Economic, political, and cultural relationships connected virtually every population throughout Mexico during Postclassic period (AD 900-1520). Much of what is known about population interaction in prehistoric Mexico is based on archaeological or ethnohistoric data. What is unclear, especially for the Postclassic period, is how these data correlate with biological population structure. We address this by assessing biological (phenotypic) distances among 28 samples based upon a comparison of dental morphology trait frequencies, which serve as a proxy for genetic variation, from 810 individuals. These distances were compared with models representing geographic and cultural relationships among the same groups. Results of Mantel and partial Mantel matrix correlation tests show that shared migration and trade are correlated with biological distances, but geographic distance is not. Trade and political interaction are also correlated with biological distance when combined in a single matrix. These results indicate that trade and political relationships affected population structure among Postclassic Mexican populations. We suggest that trade likely played a major role in shaping patterns of interaction between populations. This study also shows that the biological distance data support the migration histories described in ethnohistoric sources.
Migration patterns in pre-European contact Mexico were complex. Studies using dental morphological data have successfully detected microevolutionary patterns of biological affinity between local populations in other areas of the world. We compare Classic and Postclassic dental samples from four cultural groups from adjacent regions in Mexico to illuminate local population differences among the Toltecs, Mexica, Totonacs, and Maya. We calculated pseudo Mahalanobis D 2 distances using observations of 12 dental traits to compare models for how culture group, geography, and time may have structured interpopulation relationships. Cluster analysis and principal components analyses of pairwise population distances suggest that phenetic similarities best reflect differences among cultural groups. Additionally, dental morphological trait data are robust with regard to interobserver error and sensitive enough to detect phenetic distance over relatively small time and space dimensions in Mexico. These results encourage expanding the study to more sites, regions, and temporal periods, and augurs well for future investigations that seek to trace past migration patterns in Mexico.Key words: Biological distance, pre-European contact Mexico, dental morphological traits. En México, los patrones de migración previos al contacto con los europeos eran complejos. Los estudios que utilizan datos morfológicos dentales han logrado detectar exitosamente micropatrones evolutivos de afinidad biológica entre las poblaciones locales y aquellas en otras zonas del mundo. Comparamos muestras dentales de los períodos Clásico y Postclásico de cuatro grupos culturales de las regiones adyacentes a México para ilustrar las diferencias locales entre los toltecas, los mexicas, los totonacas, y los mayas. Hemos calculado las seudodistancias de Mahalanobis
The Southwest United States (US) and Mesoamerica are often thought of as disparate regional networks separated by Northern Mexico. Chaco Canyon in the Southwest US, Tlatelolco in Central Mexico and Casas Grandes in Northern Mexico, all had large inter‐regional trade centres that economically connected these networks. This study investigated how factors such as geographic distance, shared migration history, trade and political interaction affected biological relationships and population affinities among sites in Mexico and in Southwest US during the Postclassic period (ad 900 ~ 1520). Distances based on cultural and geographic variables derived from archaeological and ethnohistoric data were compared with phenetic distances obtained from dental morphological traits. The results of Mantel tests show trade (corr = 0.441, p = 0.005), shared migration history (corr = 0.496, p = 0.004) and geographic distance (corr = 0.304, p = 0.02) are significantly correlated with phenetic distances, whereas political interaction (corr = 0.157, p = 0.133) is not. Partial Mantel tests show trade (corr = 0.223, p = 0.049) and shared migration history (corr = 0.493, p = 0.003) remain significant when controlling for similarities with geographic distance, although the correlation for trade and phenetic distance is lowered. Geographic distance is not significant when similarities with trade (corr = 0.067, p = 0.681) and shared migration history (corr = 0.148, p = 0.127) are controlled. These results highlight the importance of economic relationships and shared migration history across geographic regions in interpreting biological relationships among contemporaneous populations in prehistoric Mexico and the Southwest US. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The majority of our knowledge about population structure in Mexico during the Postclassic period (a.d. 900–1520) is based on archaeological data. During this time, populations were in contact with each other through extensive trade networks and via the expansion of powerful empires in central and west Mexico. Though archaeological data provides a wealth of information about these relationships, little is known about the effects of these processes on population structure and biological, morphological variation or whether these effects vary across geographic regions. In this study, dental morphological observations are used as a proxy for genetic data in order to assess the differences in regional population structures throughout Mexico. Our analyses show differences in population structure between the various cultural and geographic areas around Mexico. We further conclude that population structures are affected by economic, political, or religious processes. This study provides bioarchaeological support for archaeological interpretations of population structure in Postclassic Mexico.
The authors note that references 1 and 2 appeared incorrectly. Reference 1 should have been the United Nations (UN), Migration, which is currently listed as reference 2. The correct reference 2 was omitted from the article, and is included below. Additionally, the citation to ref. 2 on page 20342, left column, first full paragraph, line 3, should be omitted. The article has been updated online.
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