TY - JOUR
T1 - Isotopic studies of human skeletal remains from a sixteenth to seventeenth century AD churchyard in Campeche, Mexico
T2 - diet, place of origin, and age
AU - Price, T. Douglas
AU - Burton, James H.
AU - Cucina, Andrea
AU - Zabala, Pilar
AU - Frei, Robert
AU - Tykot, Robert H.
AU - Tiesler, Vera
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - In AD 2000, construction activities in the central plaza of the city of Campeche, Mexico, led to the discovery of an early colonial church and an associated burial ground dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries AD. During the subsequent rescue excavations, the remains of at least 180 individuals were unearthed fromthe churchyard. We have concluded a series of isotopic studies of these remains to obtain information on diet, status, place of origin, and date of burial. This work involves the application of both light and heavy isotope analyses to both tooth enamel and human bone. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were measured in tooth enamel and bone. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured on bone collagen. Strontium and lead isotopes were measured in tooth enamel, and the ratios were compared to a large database for the Maya region. Radiocarbon dates were obtained for 10 of the skeletons to evaluate the date of burial and the period of use of the cemetery. The results of our study, interpreted jointly with mortuary information and conventional skeletal examination, provide detailed information on the overall burial population, a sort of collective life history of the deceased individuals. In the context of the historical background, new insights on living conditions, mobility, and diet of the founding generations in the colonial New World are obtained. A new and direct appreciation on life and death in an early multiethnic colonial Spanish town, including its historically invisible sectors-children, women, servants, and slaves becomes possible.
AB - In AD 2000, construction activities in the central plaza of the city of Campeche, Mexico, led to the discovery of an early colonial church and an associated burial ground dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries AD. During the subsequent rescue excavations, the remains of at least 180 individuals were unearthed fromthe churchyard. We have concluded a series of isotopic studies of these remains to obtain information on diet, status, place of origin, and date of burial. This work involves the application of both light and heavy isotope analyses to both tooth enamel and human bone. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were measured in tooth enamel and bone. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured on bone collagen. Strontium and lead isotopes were measured in tooth enamel, and the ratios were compared to a large database for the Maya region. Radiocarbon dates were obtained for 10 of the skeletons to evaluate the date of burial and the period of use of the cemetery. The results of our study, interpreted jointly with mortuary information and conventional skeletal examination, provide detailed information on the overall burial population, a sort of collective life history of the deceased individuals. In the context of the historical background, new insights on living conditions, mobility, and diet of the founding generations in the colonial New World are obtained. A new and direct appreciation on life and death in an early multiethnic colonial Spanish town, including its historically invisible sectors-children, women, servants, and slaves becomes possible.
U2 - 10.1086/666492
DO - 10.1086/666492
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0011-3204
VL - 53
SP - 396
EP - 433
JO - Current Anthropology
JF - Current Anthropology
IS - 4
ER -