Ancient Maya Inequality and Oral Microbiome Ecologies from Classic Period Maya Contexts in Southern Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Oral microbial ecologies are shaped by an interaction among environmental and cultural factors, including wealth and status inequalities, which were pervasive throughout ancient Maya society. Few studies have directly integrated the oral microbiome of ancient individuals with a detailed analysis of their status from archaeological contexts. To interrogate this relationship, we conducted Illumina shotgun metagenomic sequencing of DNA from dental calculus (n=12). The sample consisted of elite, likely elite, and commoner individuals from the Maya Classic period (250-900 AD) interred at Uxbenká, Muklebal Tzul, and two caves in southern Belize, Bats'ub and Holom Kaminak. SourceTracker analysis of bacterial taxa confirmed that we recovered ancient oral microbiomes. This paper addresses the biological embodiment of structural inequalities through ancient microbiome research as a pilot approach to situated biologies across scales of status. The resulting analysis strengthens the reconstruction of community health and ancient Maya life histories at various positions through time and space in the Maya social landscape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36993.0