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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

21ancestor veneration. For example, several clusters of skeletal material contained semiarticulatedelements, which facilitated in the interpretation of the body’s relative positionafter death. The position and orientation of the remains were not in accordance with thepositioning of an interred body. Furthermore, a general lack of grave goods may suggestan activity not associated with the intentional burial of several individuals. The skeletalmaterial consisted mostly of children and young adults. Owen (2002:131) posits thatthese individuals represent sacrificial victims, not the physical remains of ancestors thatwere venerated within the context of these caves.Aktun Tunichil Muknal and Aktun Uayazba KabThese two caves are approximately 700 m apart from each other and are locatedalong a limestone ridge in the Roaring Creek river valley in Western Belize. Analysesof the human remains recovered from these caves indicate that two different activitieswere conducted in each cave. The remains of 14 individuals, six of them infants (0-3years), were found in crevices, niches, and pools of water throughout Aktun TunichilMuknal. All the infants and a young child (seven years old) show evidence of possibletrauma to their skulls, which may also represent the result of taphonomic processes(Gibbs 2000:95). Moreover, all of the skeletal elements were found in secluded areasaway from “presumed ‘pathways’ within the caves” and deposited on the surface in a“‘haphazard’ nature” (Gibbs 2000:147). The cultural material associated with theremains was not interpreted as representing grave goods intentionally placed withinterred individuals (Gibbs 2000). With this, Gibbs (2000:146) suggests that several ofthese individuals, especially the remains of the six infants and young child, represent
22sacrificial victims. The identification of infant remains in caves is not a rare occurrence.Caves that have produced infant remains include Talgua Cave (Brady et al. 1995),Eduardo Quiroz Cave (Pendergast 1971), and Naj Tunich Cave (Brady and Stone 1986).Given this information, Gibbs (2000) believes that Aktun Tunichil Muknal was the sitefor a number of sacrificial acts.The human remains recovered from Aktun Uayazba Kab tell a different story.Unlike the remains of the previous cave, the individuals in this sample were located incloser proximity to the cave entrance. The remains of one adult and one subadult weresurface collected from the “Histo Chamber,” and the “Burial Alcove” produced sevenburials. Semi-articulated skeletal remains were associated with grave goods such asobsidian blades, pyrite, lithic flakes, crystal quartzite, etc. (Gibbs 2000). Unlike theremains found within the inner depths of Aktun Tunichil Muknal, the individuals fromAktun Uayazba Kab were clearly buried with various grave goods. Gibbs (2000)interprets the individuals interred in this cave as the venerated ancestors of a lineagegroup or a local community. The burial and veneration of the dead was and still is acommon practice throughout the Maya area. The utilization of a cave as a final restingplace for revered ancestors represents another important role of the cave as sacred orritual space.These cave descriptions are intended to demonstrate the various lines of evidencethat illustrate cave use by the Maya. This information is the basis for my investigation,which will focus on the specific treatment of the human skeletal material exhumed fromthe caves of the Petexbatun region. Through a quantitative skeletal analysis of the
Page 1 and 2: HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE ANCIE
Page 3 and 4: iiiABSTRACTHuman Skeletal Remains o
Page 5 and 6: vACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis research was
Page 7 and 8: viiCHAPTERPageIV SITE DESCRIPTIONS
Page 9 and 10: ixLIST OF FIGURESFIGUREPage1 Map of
Page 11 and 12: xiLIST OF TABLESTABLEPage1 Caves of
Page 13 and 14: 2Fig. 1. Map of the Petexbatun regi
Page 15 and 16: 4prove or disprove my hypothesis. T
Page 19 and 20: 8Caves are also known to share an o
Page 21 and 22: 10Artifactual materialThe artifacts
Page 23 and 24: 12activities, which included bloodl
Page 25 and 26: 14represented. A ceramic analysis r
Page 27 and 28: 16based on the identification of th
Page 29 and 30: 18when a structure is placed over o
Page 31: 20The Copan Ritual Caves Project la
Page 35 and 36: 24CHAPTER IIIMATERIALS AND METHODSS
Page 37 and 38: 26InventoryMy analysis began with a
Page 39 and 40: 28responsible. A precise methodolog
Page 41 and 42: 30After rounding up to the highest
Page 43 and 44: 32and subadults are differentiated
Page 45 and 46: 34demonstrate the practice of inter
Page 47 and 48: 36Implements such stone tools may h
Page 49 and 50: 38of the young woman involved the r
Page 51 and 52: 40Fig. 3. Caves of the Petexbatun.
Page 53 and 54: 42I) consisted of an excavation in
Page 55 and 56: 44Cueva de Río El DuendeCueva de R
Page 57 and 58: 46excavation uncovered evidence of
Page 59 and 60: 48Fig. 6. Complete map of Cueva de
Page 61 and 62: 50these remains were recovered by m
Page 63 and 64: 52Dos Pilas as a dominant polity in
Page 65 and 66: 54Fig. 7. Map of Cueva de Los Quetz
Page 67 and 68: 56CHAPTER VNISP AND MNI - AN ANALYS
Page 69 and 70: 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 and 122:
110did not affect this particular b
Page 123 and 124:
112TABLE 12. NISPs, MNIs, and PNIs
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
Page 173 and 174:
CS9-02-1 B7 tibia L prox.2/3 shaft,
Page 175 and 176:
CS9-04-1/3 tibia R prox.1/2 shaft,
Page 177 and 178:
CS9-06-1/14 femur L complete shaft,
Page 179 and 180:
CS11-05-1/3 long bone ? 15 fragsCS1
Page 181 and 182:
CS11-05-1 grp.B/1 vertebra A centru
Page 183 and 184:
CKP2-03-1/10 femur L complete shaft
Page 185 and 186:
CKP2-04-1/3 femur L dist.1/2 shaft,
Page 187 and 188:
CKP9-06-1 tibia R CKP 62-63; prox.1
Page 189 and 190:
CQ1-10-11 upper I2 R root is formin
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?