Updated Demographic Profile of a Commingled Assemblage from Durango, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Continued Advances in Method and Theory for Commingled Remains" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The cave site EDR 9-7 is located in the Rio Zape Valley of Durango, Mexico, within a transitional region between Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. EDR 9-7 can answer questions about environmental variation and cultural resiliency due to its initial use as a mortuary feature during a period of environmental stress, as well as its long-term repeated occupational history by the Loma San Gabriel (AD 600–1450). Previous research at this site has focused on intentional nonadult burials with evidence of stress and malnutrition and implications of ritualized sacrifice. The commingled assemblage associated with these burials has never been analyzed and has the potential to offer new insights into the community that repeatedly returned to the cave. Analysis of the minimum number of individuals (MNI) reveals that individuals were deposited in the cave after the initial ritual event regardless of age or sex. The commingled assemblage also shows evidence of malnutrition and infection, indicating continued physiological stress in the region. The demographic profile based on the MNI identifies those who were most at risk for physiological stressors during times of environmental variability as well as who was included in this sacred mortuary space.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Continued Advances in Method and Theory for Commingled Remains

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38680.0