Life and Death at Teposcolula Yucundaa: Mortuary, Archaeogenetic, and Isotopic Investigations of the Early Colonial Period in Mexico
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Life and Death at Teposcolula Yucundaa: Mortuary, Archaeogenetic, and Isotopic Investigations of the Early Colonial Period in Mexico A dissertation presented by Christina Gertrude Warinner to The Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Anthropology Harvard University Cambridge, MA May 2010 © 2010 Christina Gertrude Warinner All rights reserved. ii Advisor: Professor Noreen Tuross Christina Gertrude Warinner Life and Death at Teposcolula Yucundaa: Mortuary, Archaeogenetic, and Isotopic Investigations of the Early Colonial Period in Mexico Abstract Two mid-16th century cemeteries are investigated at the Mixtec site of Teposcolula Yucundaa and shown to be related to the unidentified cocoliztli pandemic of 1545-1548. Through archaeogenetic and oxygen stable isotope analysis it is shown that the interred individuals are local Mixtecs, and mortuary analysis sheds light on both Christian and traditional religious practices at the site. Mitochondrial haplogroup frequencies do not support severe population bottlenecking during the 16th century epidemic period, and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis does not support a shift away from maize consumption, despite evidence for increased wheat production at the site. In order to further refine Middle American stable isotope-based paleodietary models, a large-scale empirical study was conducted on the isotopic diversity of regional crop plants, and an experimental feeding study in swine was developed to determine the isotopic effects of nixtamalization on mineralized tissues. iii Table of Contents Title page ............................................................................................................................. i Copyright page .................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................1 1.2. Background ...............................................................................................................1 1.3. Dissertation structure ................................................................................................2 CHAPTER 2: ALKALINE COOKING AND STABLE ISOTOPE DIET-TISSUE DISCRIMINATION IN SWINE 2.1. Chapter summary ......................................................................................................6 2.2. Introduction ...............................................................................................................7 2.3. Materials and methods ............................................................................................10 2.3.1. Controlled diet study .....................................................................................10 2.3.2. Sample preparation ......................................................................................14 Food and water ..............................................................................................14 Collagen ........................................................................................................14 Apatite ...........................................................................................................14 2.3.3. Mass spectrometry .......................................................................................15 Collagen, food components, and water (C, O) ..............................................15 Apatite carbonates (C, O) .............................................................................15 2.3.4. Evaluation of sample bias in enamel samples ...............................................16 Upper and lower canines ...............................................................................16 2.4. Results .....................................................................................................................16 2.4.1. Isotopic discrimination across tissues ...........................................................16 Humerus and mandible collagen ...................................................................16 Bone and enamel apatite ...............................................................................16 2.4.2. Alkaline cooking ..........................................................................................18 2.5. Discussion ...............................................................................................................19 2.5.1. Effects of alkaline cooking ...........................................................................19 2.5.2. Mineralized tissue selection ..........................................................................22 Humerus and mandible collagen ...................................................................22 Bone and enamel apatite ...............................................................................23 2.5.3. Organic and inorganic source comparisons ..................................................26 Carbon ...........................................................................................................26 Oxygen .........................................................................................................27 iv 2.6 Conclusions .............................................................................................................29 2.7 Bibliography ............................................................................................................30 2.8 Appendices ..............................................................................................................35 CHAPTER 3: TISSUE ISOTOPIC ENRICHMENT ASSOCIATED WITH GROWTH DEPRESSION IN A PIG 3.1. Chapter summary ....................................................................................................50 3.2. Introduction .............................................................................................................51 3.3. Materials and methods ............................................................................................53 3.3.1. Controlled diet study .....................................................................................53 3.3.2. Analytical methods ......................................................................................55 3.4. Results .....................................................................................................................56 3.4.1. Growth ..........................................................................................................56 3.4.2. Patterns of isotopic discrimination ...............................................................57 Isotopic differences among the experimental pigs ........................................57 Temporal trends in hair keratin .....................................................................58 Temporal trends in mineralized tissues.........................................................60 3.5. Discussion ...............................................................................................................61 3.5.1. Comparison with previous studies ................................................................61 3.5.2. Evaluation of current isotopic models and observed relationships ..............63 3.6. Conclusion ..............................................................................................................64 3.7. Bibliography ...........................................................................................................65 3.8. Appendices ..............................................................................................................70 CHAPTER 4: ISOTOPIC DIVERSITY OF THE MIDDLE AMERICAN DIETOME 4.1. Chapter summary ....................................................................................................72 4.2. Introduction .............................................................................................................73 4.3. Data collection ........................................................................................................78 4.3.1 Published data ................................................................................................79 4.3.2 Valley of Oaxaca ............................................................................................79 4.3.3 Coastal Tabasco .............................................................................................82 4.3.4 Herbarium samples ........................................................................................82 4.3.5 Human samples ..............................................................................................82