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Diet and Migration in Coastal Oaxaca: Identifying Effects of Political and Social Collapse through the Utilization of Stable Isotope Analysis
Title
Diet and Migration in Coastal Oaxaca: Identifying Effects of Political and Social Collapse through the Utilization of Stable Isotope Analysis.
Creator
Rumberger, Jacklyn, Barber, Sarah, Dupras, Tosha, Williams, Lana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This study involves the investigation of diet and mobility among people living in the lower R(&)#237;o Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico, during the Late Classic (AD 500-800) and Early Postclassic (AD 800-1200) periods. Specifically, this research focuses on how political and social collapse affected subsistence practices and diet, particularly maize agriculture and consumption, as well as human migration. Archaeological evidence suggests that R(&)#237;o Viejo, the region's largest urban center...
Show moreThis study involves the investigation of diet and mobility among people living in the lower R(&)#237;o Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico, during the Late Classic (AD 500-800) and Early Postclassic (AD 800-1200) periods. Specifically, this research focuses on how political and social collapse affected subsistence practices and diet, particularly maize agriculture and consumption, as well as human migration. Archaeological evidence suggests that R(&)#237;o Viejo, the region's largest urban center before AD 800, experienced multiple periods of political fragmentation and instability during its long history, specifically during the Early Classic (AD 250 - 500) and Early Postclassic periods, making it an ideal place to test these relationships. Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic analyses of human bone and tooth samples were used to reconstruct diet and create a life history for sampled individuals. Samples were extracted from the skeletal remains of individuals dating to the Late Classic (n=11) and Early Postclassic (n=11) periods. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values provide insight into maize consumption; in addition stable nitrogen isotope values also indicate the extent that aquatic resources were being exploited. Stable oxygen isotope values are used to determine if any of the individuals were foreigners and had migrated to the valley during their lifetime. Results demonstrate collapse following the Classic period led to a slight dietary shift that included a wider variety of resources, possibly aquatic. Human mobility also increased during this time as oxygen values display a wider range and indicate movement within the valley and along the coast.
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Date Issued
2016
Identifier
CFE0006491, ucf:51399
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006491
Making An Impression: A Formal Analysis of the Contextual and Iconographic Characteristics of Ancient Mexican Ceramic Stamps
Title
Making An Impression: A Formal Analysis of the Contextual and Iconographic Characteristics of Ancient Mexican Ceramic Stamps.
Creator
Peabody, Elizabeth, Barber, Sarah, Callaghan, Michael, Williams, Lana, Starbuck, John, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Ceramic stamps are a rare, yet widely distributed, artifact class within ancient Mexico. However, there has only been limited scholarly research on these objects and much current research is minimally supported. Depicting a wide range of iconography, including metaphysical, floral, and faunal designs, the function and meaning of these stamps, also known as estampias, pintaderas, and sellos, in ancient Mexican life remain an archaeological mystery. This paper examines the contextual,...
Show moreCeramic stamps are a rare, yet widely distributed, artifact class within ancient Mexico. However, there has only been limited scholarly research on these objects and much current research is minimally supported. Depicting a wide range of iconography, including metaphysical, floral, and faunal designs, the function and meaning of these stamps, also known as estampias, pintaderas, and sellos, in ancient Mexican life remain an archaeological mystery. This paper examines the contextual, chronological, and iconographic characteristics of ancient Mexican ceramic stamps as well as the distributional trends of those characteristics. This study is comprised of 83 stamps of varying design that date to between 1600 B.C.E. and 1520 C.E.: 19 found by the Rio Verde Project in Southern Oaxaca, Mexico, 5 found by Michael Coe in San Lorenzo, and 59 central Mexican stamps with credible, detailed provenience residing in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History and Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology. Examined through the lens of culture history, processual, and postprocessual theory, comparative statistical analysis was conducted to assist the identification of significant trends. These analyses have revealed that stamp use shifted from mainly public to household spaces over time and that stamps predominantly depict nature and metaphysical themed motifs. I have also found that stamps were likely multipurpose artifacts whose use transcended social status. This research greatly expands on the limited literature about Mesoamerican ceramic stamps and provides valuable insight into ancient Mexican household, identity, and possibly religious, practices.
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Date Issued
2018
Identifier
CFE0007411, ucf:52699
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007411