Table Of ContentTHE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF
MESOAMERICAN BIOARCHAEOLOGY
This volume brings together a range of contributors with diferent and hybrid academic
backgrounds to explore, through bioarchaeology, the past human experience in the territories
that span Mesoamerica.
This handbook provides systematic bioarchaeological coverage of skeletal research in the
ancient Mesoamericas. It ofers an integrated collection of engrained, bioculturally embedded
explorations of relevant and timely topics, such as population shifts, lifestyles, body concepts,
beauty, gender, health, foodways, social inequality, and violence. The additional treatment of
new methodologies, local cultural settings, and theoretic frames rounds out the scope of this
handbook. The selection of 36 chapter contributions invites readers to engage with the human
condition in ancient and not-so-ancient Mesoamerica and beyond.
The Routledge Handbook of Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology is addressed to an audience of
Mesoamericanists, students, and researchers in bioarchaeology and related felds. It serves as a
comprehensive reference for courses on Mesoamerica, bioarchaeology, and Native American
studies.
Vera Tiesler is Research Professor at the Mexican Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, in Mérida,
where she heads the Laboratory of Bioarchaeology. She received her BA in art history from
Tulane University, an MA in archaeology at the Mexican Escuela Nacional de Antropología e
Historia (ENAH), and a PhD in anthropology at the National University of Mexico (UNAM),
with fve accredited years of medical school (MHH, Hannover, Germany, and IPN, Mexico).
Tiesler’s academic interest lies in illuminating the human condition of the ancient Maya and of
past society in general.
THE ROUTLEDGE
HANDBOOK OF
MESOAMERICAN
BIOARCHAEOLOGY
Edited by Vera Tiesler
Cover image: Skull wall, Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico,
North America
Credit: image BROKER / Alamy Stock Photo
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Vera Tiesler; individual chapters, the
contributors
The right of Vera Tiesler to be identifed as the author of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tiesler, Vera, editor.
Title: The Routledge handbook of Mesoamerican bioarchaeology /
Vera Tiesler.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2021056854 (print) | LCCN 2021056855 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367357818 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781032266541 (paperback) | ISBN 9780429341618 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Human remains (Archaeology)—Mexico. |
Human remains (Archaeology)—Central America. |
Indians of Mexico—Antiquities. | Indians of Central America
—Antiquities. | Mexico—Antiquities. | Central America
—Antiquities. Classifcation: LCC CC79.5.H85 R685 2022 (print) |
LCC CC79.5.H85 (ebook) |
DDC 930.1—dc23/eng/20211129
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021056854
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021056855
ISBN: 978-0-367-35781-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-26654-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-34161-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429341618
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
List of Figures x
List of Tables xv
List of Contributors xvii
0.1 Foreword 1
John Verano
0.2 Introduction 3
Vera Tiesler
PART I
Framing Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology 19
1.1 The Early Days of Mesoamerican Osteology 21
Andrew K. Scherer
1.2 Management and Conservation of Human Remains
From Mesoamerica: Ethical, Legal, and Technical
Recommendations 33
Maria del Carmen Lerma Gómez and Juan Manuel Argüelles San Milán
1.3 The Preceramic Skeletal Record of Mexico and Central America 49
James C. Chatters, Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales, and Pilar Luna-Erreguerena
1.4 North of Mesoamerica: Bioarchaeology of the Northwest,
North-Central, and Northeast 75
Patricia Olga Hernández Espinoza and James T. Watson
v
Contents
1.5 Bioarchaeological Studies in the Southern Periphery of
Mesoamerica 109
Shintaro Suzuki
PART II
Across the Human Landscapes of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica 133
2.1 The Bioarchaeology of Preclassic Mesoamerica and the Advent
