Refining the Chronology of Mortuary Deposits at La Consentida, Oaxaca, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Checking the Pulse II, Current Research in Oaxaca Part 1" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this paper, we present a refinement of the human burial sequence at the Early Formative Period (2000–1000 BC) site of La Consentida, in Oaxaca, Mexico. Previously, the chronology of mortuary spaces at La Consentida has been supported by nine radiocarbon dates (2020–1510 cal BC) from secure contexts, including charcoal, carbonized material from pottery, and two human bone samples processed together using R_combine. Having only one direct date from human remains has necessitated the use of relative dating to place those mortuary deposits in the context of site occupation. The present study adds new dated bioapatite samples from nine sets of previously studied adult human remains found in the two mortuary contexts at La Consentida. Despite some challenges with dating bioapatite, securing new direct dates for these individuals enables our exploration of the mortuary spaces as they relate to the creation and maintenance of group identity and collective memory during the initial Early Formative period in Coastal Oaxaca. Finally, we compare the mortuary data from La Consentida to those from other sites in coastal Oaxaca, The Valley of Oaxaca, and Mesoamerica more broadly. Based on these comparisons, we discuss how La Consentida fits into local and regional mortuary traditions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Checking the Pulse II, Current Research in Oaxaca Part 1   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39607.0