Trace-element evidence for foreigners at a Maya port in Northern Yucatan

Cucina, Andrea; Tiesler, Vera; Sosa, Thelma Sierra; Neff, Héctor

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.03.032

Cited by 29 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Similar results were also obtained on the basis of trace element composition of first permanent molars (Cucina et al 2011a). This range also encompasses much of the west and northern coast of Yucatan, stretching from Isla Jaina, on the west coast of Yucatan, to Isla Cerritos, some 110 km east of Xcambo.…”

Section: Past Movement: Strontium and Oxygensupporting

confidence: 83%

Maya Coastal Production, Exchange, Life Style, and Population Mobility: A View From the Port of Xcambo, Yucatan, Mexico

et al. 2014

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Anchored in archaeological, bioarchaeological, and chemical research conducted at the coastal enclave of Xcambo, this paper examines Classic period Maya coastal saline economic production and exchange, along with the lifestyle, ethnicity, and mobility of the traders. Nestled in the coastal marshlands of the northern Yucatan, Mexico, Xcambo functioned as a salt production center and port during its occupation, maintaining long-reaching ties with other parts of the Maya world and Veracruz. Considered together, the different data sets document a reorientation in Xcambo's exchange routes and connections, which are echoed by increasingly diverse cultural affiliations and an increasing geographic mobility of Xcambo's merchants. This new information confirms the known pattern of gradually intensifying, though still relatively independent, trade dynamics along the Maya coast in the centuries leading up to the so-called “Maya collapse” and the rise of a new merchant league under the control of Chichen Itza. It was this new order that probably led to the swift end of Xcambo soon after a.d. 700.

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Section: Past Movement: Strontium and Oxygensupporting

confidence: 83%

Maya Coastal Production, Exchange, Life Style, and Population Mobility: A View From the Port of Xcambo, Yucatan, Mexico

et al. 2014

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“…Strontium and Ba have been the elements most widely used as dietary and provenance indicators (Burton & Price, ; Cucina, Tiesler, Sosa, & Neff, ; Fabig, ; Schoeninger, ; Schutkowski, Herrmann, Wiedemann, Bocherens, & Grupe, ; Skytte & Rasmussen, ). The bulk of the present dataset is depicted in Figure , which shows Ba as a function of Sr.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the distribution of trace element concentrations in multiple bone elements in 10 Danish medieval and post‐medieval individuals

Rasmussen

Skytte

D’Imporzano

et al. 2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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It is found that excess As is mainly of diagenetic origin. The results support that Ba and Sr concentrations are effective provenance or dietary indicators. Migrating behavior or changes in diet have been observed in four individuals; non-migratory or non-changing diet in six out of the 10 individuals studied. From the two most mobile (most changing diet) individuals in the study, it is deduced that the fastest turnover is seen in the trabecular tissues of the long bones and the hands and the feet, and that these bone elements have higher turnover rates than centrally placed trabecular bone tissue, such as from the ilium or the spine. Comparing Sr and published bone turnover times, it is concluded that the differences seen in Sr concentrations are not caused by diagenesis, but by changes of diet or provenance. Finally, it is concluded that there can be two viable interpretations of the Pb concentrations, which can either be seen as an indicator for social class or a temporal development of increased Pb exposure over the centuries.

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“…However, the ratios Mg, Sr and Ba to Ca have also been utilized to monitor differences in provenance (e.g. [20][21][22]). The Mg/Ca ratio shows some relatively large variations, whereas the Sr/Ca and the Ba/Ca ratios show less variation.…”

Section: Provenancementioning

confidence: 99%

The distribution of mercury and other trace elements in the bones of two human individuals from medieval Denmark -- the chemical life history hypothesis

et al. 2013

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Excavating human skeletons is the closest archaeologists can get to the people who lived in the past. Once excavated the bones are often analysed chemically in order to yield as much information as possible. Most archaeometric analyses performed on samples of human skeletal remains have been performed on a single sample from a tooth or a long bone. In this paper we investigate how a suite of elements (Mg, Al, Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, As, Sr, Ba, Hg and Pb) are distributed in two medieval skeletons excavated at the laymen cemetery at the Franciscan Friary in Svendborg, Denmark. The analyses have been performed using CV-AAS for Hg and ICP-MS for the rest of the elements. We find that in general Hg concentrations are highest in the trabecular tissues and in the abdomen region. Our data also show that the elements Al, Fe and Mn concentrate in the trabecular tissue and on the surfaces of the bones. The two individuals can be clearly distinguished by Principal Component Analysis of all the measured trace elements. Our data support a previously published hypothesis that the elemental ratios Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca and Mg/Ca are indicative of provenance. Aluminium, Fe and Mn can be attributed to various forms of diagenesis, while Hg is not present in sufficiently large amounts in the surrounding soil to allow diagenesis to explain the high Hg values in the trabecular tissue. Instead we propose that Hg must originate from decomposed soft tissue.

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Trace-element evidence for foreigners at a Maya port in Northern Yucatan

Cited by 29 publications

References 32 publications

Maya Coastal Production, Exchange, Life Style, and Population Mobility: A View From the Port of Xcambo, Yucatan, Mexico

Maya Coastal Production, Exchange, Life Style, and Population Mobility: A View From the Port of Xcambo, Yucatan, Mexico

On the distribution of trace element concentrations in multiple bone elements in 10 Danish medieval and post‐medieval individuals

The distribution of mercury and other trace elements in the bones of two human individuals from medieval Denmark -- the chemical life history hypothesis

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