HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT MAYA IN THE ...

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111which may resemble a particular depositional activity. For example, the excavatedremains from Cueva de El Duende rendered a skeletal deposit with high frequencies ofrib and vertebral material, as well as bones of the hands and feet. On the other hand, thesurface collection conducted in Cueva de Río El Duende produced a significant amountof commingled long bone material. If we disregard the possibility of smaller elementsburied in the muddy floors of CNP, this particular skeletal sample may reflect asecondarily buried/deposited bone assemblage or an ossuary. The absence of excavationin this cave surely factors into the possibility of a biased sample. Is a cave’s skeletalsample the result of a specific depositional activity or a particular recovery method? Iexamine other lines of evidence in an attempt to address this issue.DemographicsThe calculation of the minimum number of individuals (MNI) and the probablenumber of individuals (PNI) represents a quantitative means of establishing ademographic profile for each cave. These estimates provide important informationconcerning the type of depositional activity that may have occurred in these subterraneanspaces. In terms of the six caves of the Petexbatun, the MNI estimates for the skeletalmaterial I examined account for a total of 70 to 227 individuals. The more conservativePNI estimates account for 107 to 268 individuals (Table 12). These estimates representthe diverse population of individuals accounting for both sexes and various age groups.Adults of indeterminate age and sex constitute a significant proportion of thispopulation. This was largely due to incomplete and poorly preserved skeletal elements,which hindered accurate assessments of age and sex. The remains of adults of known
112TABLE 12. NISPs, MNIs, and PNIs for the caves of the Petexbatun.CaveNISPMN<strong>IN</strong>ISP-addl NISP Lot Suboperation Room Operation CaveCD 145 75 16 10 6* 6 3CNP 349 240 74 74 46 49 46CRM 58 42 19 18 11* 11 8CS 822 493 74 70 43* 43 0CKP 161 138 26 26 14* 14 9CQ 40 40 18 12 5* 5 4Total 1575 1028 227 210 125 128 70* Operation MNI, as cave was not divided into rooms.CaveNISPPN<strong>IN</strong>ISP-addl NISP Lot Suboperation Room Operation CaveCD 145 75 16 10 6* 6 3CNP 349 240 91 91 73 76 73CRM 58 42 19 18 11* 11 8CS 822 493 92 88 62* 62 0CKP 161 138 32 32 21* 21 19CQ 40 40 18 12 5* 5 4Total 1575 1028 268 251 178 181 107*Operation MNI, as cave was not divided into rooms.
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HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE ANCIE
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iiiABSTRACTHuman Skeletal Remains o
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vACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis research was
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viiCHAPTERPageIV SITE DESCRIPTIONS
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ixLIST OF FIGURESFIGUREPage1 Map of
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xiLIST OF TABLESTABLEPage1 Caves of
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2Fig. 1. Map of the Petexbatun regi
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4prove or disprove my hypothesis. T
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8Caves are also known to share an o
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10Artifactual materialThe artifacts
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12activities, which included bloodl
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14represented. A ceramic analysis r
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16based on the identification of th
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18when a structure is placed over o
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20The Copan Ritual Caves Project la
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22sacrificial victims. The identifi
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24CHAPTER IIIMATERIALS AND METHODSS
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26InventoryMy analysis began with a
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28responsible. A precise methodolog
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30After rounding up to the highest
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32and subadults are differentiated
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34demonstrate the practice of inter
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36Implements such stone tools may h
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38of the young woman involved the r
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40Fig. 3. Caves of the Petexbatun.
