Unearthing Maya Dietary Activities: Using Stable Isotopes and Musculoskeletal Stress Markers to Understand Sex-Based Behavior in the Middle Holocene Neotropics

Summary

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

Biocultural investigations of sex-based differences in social roles of ancient societies of the Maya Lowlands from the early Holocene foragers to late Holocene farmers have been constrained by major gaps in the archaeological record, primarily due to the absence of preserved human remains from the earliest periods in this region. The exceptional preservation of the archaeological record at two rockshelter sites in southern Belize, Mahayak Cab Pek and Saki Tzul, allows the opportunity to address these gaps by integrating stable isotope analysis and osteological analysis of individuals directly dated between 9600 and 1000 cal. BP. This research tracks the development of sex-based dietary practices by combining stable isotope analysis of bone collagen (δ13C and δ15N) and bioapatite (δ13C) with osteological analysis of musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) associated with occupational activity to identify potential food processing techniques. Our data indicates that there was increased stratification of sex-based differences that arose concurrently with the increased physical demands of agricultural intensification and food processing during the middle Holocene that disproportionately impacted biologically-sexed females, contributing to the existing discussion of gender roles of the Maya Lowlands.

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): 53670