The Routledge Handbook of Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology

The Routledge Handbook of Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology

Author: Vera Tiesler

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-05-23

Total Pages: 771

ISBN-13: 1000586278

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This volume brings together a range of contributors with different and hybrid academic backgrounds to explore, through bioarchaeology, the past human experience in the territories that span Mesoamerica. This handbook provides systematic bioarchaeological coverage of skeletal research in the ancient Mesoamericas. It offers an integrated collection of engrained, bioculturally embedded explorations of relevant and timely topics, such as population shifts, lifestyles, body concepts, beauty, gender, health, foodways, social inequality, and violence. The additional treatment of new methodologies, local cultural settings, and theoretic frames rounds out the scope of this handbook. The selection of 36 chapter contributions invites readers to engage with the human condition in ancient and not-so-ancient Mesoamerica and beyond. The Routledge Handbook of Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology is addressed to an audience of Mesoamericanists, students, and researchers in bioarchaeology and related fields. It serves as a comprehensive reference for courses on Mesoamerica, bioarchaeology, and Native American studies.


Ancient Maya Diet in the Three Rivers Region of Northwest Belize

Ancient Maya Diet in the Three Rivers Region of Northwest Belize

Author: Denise E. Knisely

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13:

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The goal of this thesis is to examine the diet of ancient Maya living in Northwest Belize using stable isotopic analysis of human bone collagen. The specific area of study is within the boundaries of the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area, a nature preserve in the Three Rivers Region. This conservation district includes 250,000 acres (~1,052 km2) of land and more than fifty ancient Maya sites. The Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP) has conducted original research in this area since 1992 and has amassed a large collection of artifacts from sites that varied in size and socio-political complexity. The scope of this study includes two primary regional political centers - La Milpa and Dos Hombres, and seven associated satellite sites. This thesis analyzes patterns of intra-site hierarchy and heterarchy using stable carbon (d13C) and stable nitrogen (d15N) isotope ratios obtained from human bone collagen from nine Maya sites. As these sites are geographically clustered and have similar access to dietary resources, I predicted that the individuals sampled will likewise have similar d13C and d15N values. As noted at similar Maya sites, the individuals in the Three Rivers Region should have consumed a diet consisting primarily of terrestrial animals and a mix of maize and forest resources. Beyond a few extreme outliers, this does seem to be the pattern of consumption in the majority of the sites sampled.


Reconstructing Ancient Maya Diet

Reconstructing Ancient Maya Diet

Author: Christine D. White

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9780874806021

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Annotation In light of recently discovered population centers of pre-colonial Maya that could not have been sustained by the slash-and-burn agriculture which most anthropologists believe was the dominant method of food production for the culture, the editors of this volume view the analysis of the Maya diet as particularly important for understanding the pre-Columbian population. They present 12 papers that discuss evidence from the fields of faunal and botanical analysis, paleopathology, and bone chemistry. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.


Exploring Early Maya Foodways Using Bulk Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis on Ancient Ceramics

Exploring Early Maya Foodways Using Bulk Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis on Ancient Ceramics

Author: Jaymee Lynn Norman

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13:

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This study uses molecular analysis to determine maize use in ceramics from archaeological sites located in northern Belize. The ceramics include three Early Formative period (1300 cal. B.C.) sherds from Pulltrouser Swamp and a Late Formative period (300 B.C.- 300 A.D.) sherd from Cob Swamp. These sherds were compared to molecular results from ceramics from San Estevan spanning the early Middle Formative to Late Formative periods (900 B.C. - 300 A.D.). This research confirms the use of maize in Late Formative contexts but raises questions regarding the extent of maize use in the Early Formative period.


Reconstructing Migration

Reconstructing Migration

Author: Angelina Jean Locker

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13:

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Isotopic analysis has proven to be beneficial to the field of archaeology, aiding in the understanding of changing climatic conditions, diet, and mobility. This report proposes the use of Oxygen and Strontium isotope ratios to understand migration patterns of the Ancient Maya within the Program for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP) research area in northwestern Belize. Research seeks to first identify immigrants and then try to understand sociopolitical factors that may have influenced population movement as well as the consequences of that movement upon a region. Currently, our understanding of mobility and migration within this region is severely lacking. This report presents a general background on migration in archaeology as well as a general background on oxygen and strontium isotopes, their application to the field of archaeology, and how isotopic ratios can shed light on possible reasons for population movement. Additionally, this report outlines a protocol for each isotopic system and proposes future research for the PfBAP region.