Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-19T20:16:31.610Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

HEALTH AMONG CLASSIC-PERIOD URBAN AND RURAL MAYA: A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2022

Vera Tiesler Open the ORCID record for Vera Tiesler [Opens in a new window]  and
Raúl López Pérez
Vera Tiesler*
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, km 1 Carretera Mérida Tizimín Cholul, Mérida 97305, Mexico
Raúl López Pérez
Affiliation:
Department of Postgraduate Studies, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, km 1 Carretera Mérida Tizimín Cholul, Mérida 97305, Mexico
*
E-mail correspondence to: vtiesler@yahoo.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Health benefits among the members of state-level societies may vary depending on sex, social privilege, and whether the individual resides in an urban or rural setting. Human skeletal remains are prone to express individual life experiences and, ultimately, well-being. This research elaborates on these correlates by contextualizing the physiological stresses among Classic Maya hinterland populations in comparison to their urban peers. Comparisons are made using the frequencies and expression of enamel hypoplasia, caries, porotic hyperostosis, infectious osteomyelitis/subperiosteal reaction and osteoporosis in 842 adult skeletons of both sexes from 63 peripheral and centric, inland, lowland settlements. The results suggest problematic inland weaning diets and higher infectious load among rural populations. While comparisons between urban and rural lifeways show inconsistent load differences, our results indicate repeated distinctions between the sexes. We cautiously interpret this pattern as an indication of a physically demanding regime of rural life compared to a more sedentary routine among urban peers and gendered lifestyles in general. We conclude that apart from these distinctions (and potential sample biases), the health costs versus benefits impacted rural lifestyles in a complex and non-uniform fashion during the first millennium a.d., rejecting clear-cut hierarchical conceptualizations while inviting more nuanced causal explorations.

Type
Special Section: Rethinking Rurality in Ancient Maya Studies
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , Spring 2022 , pp. 101 - 115
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brickley, Megan, and Ives, Rachel 2008 The Bioarchaeology of Metabolic Bone Disease. Academic Press, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buikstra, Jane E., and Ubelaker, Douglas (editors) 1994 Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research Series No. 44. Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research, Fayetteville.Google Scholar
Cetina Bastida, Aleida, and Sierra, Thelma 2005 Condiciones de vida y nutrición de los antiguos habitantes de Xcambó, Yucatán. Estudios de Antropología Biológica 12:661–678.Google Scholar
Cucina, Andrea, Perera, Cristina, Sierra, Thelma, and Tiesler, Vera 2011 Carious Lesions and Maize Consumption Among the Prehispanic Maya: An Analysis of a Coastal Community in Northern Yucatan. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 145:560–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cucina, Andrea, and Tiesler, Vera 2003 Dental Caries and Antemortem Tooth Loss in the Northern Peten Area, México: A Biocultural Perspective on Social Status Differences Among the Classic Maya. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 122:1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freiwald, Carolyn 2011 Maya Migration Networks: Reconstructing Population Movement in the Belize River Valley during the Late and Terminal Classic. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison.Google Scholar
Freter, Ann Corinne 2004 Multiscalar Model of Rural Households and Communities in Late Classic Copan Maya Society. Ancient Mesoamerica 15:93–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrison, Thomas G., Houston, Stephen, and Firpi, Omar Alcover 2019 Recentering the Rural: Lidar and Articulated Landscapes among the Maya. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 53:133–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garza, Silvia, and Kurjack, Edward B. 1980 Atlas arqueológico de Yucatán. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Gerry, John, and Krueger, Henry 1997 Regional Diversity in Classic Maya Diets. In Bones of the Maya: Studies of Ancient Skeletons, edited by Whittington, Stephen L. and Reed, David M., pp. 196–207. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Gerry, John P. 1997 Bone Isotope Ratios and Their Bearing on Elite Privilege among the Classic Maya. Geoarchaeology 12:41–69.3.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, Alan, Thomas, Brooke, Swedlund, Alan, and Armelagos, George 1988 Biocultural Perspectives on Stress in Prehistoric, Historical, and Contemporary Population Research. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 31:169–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, Alan, Martin, Debra, Armelagos, George, and Clark, George 1984 Indication of Stress from Bone and Teeth. In Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture, edited by Cohen, Mark, and Armelagos, George, pp. 13–49. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hillson, Samuel 1996 Dental Anthropology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutson, Scott R. 2016 The Ancient Urban Maya. Neighborhoods, Inequality, and Built Form. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Iannone, Gyle, and V. Connell, Samuel (editors) 2003 Perspectives on Ancient Maya Rural Complexity. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Isendahl, Christian, and Smith, Michael E. 2013 Sustainable Agrarian Urbanism: The Low-Density Cities of the Mayas and Aztecs. Cities 31:132–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krejci, Estella, and Culbert, Patrick 1995 Preclassic and Classic Burials and Caches in the Maya Lowlands. In The Emergence of Lowland Maya Civilization, edited by Grube, Nikolai, pp. 103–116. Acta Mesoamericana, Vol. 8. Anton Saurwein, Markt Schwaben.Google Scholar
