age at death for reconstructing mortality profiles. The individuals’ basic biovital data (sex and age at death) are the cornerstone for the reconstruction and understanding of any ancient population’s biological and cultural dynamics. This fundamental information represents the starting point for bioarchaeological studies that, resting on the biological substrates of the individuals, aim at inferring the social and cultural aspects of the society they shared. Moving up from the concept of sex (the biology) to the concept of gender (a cultural construct), and from the concept of biological age at death to the concept of social age and age-related horizontal stratification, we interpret and discuss the people from Yaxuná collectively as social actors in a changing society, addressing local or foreign provenance, urban residence distributions, internal social organization, specialization and social status during emerging social inequality.
This chapter explores the shifting identities of the individuals growing up at Yaxuna by analyzin... more This chapter explores the shifting identities of the individuals growing up at Yaxuna by analyzing the ways locals and newcomers would alter their physical appearance. Here we focus on those forms of visible physical embodiment that have left traces in the skeletal record, specifically dental decorations and head shaping. Both practices were commonly performed by Classic period Maya and led to permanent and at the same time diverse results in head physiognomy, which were highly visible in their human carriers. The first part of the chapter delves into the techniques, instruments and health risks involved in Maya head shaping and dental decorations. From here, we explore the multi-layered native meanings and their social and political undercurrents, as signaled by the collective change in head forms and dental wears through the ages. In this context, Yaxuna’s body modifications acquire importance as potential ethnic signifiers in a landscape shared increasingly with coastal peoples and central lowlanders.
This chapter stands as the culmination of our chronological coverage. It recalls the last generat... more This chapter stands as the culmination of our chronological coverage. It recalls the last generations of settlers who experienced an increasingly hostile and shifting social landscape during the Terminal Classic, times of social tumult surrounding the collapse of the Central Lowland hegemonies down south. These years brought a brief revitalization of Yaxuna’s urban life with a shift in orientation towards the Puuc networks to the west. Complete dependence on the powerful Itza league, emanating from Chichen, was probably what strangled Yaxuna’s prior lifeways in the end and led to the site’s final abandonment. Our site survey provides proxies for further thoughts of the Maya collapse and the rise of the new Itzae powerhouse up north. This chapter closes with a debate on unprecedented forms of Maya urbanism and multiculturalism at the verge of the second millennium A.D.
This chapter recounts the life, death, and deathways of two royals from Yaxuná, who lived during ... more This chapter recounts the life, death, and deathways of two royals from Yaxuná, who lived during the fourth and fifth centuries AD. Their bodies were found at the center of tombs 23 and 24, which are complex and informative in their contextual layouts. This is unsurprising, as undisturbed or modestly disturbed royal tombs exhibit the penchant of the ancient Maya to arrange deceased individuals in performance rather than in repose as is more common among other Maya burials. This chapter provides primarily a contextual analysis of the symbolism in the bodies and the accoutrements of the dead elite. While Burial 23 represents a foreign born very early member of dynastic leadership, there is substantial evidence in the case of Burial 24 was one of or the last in the local dynastic line. Past death and sepulcher, the remains of this ruler were eventually revisited and burnt ritually. On that occasion, he was accompanied by other 11 individuals who had been sacrificed, their fleshed bodies covering up the royal remains in the mortuary mausoleum, at a time when Yaxuna was to lose its role as a dynastic player in the lowland regional networks.
This chapter is devoted to the ancient Maya center of Yaxuná. Here we provide a brief overview of... more This chapter is devoted to the ancient Maya center of Yaxuná. Here we provide a brief overview of how and why this ancient settlement is a good test case to examine site bioarchaeology in its regional context.
