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

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39CHAPTER IVSITE DESCRIPTIONSThe area known as the Petexbatun region is located in the Pasión River valley ofthe southwestern Peten district of Guatemala. The Salinas River to the west and theRiachuelo Petexbatun to the east flank major Maya sites such as Dos Pilas, Tamarindito,and Aguateca. The region consists of Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary carbonate andclastic rocks. Over time, these rocks have faulted and resulted in horst and grabenformations. The faulting and erosion of the horst uplands have created geologic featuressuch as steep gorges, deep streams, extensive cave systems, and sinkholes. Low-lyingareas of the Petexbatun tend to flood due to the high regional water table, backflowsfrom the larger Pasión River, and the 2,500 mm of annual precipitation that falls fromMay to December (Dunning et al. 1997).Between 1990 and 1993, over 30 caves were investigated during the PetexbatunRegional Cave Survey. Archaeological efforts were primarily focused on the extensivecave system associated with the site of Dos Pilas. Seven caves were mapped andsurveyed in detail over the period of three field seasons. The following chapter willfocus on the physical description of six of these caves, paying close attention to thegeomorphology of each cave, artifact assemblage, the deposition of human remains,evidence of cultural modifications, etc. The descriptions are presented in a west to eastorder across the site of Dos Pilas, beginning with Cueva de El Duende and ending withCueva de Los Quetzales (Figure 3). They will follow the direction of the river systemthat flows through the entire cave system during the rainy season.
40Fig. 3. Caves of the Petexbatun. The caves associated with Dos Pilas extend fromCueva de El Duende to Cueva de Kaxon Pec. Cueva de Los Quetzales, which is 12.5km southeast of Dos Pilas, is not directly associated with this extensive cave system(After Brady et al. 1991: Figure 37.1).Cueva de El DuendeCueva de El Duende is a 300 m-long cavern that runs parallel to the northernbranch of Cueva de Río El Duende. Henceforth, Cueva de El Duende will be recognizedby the code CD. This cave is located in close proximity to the largest ceremonialcomplex of the site of Dos Pilas, the pyramid of El Duende. George Veni and AllanCobb mapped and surveyed the cave during the 1990 field season (Figure 4). Theexploration of the cave was divided into three operations. The first operation (Operation
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 and 32: 20The Copan Ritual Caves Project la
Page 33 and 34: 22sacrificial victims. The identifi
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: 38of the young woman involved the r
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
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