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Ancient Maya Mortuary Practice at Mid-Level Sites in the Belize

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Creating Community: Ancient Maya Mortuary Practice at Mid-Level Sites in the Belize River Valley, Belize by Anna Novotny A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved July 2015 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Jane Buikstra, Chair Christopher Carr Kelly Knudson Cynthia Robin Miguel Aguilera Vera Tiesler ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY August 2015 ABSTRACT This research focuses upon the intersection of social complexity and leadership among commoners in complex societies as expressed through mortuary ritual. I study how ideology, materialized through treatment of the deceased body, was a potential source of power among commoners in ancient Maya society and how this materialization changed through time. Mortuary data are drawn from mid-level settlements of the Belize River Valley, located in western Belize within the eastern Maya lowlands. The primary research question addresses whether mid-level leaders in the Belize River Valley targeted certain human bodies for ancestral veneration through tomb re-entry and ritual interaction with skeletal remains. The ritual-political strategy of mid-level leaders is measured using archaeothanatology, an analysis of grave taphonomy based on forensic data, to reconstruct cultural beliefs about death based on treatment of deceased bodies, radiogenic strontium isotope analysis to reconstruct residential history, and analysis of dental metrics to assess biological kinship. While preservation of osseous material was poor, results indicate that the frequency of disarticulated and secondary burials was higher in eastern structures than in other locales, although eastern structures were not the only loci of these types of deposits. Overall, it does not seem like secondary burials were regularly and purposefully created for use as ritual objects or display. Radiogenic strontium isotope data enrich this analysis by showing that eastern structures were not a burial locale exclusive to individuals who spent their childhood in the Belize Valley. Data from upper- level eastern structures also suggests that within that part of society local birth did not guarantee interment in a local manner; perhaps the social network created during one's life shaped treatment in death more than residential origin. Biological distance analyses i were inconclusive due to missing data. Comparison of mortuary practices to nearby regions shows distinct mortuary patterning across space and time. This is consistent with reconstructions of ancient Maya sociopolitical organization as regionally diverse and moderately integrated. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The dissertation research was funded by the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant #1329406. Funding was also provided by Wenner Gren International Collaborative Research Grant to Jane Buikstra and Vera Tiesler. Preliminary data collection was funded by Sigma Xi Arizona State University Chapter Research Grant, Arizona State University Graduate and Professional Student Association Graduate Research Support Program, Arizona State University School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Phase II Students Special Research Grant. I would like to thank my committee for their years of academic and moral support, particularly my advisor, Jane Buikstra. Thank you for bringing me to Arizona State; this move had an immeasurable effect on my research trajectory and development as a scholar. Heartfelt thanks to my committee members for all their time and effort towards bringing this project to completion, Miguel Astor-Aguilera, Christopher Carr, Kelly Knudson, Cynthia Robin and Vera Tiesler. Thank you, first, to the Institute of Archaeology at the National Institute for Culture and History in Belize. Particular thanks go to Jaime Awe, John Morris, and Melissa Bladillo for granting me permission to work in Belize, assisting me during data collection, and, at least for John Morris, even reading drafts of my dissertation. Thank you to Cynthia Robin and the Chan Project for introducing me to archaeology in the Belize Valley, particularly the archaeology of mid-level sites. We had a great team – thanks to the lab crew Chelsea Blackmore, Elise Enterkin, Nick Hearth, Angela Keller, Laura Kosakowsky, and Carmen Ting. iii For post-Chan project data collection in Belize I am indebted to the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project for providing invaluable logistic support. Julie Hoggarth, deserves particular mention for her help in gaining access to the various labs and bodegas that housed the decades of