Lamb, Céline 2020 Ancient Maya Rurality: Old Assumptions, Current Research and New Directions. In The Maya World, edited by Hutson, Scott R. and Ardren, Traci, pp. 307–327. Routledge, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro, and Mejía, Héctor 2005 La organización territorial y política en el mundo Maya Clásico: El caso del sureste y centro-oeste de Petén, Guatemala. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Lemonnier, Eva, and Arnauld, M. Charlotte 2022 Defining Rurality at La Joyanca (Peten, Guatemala): Architecture, Land Use, and Social Dynamics. Ancient Mesoamerica 33:83–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lohse, Jon C. 2013 Introduction. In Classic Maya Political Ecology: Resource Management, Class Histories, and Political Change in Northwestern Belize, edited by Lohse, Jon C., pp. XV–XIX. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Lohse, Jon C., and Valdez, Fred Jr. (editors) 2004 Ancient Maya Commoners. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 2004 Maya Commoners: The Stereotype and the Reality. In Ancient Maya Commoners, edited by Lohse, Jon C. and Valdez, Fred Jr., pp. 255–283. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novotny, Anna C. 2012 The Chan Community: A Bioarchaeological Perspective. In Chan. An Ancient Maya Farming Community, edited by Robin, Cynthia, pp. 231–252. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Novotny, Anna C. 2015 Creating Community: Prehistoric Maya Mortuary Practice at Mid-Level Sites in the Belize River Valley, Belize. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Ortner, Donald J. (editor) 2003 Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. Academic Press, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Price, Douglas, Burton, James, Fullagar, Paul, Wright, Lori, Buikstra, Jane, and Tiesler, Vera 2008 Strontium Isotopes and the Study of Human Mobility in Ancient Mesoamerica. Latin American Antiquity 19:167–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, Douglas, Burton, James, Sharer, Robert, Buikstra, Jane, Wright, Lori, Traxler, Loa, and Miller, Katherine 2010 Kings and Commoners at Copan: Isotopic Evidence for Origins and Movement in the Classic Maya Period. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 29:15–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, Douglas, Nakamura, Seiichi, Suzuki, Shintaro, Burton, James, and Tiesler, Vera 2014 New Isotope Data on Maya Mobility and Enclaves at Classic Copan, Honduras. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 36:32–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reed, David M. 1999 Cuisine from Hun–Nal–Ye. In Reconstructing Ancient Maya Diet, edited by White, Christine, pp. 183–196. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Robin, Cynthia (editor) 2012 Chan. An Ancient Maya Farming Community. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, William (editor) 1990 Excavaciones en el área urbana de Copán. No. 2–3. Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo, Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Sanders, William (editor) 2000 Excavaciones en el área urbana de Copán. No. 4. Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo, Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Honduras, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Scherer, Andrew K. 2015 Mortuary Landscapes of the Ancient Maya. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultz, Michael 1988 Paläopathologische Diagnostik. Anthropologie, Wesen un Methoden der Anthropologie (Vol. I), edited by Knußmann, Rainer, pp. 480–496. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Schultz, Michael 2003 Light Microscopic Analysis in Skeletal Paleopathology. In Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. 2nd ed., edited by Ortner, Donald J., pp. 73–108. Academic Press, Amsterdam.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheets, Payson 2002 Before the Volcano Erupted: The Ancient Cerén Village in Central America. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sierra, Thelma, Cucina, Andrea, Price, Douglas, Burton, James, and Tiesler, Vera 2014 Maya Coastal Production, Exchange, Lifestyle and Population Mobility: A View from the Port of Xcambó, Yucatan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 25:221–238.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2014 Peasant Mobility, Local Migration and Premodern Urbanization. World Archaeology 46:516–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Michael E., Engquist, Ashley, Carvajalc, Cinthia, Johnston-Zimmerman, Katrina, Algara, Monica, Gilliland, Bridgette, Kuznetsov, Yui, and Young, Amanda 2015 Neighborhood Formation in Semi-Urban Settlements. Journal of Urbanism 8:173–198.Google Scholar
