Xcambó is a Classic period Maya site (250-700 AD) situated on the northern coast of Yucatan, Mexico. Archaeological evidence suggests that the site began as a salt production center but adopted a more administrative role as a commercial port in the Late Classic period. Economic growth, depending on its magnitude, could have affected the daily occupations of Xcambó's inhabitants. However, this is difficult to infer from the archaeological record. The aim of this study was to directly evaluate this possibility through skeletal analysis. Since diaphyseal robusticity and shape are predominantly influenced by mechanical loading history, long bone cross-sections can be used to access activity patterns. To this end, humeri and femora of 47 male and 35 female adult specimens from two Xcambó population samples were scrutinized. Our analysis satisfies general archaeological expectations and provides additional information on the population's physical response to economic growth. Decreasing robusticity and femoral anterior-posterior rigidity indicate an overall decrease in physical workload and mobility, concomitant with the site's increasing administrative function. We also observed a significant decrease in sexual dimorphism, possibly attributable to the differential response of male and female physical work spheres during socioeconomic change. In general, our findings suggest even nonsubsistence based socioeconomic change can significantly affect the bone structure of a population, rendering activity analysis an important aspect of the reconstruction of living conditions of past populations.
The present bioarchaeological study examines the external diaphyseal geometric properties of humeri, radii, femora and tibiae of the Classic period skeletal population of Xcambó , Yucatan, Mexico. The diaphysial proportions are evaluated using a biomechanical approach together with data from the material context and other osteological information. Our intent is to provide new answers to questions concerning lifestyle, domestic labour division and subsistence strategies of this coastal Maya settlement that was inhabited from the Late and Terminal Preclassic (300 BC-350 AD) to the Postclassic Period (900-1500 AD). Our results provide evidence for a marked sexual division of labour when compared with values from contemporaneous inland populations. The overall male and female loading patterns differ remarkably in terms of form and in bilateral comparison. A high directional asymmetry in the upper limbs is evident among males, a condition related to maritime transportation and trading activities. On the other hand, female upper limbs are characterized by very low side differences. Forces on the arms of women were probably dominated by food processing, in particular the grinding of grains or seeds. In the lower limbs, males show significantly higher anteroposterior bending strengths, which can be explained by greater engagement in transportation tasks and carrying heavy loads. In the course of the Classic period (350-900 AD), diachronic changes affect the male sample only, which suggests a shift of occupational pattern and physical demands. This shift, in turn, reflects Xcambó 's changing role as the centre of a densifying settlement area and its place in the trading activities of northern Yucatan. Other topics of discussion relate to general regional trends and local prehispanic subsistence strategies. Our conclusions emphasize the value of geometric long bone analysis in the reconstruction of activity patterns and lifestyles in ancient coastal settlements.
After more than a century of debate, it is now firmly established that tuberculosis existed in the New World before the arrival of Columbus. What is not yet known is how or when, exactly, the infection reached the Americas, how it spread from one continent to the other, and whether the pre-Columbian infection was caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Mycobacterium bovis.
This paper reports the recent discovery of a royal tomb in Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico. Buried in this chamber was an adult male. Among the abundant offerings that accompanied this personage was a polychrome plate bearing the heiroglyph, Yukom Yich’ak K’ak’ (Jaguar Paw), the name of the governor of Cakalmul during the second half of the seventh century. Previously, it was believed that Jaguar Paw was captured and sacrificed at Tikal in 695 A. D. However, new data suggest that this recently discovered tomb at Calakmul was his final resting place.
The present study compares the frequency of oral pathologies—namely caries, antemortem tooth loss and periapical defects—between sexes in the Maya site of Xcambó, Yucatán, during the Late Classic Period (AD 600-900). There are marked differences in the occurrence of oral pathological conditions between the sexes in two of three major areas of the sites, despite evidence of archaeological and funerary homogeneity within the site. In these two compounds, females are significantly more affected by oral pathologies than males. In contrast, the third area of the site shows slightly higher frequencies in males, but with no significant sex difference. The results*Correspondence to: Andrea Cucina, Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexioco. E-mail: acucina@yahoo.comhave been interpreted according to the site’s location, size and economic role within a larger trade network in the Yucatán peninsula. The higher frequency of oral pathologies in females is interpreted as the result of sex differences in dietary and behavioral patterns. Females likely had more maize in their diet and, because of their role in food preparation, may have ingested food more frequently during the day. At the same time, the lack of difference between sexes in the third area of the site contradicts the archaeological evidence of intrasite homogeneity, and it raises questions on the cultural complexity of this population.
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