A Combined Bioarchaeological and Isotopic Approach to Understanding the Regional Diversity and Population Mobility within the Holmul Region, Guatemala

Summary

The northeastern Petén of Guatemala is an ideal area for applying stable isotope analysis to reconstruct past population histories and to explore the interplay of migration and social complexity throughout the rise of the Maya. The strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of dental enamel is a productive alternative when bone collagen is not available or is severely altered by taphonomic processes or conditions of preservation. These isotopic analyses of dental enamel can be combined with biological profiles of interred individuals in order to address questions of regional identity, differing mobility, and changing complexity of the Maya in the Holmul Region. This poster presents the preliminary osteological analysis and biological profiles of individuals excavated from Homul, La Sufricaya, Cival, and Hamontun, emphasizing burial treatment, estimated age, biological sex, perimortem trauma, cultural modification, pathology, and/or dental health. Further, this poster presents the methodology of a combined bioarchaeological and isotopic approach to understanding regional diversity and population mobility. An application of this method would encourage the use of these bioarchaeological and isotopic analyses at sites in the greater Maya region and throughout the world, especially where the difficulties of excavating and the poor preservation of human remains may have previously dissuaded scholars.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage