LIFE CONDITIONS IN HUMAN SKELETAL SAMPLES FROM COLIMA AND QUINTANA ROO, MÉXICO: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ACROSS TIME

Summary

Life conditions of agrarian populations in Mesoamerica changed during the cultural periods. Scholars have seen a stature decrease and a pattern of increase of the morbidity indicators across the time (Del Ángel 1996; Márquez et al. 2002). The aim of this paper is compare skeletal stress indicators between Maya (Quintana Roo) and West México (Colima) settlements to evaluate life conditions, similarities and differences from 200 to 900 BC. These settlements share modes of production and weather conditions. Differences are in landscapes. We analyzed criba orbitalia, hyperostosis porotic, dental tartar and caries, enamel hypoplasia lines, and periostitis in tibia in adults (more than 15 years old) of both sexes by region study (Colima: two archaeological sites and 35 females and 15 males, and Quintana Roo: 18 sites, 25 females and 17 males) and by chronology (Preclassic and Classic). We conclude that Colima’s Preclassic females show more indicators of unspecific infections than Quintana Roo’s. During Classic times, males and females of Quintana Roo show more stressful conditions than Colima’s samples. The landscapes and social organization are possible explanations for these differences.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• El Hombre, Su Espacio, Tiempo, Interacciones y Aspectos Bioarqueológicos

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16174