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Dietary Practices, Socioeconomic Status, and Social Mobility at Teotihuacan, Mexico

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Dietary Practices, Socioeconomic Status, and Social Mobility at Teotihuacan, Mexico Dietary Practices, Socioeconomic Status, and Social Mobility at Teotihuacan, Mexico by Kristin Lynn Nado A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved April 2017 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Jane E. Buikstra, Chair Kelly J. Knudson Michael E. Smith Ian G. Robertson ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2017 ABSTRACT This project investigates social mobility in premodern states through a contextualized program of isotopic research at the archaeological site of Teotihuacan, Mexico. Due to the lack of a concrete methodology that can be used to recover information concerning rates of social mobility from archaeological remains, many traditional archaeological models either ignore social mobility or assume that boundaries between socioeconomic strata within archaic states were largely impermeable. In this research, I develop a new methodological approach to the identification of socially mobile individuals in the archaeological record based on changes in the diet across the lifecourse that can be detected through isotopic paleodietary indicators. Drawing upon cross-cultural research surrounding the relationship between diet and socioeconomic status and established methodologies in the biogeochemical analysis of human remains, this methodological approach provides a basis for broader comparative studies evaluating the nature of social mobility within archaic states. I then test the practical application of this methodology by applying it to a mortuary sample including individuals from distinctive socioeconomic groups from the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan, Mexico. The study recovers and uses the dietary isotope ratios within bone and tooth samples from 81 individuals buried throughout the city 1) to define the dietary correlates of wealth and status at Teotihuacan and 2) to identify individuals displaying lifetime dietary changes consistent with changes in socioeconomic status. In addition to supplementing our current understanding of Teotihuacan foodways and processes of geographic migration into the city, I identify an adult male individual from the La Ventilla B apartment compound who displays dietary i changes throughout his life that are consistent with downward socioeconomic mobility from a high status socioeconomic group in early adolescence to an intermediate status group later in adulthood. I conclude by identifying ways to move forward with the comparative archaeology of socioeconomic mobility in premodern contexts and highlight the applicability of archaeological information to our understanding of present-day processes of social mobility. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was funded by the Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant #8687 and by a pilot grant from the Arizona State University Graduate and Professional Student Association Graduate Research Support Program. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee for their excellent advice and patience over the many years that it took to complete this research. Jane Buikstra inspired my initial interest in bioarchaeology as an undergraduate, and as my committee chair in graduate school, she encouraged me to tackle complex and ambitious research problems. Mike Smith constantly challenged me to approach problems with intellectual rigor and with multiple theoretical viewpoints in mind. Ian Robertson introduced me to the site of Teotihuacan as an undergraduate and held me to high standards for data analytic integrity. Kelly Knudson provided me with training on isotopic methods, allowed me access to the laboratory facilities necessary to complete this dissertation, and made sure that my technical writing was always precise and accurate. This research would not have been possible with the permissions and aid of a great number of people. Authorizations to conduct the analyses were granted by the Consejo de Arqueología and the Dirección de Antropología Física of Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, as well as by the Comité Académico of the Zona Arqueológica de Teotihuacan. At the Dirección de Antropología Física, I would like to thank José Antonio Pompa y Padilla, Liliana Torres Sanders, Luis Alfonso Gonzalez Miranda, and David Volcanes for welcoming me during my stay and facilitating access to the collections. At the Zona Arqueológica de Teotihuacan, Rubén Cabrera Castro, iii Claudia López, Verónica Ortega, and Jorge Archer Velasco provided assistance and advice throughout the sampling process. I would also like to thank George Cowgill and Oralia Cabrera, for providing access to collections stored at the ASU Research Facility in San Juan, and Lulú Caballero Mejia, for all of the ways that she helped to make my stay at the facility smooth and successful. Kiri Hagerman and Daniel Contreras provided assistance in the exporting of samples from Mexico to the United States for analysis. Gwyneth Gordon and Natalya Zolotova at the Arizona State University W.M. Keck Foundation Laboratory for Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ben Moan at the Northern Arizona University Colorado Plateau Stable Isotope Laboratory shared their technical expertise with me in carrying out the mass spectrometric analysis of samples. I am also indebted to all of the friends, family members, and colleagues who, at various times and in various capacities, gave me the emotional support needed to get through graduate school: Tommy Budd; Michael Burnam-Fink; Allisen Dahlstedt; Julie Euber; Nathaniel Gilbert; Kelly Hale-Alper; Patrick and John Hoehn; Kent Johnson; Lili Manrique; Sara Marsteller; Bob, Sandy, and Jennifer Nado; Sofia Pacheco-Fores; Kathleen Paul; William Pocknell; Joe, Kira, and Natalie Russo; Emily Schach; Andrew Seidel; Emily Sharp; Nathan Rollins; and Brian West. Finally, I would like to thank Sophie for being the #bestdog. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 Research Objectives ................................................................................................ 3 Organization of this Dissertation ............................................................................ 6 2. WEALTH INEQUALITY, SOCIAL STATUS, AND SOCIOECONOMIC MOBILITY ..................................................................................................................... 9 Theoretical Conceptualizations of Economic and Social Power .......................... 11 Socioeconomic Mobility ....................................................................................... 34 3. DIET AND SOCIOECONOMICS............................................................................ 47 Food Choice in Complex Societies ....................................................................... 47 Socioeconomic Dietary Differentiation in Mesoamerica ..................................... 57 4. BIOGEOCHEMICAL APPROACHES TO DIET ................................................... 65 Paleomobility Isotopes .......................................................................................... 65 Paleodietary Isotopes ............................................................................................ 73 Data Quality .......................................................................................................... 81 Proposing Lifetime Dietary Change as a Proxy for Social Mobility .................... 90 v CHAPTER Page 5. TEOTIHUACAN ...................................................................................................... 96 Site Description and Location .............................................................................. 96 Brief Chronology ................................................................................................. 98 Social and Economic Variation at Teotihuacan ................................................. 102 Lines of Evidence Concerning the Socioeconomic Standing of the Deceased . 118 Sources of Food at Teotihuacan ......................................................................... 125 Paleodiet at Teotihuacan .................................................................................... 131 6. MATERIALS AND METHODS ............................................................................ 141 Introduction to Archaeological Contexts Sampled ........................................... 141 Sampling Methodology ..................................................................................... 167 Laboratory Procedures ...................................................................................... 172 7. ELEMENTAL AND ISOTOPIC RESULTS .......................................................... 180 Data Quality ...................................................................................................... 180 Geographic Mobility within the Social Landscape of Teotihuacan .................. 182 Diet, Economics, and Identity in Teotihuacan Society ..................................... 195 Dietary Change Through Life ........................................................................... 218 8. DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................... 225 Geographic Mobility at Teotihuacan
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