In the Wake of Collapse: Eastern Mesoamerican Body Modifications and Identities during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Movement of People and Ideas in Eastern Mesoamerica during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE: A Multidisciplinary Approach Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Most Eastern Mesoamerican populations are known for their remarkable diversity and sophistication in dental works and head shaping procedures during the Classic period. Here, these permanently inscribed body modifications have come to light in thousands of burial explorations surrounding the Mesoamerican Gulf Coast, Northern Yucatán, the Central Petén, and its southeastern peripheries. While mothers would model their baby’s head in different ways, teeth could be filed or inlayed any time past adolescence. Gravitating away from familiar discussions of physically inscribed Maya identities, I take a more overarching look at the shifts in the looks of heads and teeth under the backdrop of crisis, political collapse, and relocation. Systematic coverage in the regional skeletal record upholds discussions of their potential sociocultural and ethnic underpinnings. While the trends toward and after the end of the Classic period highlight resilience among some few Lowland Maya remnant populations, the overwhelming evidence suggests that both body practices ceased to serve formerly distinctive regional group identities and, less so, glamorous display. Late Mesoamerica’s increased interconnectivity is hinted at by those population segments with incrusted teeth and top-flattened heads. Their propagation across Mesoamerica and beyond provides food-for-thought on an internationalized post-collapse era.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Movement of People and Ideas in Eastern Mesoamerica during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE: A Multidisciplinary Approach Part II   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36433.0