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

3repositories used for the disposal of the general Maya population, insomuch as that theywere sacred spaces utilized for the secondary deposition/burial of select individuals. Asecondary burial involves the exhumation and re-deposition of skeletal remains in alocation other than the site of the primary interment. The skeletal collection from thecaves of Dos Pilas may also contain the venerated remains of a select group ofindividuals afforded primary interment within these subterranean spaces. The practiceof human sacrifice by the ancient Maya may have also occurred in the sacred context ofthese caves. These possibilities will be evaluated via a detailed, osteological analysis ofthe human skeletal material recovered from these caves. The identification and analysisof intentional bone modification of several skeletal elements represents another facet ofthis thesis. A careful examination of these marks may facilitate a more accurateinterpretation of the treatment these individuals experienced before and/or after theirdeposition in the caves.Chapter II reviews archaeological evidence for the use of caves by the ancientMaya. Despite the unique nature of every cave, the caves that have been explored sharea suite of general characteristics. Chapter III outlines the materials and methods of thestudy: Chapter IV describes the archaeological investigations carried out in the caves,and their results. The chapters following these focus on the analysis and interpretationof the data. Chapter V is an analysis of the NISPs and the MNI and PNI estimates foreach cave, and the implications behind these calculations. Chapter VI contains theanalysis of bone modification. Chapter VII attempts to interpret all the data in order to