of Statehood 135
Mónica Rodríguez Pérez
2.2 Bioarchaeology of Oaxaca: Major Developments in the Study of
3500 Years of Mortuary Practice in Southern Mexico 150
Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León and Guy David Hepp
2.3 Maya Bioarchaeology 168
Andrew K. Scherer and Joshua T. Schnell
2.4 The People of the Southern Central Region of Veracruz 181
Carlos Serrano Sánchez and Mireya Montiel Mendoza
2.5 The Bioarchaeology of the Central Highlands of Mesoamerica From
the Early Classic Period Through the Toltec Period 198
Emily J. Kate and Meggan Bullock
2.6 The Heartland of the Empire: Studying the Aztecs 220
Ximena Chávez Balderas, Diana K. Moreiras Reynaga, and
Diana Bustos Ríos
PART III
Te Bioarchaeology of Cities, Neighborhoods, and Communities 237
3.1 The Inhabitants of Monte Albán: A Bioarchaeological Approach 239
Lourdes Márquez Morfín and Aurora Marcela Pérez-Flórez
3.2 The Multiethnic Population of a Teotihuacan Neighborhood Center:
Bioarchaeological, Archaeometric, and Ancient DNA Analyses 270
Linda R. Manzanilla-Naim
3.3 The Community of Xcambó, a Classic-Period Maya Port in the
Yucatan Peninsula 290
Thelma Sierra Sosa, Allan Ortega-Muñoz, and Andrea Cucina
vi
Contents
3.4 Bioarchaeology at Copán, Honduras: Spearheading Maya
Bioarchaeology 306
Shintaro Suzuki and T. Douglas Price
PART IV
Te Body as a Cultural Construct 327
4.1 The Bioarchaeology of Permanent Body Modifcations in
Mesoamerica 329
Vera Tiesler
4.2 Royal Bodies: The Life Histories of Janaab’ Pakal and the “Red
Queen” of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico 348
Erik Velásquez García and Vera Tiesler
4.3 Archaeothanatology: A Body-Anchored Approach to Mesoamerican
Mortuary Analyses 364
Grégory Pereira and Hemmamuthé Goudiaby
4.4 The Bioarchaeology of Ritualized Violence and Posthumous
Treatments of the Human Body in Mesoamerica 386
Judith Ruiz González and Vera Tiesler
PART V
Life Style, Diet, and Health 407
5.1 Mesoamerican Paleopathology: A Bioarchaeological Approach to
Diseases From the Past 409
Raúl López Pérez
5.2 Living Conditions, Gender, and Stature 427
Marie Elaine Danforth, Jaime Thomas, and Peter Mercier
5.3 Geographic Variation in Mesoamerican Paleodiets: A Review of
Recent Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Analyses 441
Victoria S. R. Izzo, Lori E. Wright, and J. Alex Canterbury
PART VI
Population and Mobility 467
6.1 Population Continuity and Mobility Across Mesoamerica 469
Cathy Willermet, Corey S. Ragsdale, and Heather J. H. Edgar
vii
Contents
6.2 Baseline Strontium Isotope Ratios in Mesoamerica 486
T. Douglas Price and Carolyn Freiwald
6.3 The Paleo-DNA of Ancient Mesoamerican Peoples 510
Víctor Acuña Alonzo and Miguel Angel Contreras Sieck
6.4 Population Structure, Fertility, and Growth 531
Allan Ortega-Muñoz and Patricia Olga Hernández-Espinoza
6.5 The Craniometry of Mesoamerican Population Distances 548
Jorge A. Gómez-Valdés
PART VII
Breaking New Grounds in Methodology 561
7.1 3D Digitization and Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains for
Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology 563
Gabriel Wrobel
7.2 Methods in Bioarchaeology: What’s New in Profling an Individual
Inside and Out 577
Carolyn Freiwald, Jonathan Belanich, and Asta Rand
7.3 Histomorphology of Un-Decalcifed Bone in Mesoamerican
Bioarchaeology 601
Corey Maggiano and Isabel Maggiano
7.4 The Phenomenon of Mummifcation in Ancient Mexico 617
Josefna Mansilla Lory and Ilán S. Leboreiro Reyna
PART VIII
Te Bioarchaeology of the Tresholds of Modernity: Learning From
the Past to Meet Today’s Challenges 631
8.1 The Bioarchaeology of Colonial New Spain 633
Julie K. Wesp
8.2 The Serdán Brothers: Reconstructing the Mortuary Trajectory of the
Three Heroes of the Mexican Revolution 651
Luisa Mainou Cervantes and Jorge A. Gómez-Valdés
viii
Contents
8.3 General Trends in Size in Maya Populations of the Yucatan Peninsula
From the Preclassic to the 2010s: A Diachronic Perspective From
Human Ecology 671
Hugo Azcorra Pérez, Saul Chay Vela, Oana del Castillo Chávez, and
Federico Dickinson Bannack
8.4 Making Research of Human Reference Collections Available to
Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology 689
Julio Roberto Chi Keb, Antinea Menéndez Garmendia,
Gabriela Sánchez-Mejorada, and Jorge A. Gómez-Valdés
Index 704
ix
