Regional distribution of mortuary domestic rituals in the upper Usumacinta Basin: a burial practice comparison from the Palenque region and its neighboring areas during the Late Classic

Summary

From a macro regional perspective, ancient Maya mortuary practices seem to be highly variable in many features, like skeletal position, head orientation, type of grave, offerings and successive reentering events. But, from a closer view, micro-regional similarities can be found suggesting the use of common burial rituals, practices and believes. The Palenque region is an interesting example of this. The available burial data from Palenque, El Lacandón and Chinikihá are discussed to show the existence of a common domestic burial set of rituals. The results are compared with the burial collection from neighboring areas influenced by larger and autonomous sites like Piedras Negras, Bonampak, Altar de Sacrificios and other sites from the San Pedro Martir basin. Each of the mentioned sites also shows either similarities but enough differences as to suggest particular or exclusive ways of disposing the dead as primary and secondary deposits.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Circulation of People, Things & Ideas: Practices of Mobility in the Upper Usumacinta Basin

Keywords

Spatial Coverage