skeletal material excavated by Jaime Awe and his colleagues and students. Thanks to Jaime Awe for generously allowing me permission to analyze the BVAR burials. Thank you, also, to the original excavators of much of the material discussed herein: James Aimers, Carolyn Audet, Mark D. Camphell, David Cheetham, James Conlon, David Driver, James Garber, David Glassman, Christophe Helmke, Bobbi Hohmann, Julie Hoggarth, Gyles Iannone, David Lee, Terry Powis, Jennifer Piehl, Catarina Santasillia, and Leslie Swain. The bioarchaeologists whose data organization and reporting were also invaluable: Bradley Adams, Carolyn Freiwald, Sherry Gibbs, Voula Kokkalis, Marion Maar, Jennifer Piehl, Rhan-Ju Song, Tamara Varney, and Gabriel Wrobel. Thank you to Jason Yaeger for facilitating access to the skeletal remains of the Xunantunich Archaeological Project and to Samuel Connell and Richard Leventhal for graciously permitting me to re-analyze the material. Thank you to Lisa Lucero for granting me access to the Saturday Creek burials, drawings, and context information. Thank you to Lisa LeCount and Carolyn Freiwald for allowing me access to the teeth from the Actuncan Archaeological Project skeletal material. At the Field Museum in Chicago, I appreciate Gary Feinman allowing me to access the skeletal remains from San José and Christopher Philipp facilitating my visit. Thank you to Karen and Jeff Hansen for always hosting me when I am in Chicago. iv At the Peabody Museum of Ethnology and Archaeology, many thanks to Michelle Morgan, Olivia Herschensohn, and Jane Rousseau for approving and facilitating my visit. Thank you to Stephanie Meredith for hosting me in while in Boston. Thank you to the Center for Bioarchaeological Research for providing data collection materials, including the Hillson-Fitzgerald calipers. I would also like to thank the professors and students in the CBR for providing such a stimulating and supportive experience while I was at ASU. Christopher Stojanowski deserves particular mention as he was not on my dissertation committee but provided feedback and support in the research design, data collection, and reporting of the biodistance results. I am indebted to all the students in the Archaeological Chemistry Lab in the Center for Bioarchaeological Research. Emily Schach and Allisen Dahlstedt deserve particular commendation for shepherding me through the radiogenic strontium sample preparation in the ACL and strontium collection in the Keck Lab. Niamh Daily, Sara Marstellar, Eleanna Prevedorou, Krsitin Nado, and Emily Sharp also lent much needed support. Within the School of Human Evolution and Social Change I would like to thank Chelle Brooks, Tae O’Connor, and Georgianna Miller for their support and assistance over the years. Thank you to Alanna Ossa for her help with MS Access and general advice on data organization. Michael Neihaus and May Boggess of the Statistical Computing Center at ASU provided statistical support. v The following people who have helped shape my career in archaeology: Ed Schortman, Pat Urban, Laura Kosakowsky, Michael Callaghan, Brigitte Kovacevich, Carrie Anne Berryman, Jeremy Bauer, Sarah Clayton, and Katie Miller. I was lucky to be surrounded with a brilliant, fun, and kind cohort at ASU: Mallorie Hatch, Eleanna Prevedorou, Kelly Harkins, Leigh Anne Ellison, Colleen Strawhacker, Claire Roberts, Chris Roberts, Emily Schach, Allisen Dahlstedt, Kristin Nado, Valerie Ramos, Colleen Bivona, Julie Novic, Angela Huster, Kent Johnson, Sofia Pacheco-Fores, Amy Farnback-Pearson, Amy Shapiro, Elisabeth Culley. All of these people are my helpful, thoughtful, colleagues and also dear friends. It is my pleasure to acknowledge the huge role my family has had in my success: Pam and Jerry Novotny, Rachel, Sam, and Abigail Ecker, Sam and Maigen Novotny, Eli Novotny, and Claire Novotny. If there is anyone who is happier than me that I am done, it is these people. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................. ................................................................................... 1 2 MAYA WORLDVIEWS ............... ....................................................................... 13 Maya Worldview: Linking Ancient and Modern .................................. 14 Maya Cosmology ................................................................................... 14 Change and the Material World in Maya Worldviews ......................... 16 Mesoamerican Life Essences ................................................................. 18 Maya Living Ancestors .......................................................................... 29 Conclusion ............................................................................................
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