The Proyecto Costa Escondida: Recent Bioarchaeological Research at Two Ancient Maya Port Sites

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Maritime Maya: Current Archaeology of Coastal Yucatan, Mexico, and Belize" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Proyecto Costa Escondida (PCE) has been conducting interdisciplinary research along the north coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico since 2011. Project members have focused on the two ancient Maya port sites of Vista Alegre and Conil. Both have occupations stretching from the Middle Preclassic to the Historic period, but they have different peaks and valleys when it comes to their settlement histories. This paper focuses on the bioarchaeological record at both sites. The macroscopic and genetic data recovered from the interred individuals are discussed and then placed within their broader cultural and paleoenvironmental contexts. In so doing, this paper explores how the detailed life histories of individuals can add to a more nuanced picture of the lived experience and trajectories of coastal inhabitants over the past two and half millennia. This presentation will include images of human remains.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• The Maritime Maya: Current Archaeology of Coastal Yucatan, Mexico, and Belize

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50393