Kelmelis, Saige;
Walden, John P;
Green Mink, Kirsten;
Hoggarth, Julie A;
Ebert, Claire E;
Freiwald, Carolyn;
Watkins, Tia B;
... Awe, Jaime J; + view all
(2025)
Biocultural Taphonomies and Analysis of an Emerging Terminal Classic (750–900 CE) Maya Deathway.
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
, 32
(1)
, Article 22. 10.1007/s10816-024-09689-y.
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Abstract
In bioarchaeology, funerary taphonomy and preservation become part of the biocultural narrative of the dead. We evaluate the role of these factors in reconstructing the identities of those buried in an emerging deathway, the ventrally placed legs flexed (VPLF) burial position, during the Terminal Classic (750–900/1000 CE) period at the Maya polity of Lower Dover in western Belize. The term “VPLF” describes a divergent burial practice which may have resulted from intentional binding prior to burial. In our analysis of VPLF burials (n = 12), we use a two-step process to reconstruct the social identities and potential meaning of the burial pattern: (1) interpretation of the archaeological context based on excavation observations and biogeochemistry and (2) osteological analysis of curated individuals to reconstruct their biological profiles and post-mortem/post-excavation histories. Osteological analyses included age and sex estimation, paleopathological assessment of frailty and trauma, and skeletal modifications from cultural and taphonomic forces. Radiocarbon dating and ceramic analyses were used to date the burials. Stable and radiogenic isotopic analyses were applied to reconstruct diet and mobility for a subset of the VPLF burials. Our results show that individuals were buried in the VPLF position irrespective of age, sex, or social status, consistent with patterns at other Terminal Classic and Postclassic Maya sites, although VPLF interment may have been practiced earlier at Lower Dover. We hypothesize that the appearance of VPLF burials in the Terminal Classic period signified an ideological shift in light of emerging social and environmental pressures in the region.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Biocultural Taphonomies and Analysis of an Emerging Terminal Classic (750–900 CE) Maya Deathway |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10816-024-09689-y |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-024-09689-y |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Funerary taphonomy, Atypical mortuary patterns, Classic Maya, Upper Belize Valley, Bioarchaeology |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203646 |
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