Somerville, Andrew, Fauvelle, Mikael, and Froehle, Andrew 2013 Applying New Approaches to Modeling Diet and Status: Isotopic Evidence for Commoner Resiliency and Elite Variability in the Classic Maya Lowlands. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:1539–1553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steckel, Richard 2008 Biology and Culture: Assessing the Quality of Life. In Between Biology and Culture, edited by Schutkowski, Holger, pp. 67–104. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Storey, Rebecca 1992 The Children of Copan: Issues in Paleopathology and Paleodemography. Ancient Mesoamerica 3:161–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storey, Rebecca 1999 Late Classic Nutrition and Skeletal Indicators at Copán, Honduras. Part II: Paleopathology. In Reconstructing Ancient Maya Diet, edited by White, Christine, pp. 169–179. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Shintaro, Nakamura, Seiichi, and Price, Douglas 2020 Isotopic Proveniencing at Classic Copan and in the Southern Periphery of the Maya Area: A New Perspective on Multi-ethnic Society. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 60:101228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiesler, Vera 1997 Rasgos Bioculturales en la Población Prehispánica del Sureste del Petén, Guatemala. In X Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala 1996, edited by Laporte, Juan Pedro, Escobedo, Héctor, and Villagrán, Sandra, pp. 573–586. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes/Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Asociación Tikal, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Tiesler, Vera 1999 Rasgos bioculturales entre los antiguos mayas: Aspectos arqueológicos y sociales. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Tiesler, Vera, Chi Keb, Julio Roberto, and Muñoz, Allan Ortega 2020 Crossing the Threshold of Modern Life: Comparing Disease Patterns Between Two Documented Urban Cemetery Series from City of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. In Culture, Environment and Health in the Yucatan Peninsula. A Human Ecology Perspective, edited by Azcorra, Hugo and Dickinson, Federico, pp. 243–257. Springer, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, David 2018 The Population of Tikal. Implications for Maya Demography. Marston Book Service, Oxfordshire.Google Scholar
Webster, David, Freter, AnnCorinne, and Golin, Nancy 2000 Copán. The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Maya Kingdom. Wadswoth, Belmornt.Google Scholar
Webster, David, and Gonlin, Nancy 1988 Household Remains of the Humblest Maya. Journal of Field Archaeology 15:169–190.Google Scholar
Whittington, Stephen 1988 Paleopathology and Demography at Copan, Honduras. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Whittington, Stephen 1992 Enamel Hypoplasia in the Low Status Maya Population of Prehispanic Copan, Honduras. In Recent Contributions to the Study of Enamel Developmental Defects, edited by Goodman, Alan H. and Capasso, Luigi L., pp. 185–205. Edigrafital-Teramo, Roma.Google Scholar
Whittington, Stephen 1999 Caries and Antemortem Tooth Loss at Copán: Implications for Commoner Diet. Part II: Paleopathology. In Reconstructing Ancient Maya Diet, edited by White, Christine D., pp. 151–167. University of Utah, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Whittington, Stephen L., and Reed, David M. 1997 Commoner Diet at Copán: Insights from Stable Isotopes and Porotic Hyperostosis. In Bones of the Maya: Studies of Ancient Skeletons, edited by Whittington, Stephen L. and Reed, David M., pp. 157–170. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Wood, James W., Milner, George R., Harpending, Henry C., and Weiss, Kenneth M. 1992 The Osteological Paradox. Current Anthropology 33:343–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Lori 2006 Diet, Health, and Status among the Pasión Maya. Vanderbilt Institute of Mesoamerica, Archaeological Series 2. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Wright, Lori 2012 Immigration to Tikal, Guatemala: Evidence from Stable Strontium and Oxygen Isotopes. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31:334–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Lori, and White, Christine D. 1996 Human Biology in the Classic Maya Collapse: Evidence from Paleopathology and Paleodiet. Journal of World Prehistory 10:147–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Lori, and Schwarcz, Henry 1998 Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotopes in Human Tooth Enamel: Identifying Breastfeeding and Weaning in Prehistory. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 106:1–18.3.0.CO;2-W>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wrobel, Gabriel 2014 A Likely Case of Scurvy in a Rural Early Classic Maya Burial from Uayzaba Kab Rockshelter, Belize. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 155:476–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wrobel, Gabriel, Danforth, Marie, and Armstrong, Carl 2002 Estimating Sex of Maya Skeletons by Discriminant Function Analysis of Long Bone Measurements from the Protohistoric Maya Site of Tipu, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 13:255–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yaeger, Jason 2000 The Social Construction of Communities in the Classic Maya Countryside: Strategies of Affiliation in Western Belize. In The Archaeology of Communities: A World Perspective, edited by Canuto, Marcello A. and Jaeger, Jason, pp. 123–142. Routledge, London.Google Scholar