What Lies Beneath: The Significance of a Midden Burial in Exploring Differential Mortuary Treatment of the Maya at Palenque

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The PREP: Urban Life at Palenque Project 2023 field season brought about unexpected findings regarding household mortuary practices. Two atypical burials were uncovered: (1) an isolated, articulated right arm boxed-in by large stones at the entrance of residential structure J37; and (2) a complete primary burial discovered on the south side of the same structure. During the excavation, it was evident that the individual found to the south presented with typical cultural skeletal modifications and was in the typical burial position for this site. Importantly, however, this burial was found within a midden feature and is one of only three similar burials from this site. This midden burial presents a unique instance of deviation from commonly known mortuary practices of the Maya of Palenque: the individual was interred directly in the soil, with material artifacts, but no stones deliberately placed on top or around them, such as was the case with the isolated arm burial. This presentation seeks to build on the discussion of differential burial treatment of individuals interred within midden contexts, broadly among the Maya lowlands, and locally at Palenque.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39671.0