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

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71pedal phalangemetatarsaltarsalcalcaneustalusfibulapatellasacrumpelvistibiafemurTotal NISP:42 elementsskeletal elementmanual phalangemetacarpalcarpalribsternumscapulaclaviclehumerusvertebraulnaradiushyoidsphenoidethmoidfrontalmaxillamandiblezygomaticnasaltemporaloccipitalteethparietal0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9quantityFig. 10. NISP by element for Cueva de Río Murciélagos.with an unfused epiphysis, a right mandibular fragment with six intact deciduous teethshowing little wear, and a fragmentary deciduous second incisor were recovered fromOperation CRM1. The phalange, the incisor, and the mandibular fragment maybeevidence of a subadult at least three to five years of age (Ubelaker 1978). The thirdoperation (CRM3) was the largest chamber excavated and produced the largestproportion of skeletal material recovered from the cave. As previously stated, the cranialmaterial represented the majority of the skeletal elements collected in this operation,including the two crania. The long bone material from this operation was not asabundant as the cranial elements. A right femoral shaft with evidence of bone
72modification was one of the more interesting elements recovered from this operation.The final operation (CRM4) produced nearly complete left and right femurs that are verysymmetrical in form and point to a single individual. Their relative size and robusticitysuggests that they belonged to an adult male. A tibial portion and a worn cranialfragment were also found in this operation.The MNIs for this cave were also calculated at the four levels utilized in Cuevade El Duende. At the level of the lot, 19 individuals accounted for the material Ianalyzed (Table 6). This estimate includes one adult male, 12 adults of unknown ageand sex, and six subadults. My estimate of 19 individuals is very close to theapproximate estimate of 16 individuals assessed by López (1994:689) in her preliminaryreport. The MNI estimate at the level of the suboperation had one less individual thanthe lot estimate. At the level of the operation, 11 individuals were estimated for the fouroperations – one adult male, seven adults, and three subadults. The adult male wasidentified and sexed based on the relative size and robusticity of the paired left and rightfemurs found in Operation CRM4. The femurs have dimensions characteristic of a maleindividual from the Maya area. Both femoral heads have vertical diameters greater than44 mm. The child identified in Operation CRM1 has been discussed above. A four tofive year old child was identified in Operation CRM3 based on a complete radius shaft104 mm long with unfused epiphyses (Johnston 1962). This same operation produced aportion of an iliac crest with an unfused epiphysis and a vertebral centrum fragment withan unfused epiphysis, which may point to a juvenile 16 years or older (McKern andStewart 1957, Bass 1995). An MNI estimate for the entire cave rendered three fewer
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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
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 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: 70CNP2-24-1CNP2-26-1CNP2-27-1CNP2-2
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
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122some doubt. These assessments ba
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124CHAPTER VIIICONCLUSIONSThe infor
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126LITERATURE CITEDAnderson AH. 196
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128Brady JE, Rodas I. 1995. Maya Ri
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130Johnston FE. 1962. Growth of the
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132Pohl M, Pohl J. 1983. Ancient Ma
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134Pre-Columbian Archaeology. Oxfor
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APPENDIX IINVENTORY FOR CUEVA DE EL
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CD2-01-8B pelvis R complete ischium
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APPENDIX IIINVENTORY FOR CUEVA DE R
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CNP2-07-1/10 femur L prox.1/2 shaft
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CNP2-12-1/13 humerus R dist.1/2 sha
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CNP2-20-1/11 femur L nearly complet
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CNP2-26-1/1 long bone ? 4+ fragsCNP
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CNP2-28-1/35 mandible L no teeth &
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APPENDIX IIIINVENTORY FOR CUEVA DE
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CRM4-03-1/1 tibia R shaft frag, cor
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CS1-77-2/3 sacrum A anterior aspect
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CS2-11-1/2 radius R complete shaft,
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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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