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42I) consisted of an excavation in
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44Cueva de Río El DuendeCueva de R
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46excavation uncovered evidence of
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48Fig. 6. Complete map of Cueva de
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50these remains were recovered by m
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52Dos Pilas as a dominant polity in
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54Fig. 7. Map of Cueva de Los Quetz
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56CHAPTER VNISP AND MNI - AN ANALYS
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58Cueva de El DuendeOne hundred for
Page 71 and 72: 60feet were the most common skeleta
Page 73 and 74: 62estimates indicate that Cueva de
Page 75 and 76: 64skeletal elementpedal phalangemet
Page 77 and 78: 66TABLE 4. MNI for Cueva de Río El
Page 79 and 80: 68five rooms in Operation CNP2. Roo
Page 81 and 82: 70CNP2-24-1CNP2-26-1CNP2-27-1CNP2-2
Page 83 and 84: 72modification was one of the more
Page 85 and 86: 74result from a small sample size,
Page 87 and 88: 76material examined in this study,
Page 89 and 90: 78TABLE 7. MNI for Cueva de Sangre.
Page 91 and 92: 80MNI considered material from 41 l
Page 93 and 94: 82CS9-06-1CS11-03-2CS11-03-3CS11-03
Page 95 and 96: 84Three hundred and fifty meters of
Page 97 and 98: 8626 individuals (Table 9). I ident
Page 99 and 100: 88calculated an MNI at the level of
Page 101 and 102: 90TABLE 11. MNI for Cueva de Los Qu
Page 103 and 104: 92the operation and the cave seem m
Page 105 and 106: 94between these two types of activi
Page 107 and 108: 96represent the sample with evidenc
Page 109 and 110: 98The second group consists of eigh
Page 111 and 112: 100One of the deeper cut marks was
Page 113 and 114: 102CNP2-07-1/18A complete left femo
Page 115 and 116: 104occur throughout the bone. The f
Page 117 and 118: 106The identification of human-made
Page 119 and 120: 108harsh effects of the active envi
Page 121: 110did not affect this particular b
Page 125 and 126: 114processed for secondary burial (
Page 127 and 128: 116in mind that this and the many o
Page 129 and 130: 118an adult male recovered from an
Page 131 and 132: 120Cueva de Los QuetzalesThe skelet
Page 133 and 134: 122some doubt. These assessments ba
Page 135 and 136: 124CHAPTER VIIICONCLUSIONSThe infor
Page 137 and 138: 126LITERATURE CITEDAnderson AH. 196
Page 139 and 140: 128Brady JE, Rodas I. 1995. Maya Ri
Page 141 and 142: 130Johnston FE. 1962. Growth of the
Page 143 and 144: 132Pohl M, Pohl J. 1983. Ancient Ma
Page 145 and 146: 134Pre-Columbian Archaeology. Oxfor
Page 147 and 148: APPENDIX IINVENTORY FOR CUEVA DE EL
Page 149 and 150: CD2-01-8B pelvis R complete ischium
Page 151 and 152: APPENDIX IIINVENTORY FOR CUEVA DE R
Page 153 and 154: CNP2-07-1/10 femur L prox.1/2 shaft
Page 155 and 156: CNP2-12-1/13 humerus R dist.1/2 sha
Page 157 and 158: CNP2-20-1/11 femur L nearly complet
Page 159 and 160: CNP2-26-1/1 long bone ? 4+ fragsCNP
Page 161 and 162: CNP2-28-1/35 mandible L no teeth &
Page 163 and 164: APPENDIX IIIINVENTORY FOR CUEVA DE
Page 165 and 166: CRM4-03-1/1 tibia R shaft frag, cor
Page 167 and 168: CS1-77-2/3 sacrum A anterior aspect
Page 169 and 170: CS2-11-1/2 radius R complete shaft,
Page 171 and 172: CS5-07-1/11 frags ? 7 fragsCS5-07-1
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CS9-02-1 B7 tibia L prox.2/3 shaft,
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CS9-04-1/3 tibia R prox.1/2 shaft,
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CS9-06-1/14 femur L complete shaft,
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CS11-05-1/3 long bone ? 15 fragsCS1
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CS11-05-1 grp.B/1 vertebra A centru
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CKP2-03-1/10 femur L complete shaft
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CKP2-04-1/3 femur L dist.1/2 shaft,
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CKP9-06-1 tibia R CKP 62-63; prox.1
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CQ1-10-11 upper I2 R root is formin
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