Maya on the Move: Migration, Status, and Health at Late Classic Lower Dover, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Late Classic period (AD 600-900) in the Maya lowlands saw the rise of a multitude of smaller Maya kingdoms. Some polities were founded by larger hegemonic powers, while others represented local level developments. One important way of discerning between these two possibilities rests on identifying the role migration played in the formation of these centers, and examining whether the individuals involved in the rise of such kingdoms were local or non-local. A growing number of studies in Mesoamerica show that population movement was common, but we still have a limited understanding of how migration impacted key aspects of peoples’ lives and overarching political systems. This study examines the intersection of health, status, and migration among the Late Classic Maya at Lower Dover, Belize to identify the factors which contributed to a person’s status as migrant, and its effect on their life and surroundings thereafter. Combined with an understanding of the sociopolitical status of individuals and analysis of osteological health markers, we use Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and Oxygen (δ18O) isotopic data to understand the relationship between migration, status, and physical health to create a well-rounded reconstruction of the political and demographic dynamics underlying the rise of a Late Classic polity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53506