This chapter provides case studies of non-funerary assemblages, as documented in and around Yaxun... more This chapter provides case studies of non-funerary assemblages, as documented in and around Yaxuná. They provide a broader understanding the ritual killings of humans sustained in the Yucatan, either for collective cycling or container burials. We explore the repositories of what once were likely ritually slaughtered victims and their posthumous processing in the form of cremation, reduction and relict taking, choosing a pathway approach
We start by introducing our readers to the vision and scope of this volume, namely, the site-spec... more We start by introducing our readers to the vision and scope of this volume, namely, the site-specific locus and the human lens by which we explore regional history. We acquaint the audience with our form of breaching individuals and neighborhoods with settlement populations and regional society by way of scaled approximations and combined academic approaches (bioarchaeology-mortuary archaeology-culturally sensitive mainstream archaeology) and complement this roadmap with thoughts on broader ways of learning about the Maya past, and the past in general.
In this article we evaluate ~48km 2 of airborne lidar data collected at a target density of 15 la... more In this article we evaluate ~48km 2 of airborne lidar data collected at a target density of 15 laser shots/m in central Yucatán, Mexico. This area covers parts of the sites of Chichén Itzá and Yaxuná, a kilometer-wide transect between these two sites, and a transect along the first few kilometers of Sacbé 1 from Yaxuná to Cobá. The results of our ground validation and mapping demonstrate that not all sizable archaeological features can be detected in the lidar images due to: (1) the slightly rolling topography interspersed with 1-6 m-high bedrock hummocks, which morphologically mimic house mounds, further complicated by the presence of low foundations;
Objectives: The tropics harbor a large part of the world's biodiversity and have a long history o... more Objectives: The tropics harbor a large part of the world's biodiversity and have a long history of human habitation. However, paleogenomics research in these climates has been constrained so far by poor ancient DNA yields. Here we compare the performance of two DNA extraction methods on ancient samples of teeth and petrous portions excavated from tropical and semi-tropical sites in Tanzania, Mexico, and Puerto Rico (N 5 12).
Las cuevas fueron elementos importantes en el paisaje ritual para la gente de Mesoamérica antigua... more Las cuevas fueron elementos importantes en el paisaje ritual para la gente de Mesoamérica antigua (Brady y Ashmore 1999). Se ha documentado una estrecha asociación entre ellas y la arquitectura monumental en lugares como Teotihuacan (Heyden , 1981(Heyden , 2000 y las tierras bajas del sur (e.g., Brady 1997) y norte de Yucatán (e.g., Thompson 1938), entre otras zonas de Mesoamerica. También se ha notado que algunos de estos elementos, fuera de los límites de las comunidades, eran lugares importantes para la peregrinación (Stone 1995). Hay evidencia, desde la primera mitad del Formativo, de cuevas consideradas entradas al inframundo y se aprecia una relación entre ellas y los rituales en la iconografía estilo 'olmeca' Reilly 1999). Este vínculo fue muy estrecho y continúa siéndolo para varios grupos indígenas de Mesoamérica hoy día (Knab 1991).
In the northern Maya lowlands the transition from the Late Preclassic to the Early Classic is poo... more In the northern Maya lowlands the transition from the Late Preclassic to the Early Classic is poorly understood. Despite the knowledge that ceramic traditions underwent drastic changes, the timing of these changes is difficult to place in absolute terms. Many of the chronological problems stem from an overreliance on the dates ascribed to this transition by earlier scholars. We evaluate the cultural historical frameworks of the Preclassic and Early Classic periods in the northern lowlands, which have remained surprisingly static since their creation over 50 years ago. Using data from excavations and regional settlement surveys, we explore the possibility of how changes in settlement patterns, monumental architecture, and ceramics contribute to debates about concepts such as the Terminal Preclassic and Protoclassic and our broader understanding of the social and political transformations that occurred at this transition. We propose that five ceramic spheres emerged in the northern lowlands during the Terminal Preclassic (75 B.C.-A.D. 400). The increased ceramic heterogeneity correlates with the emergence of more hierarchical political structures. We use two research areas, Yaxuná and the Yalahau region, to explore the implications of a Preclassic Maya collapse, as well as architectural data combined with ceramic data to shed light on the variability of sociopolitical organization at the end of the Preclassic. 58 ß Trustees of Boston University 2010
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