View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Aquila Digital Community The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Fall 12-1-2018 Investigating Possible Scurvy in the Postclassic Maya of Tipu Emmalea Gomberg University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Recommended Citation Gomberg, Emmalea, "Investigating Possible Scurvy in the Postclassic Maya of Tipu" (2018). Master's Theses. 601. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/601 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE SCURVY IN THE MAYA OF TIPU by Emmalea Elizabeth Gomberg A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Social Science and Global Studies at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by: Marie Elaine Danforth, Committee Chair H. Edwin Jackson B. Katherine Smith Nathan J. Meissner ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Dr. Marie Elaine Dr. Edward Sayre Dr. Karen S. Coats Danforth Director of School Dean of the Graduate School Committee Chair December 2018 COPYRIGHT BY Emmalea Elizabeth Gomberg 2018 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT Although residing in a tropical environment, numerous researchers have posited the possibility of scurvy in the Maya in recent years. The historic population of Tipu in western Belize dating to AD 1541-1638 is one of the largest and best preserved Maya series, and was therefore evaluated for possible presence of scurvy since the diet appears typical of the pre-contact Petén populations. The temporal bones and greater wings of the sphenoid were analyzed for scorbutic activity in 143 individuals, along with periodontal disease and antemortem tooth loss to determine if there was a co-occurrence with scurvy. Overall, 27% of the sample showed indications of mild scurvy. In age comparisons, sub-adults between 6 and 15 had the highest rate of lesions at 33% affected, and those over 30 had the lowest at 16 %. Adult males were more likely to display symptoms of scurvy with a prevalence of 29% as compared to females at 21%. Approximately half of all individuals with scurvy displayed lesions on both the temporal and sphenoid, with 97% of adults with scurvy showing a co-occurrence with periodontal disease. This data suggests Tipu experienced scurvy, but the frequency was low and severity was relatively mild. One potential cause, despite living in a tropical environment, is Maya food processing practices and possibly their food preferences. The findings also suggest that scurvy and other similar conditions should be kept in mind when interpreting health status since their symptoms may be acting synergistically with other nutrient deficiencies to compromise the immune system. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, and most importantly, I’d like to thank Dr. Marie Danforth for so many things. You deserve so much more than just words that don't do enough to express the gratitude and appreciation I have for everything you’ve done throughout my entire graduate career. First, thank you for being the best advisor a graduate student could ask for, and for supporting me throughout all of the ups and downs in the past 5 years. I know I haven’t made things easy for you, and I have so much gratitude for your patience and for not giving up on me. I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to follow in your footsteps and study Tipu, and I hope that my work reflects well on you. To my committee members, Drs. Ed Jackson, Katie Smith, and Nate Meissner, thank you for taking the time to take part in this processes, and for your invaluable feedback. Dr. Jackson, thank you for allowing me to explore my interests in ceramics, zooarchaeology, and field archaeology. The skills you’ve taught me have made me a better, and more well rounded anthropologist. I am so grateful I was able to learn so much from you. Your guidance and patience mean a lot to me. Dr. Meissner, thank you for taking me to Honduras to teach me about lithics and to expand my knowledge of the Maya. This was such an incredible learning experience that I will always treasure and be grateful for. Thank you for including me in your research and writing, for contributing so much to my professional and academic development, and teaching me something new about Tipu. Dr. Smith, your nutritional expertise was invaluable, and I’m lucky to have had your insight for such an important aspect of my project. Thank you to Dr. Bridget Hayden for setting one of the best examples for teaching. Your feedback was always constructive, and you have such a unique iii perspective on many aspects of teaching and working with students. Working for you was such a valuable experience, especially when I was teaching for the first time. I will continue to use what I’ve learned from you in my future teaching endeavors To Petra Lamb, the woman who keeps the whole department together, thank you for keeping me in, for making sure I was always registered, and meeting important deadlines. Also, thank you for taking the time to care for each and every graduate student in the program like we were one of your own. Thank you, Dr. Amanda Harvey, for your insight on Tipu, your guidance throughout this process, and your encouragement. I’ve always looked up to you, and I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me through this process. Thank you to the Department of Anthropology and Sociology for taking a chance and accepting me into the program. This would not have been possible without the support of the graduate assistantship the department awarded me. I also appreciate the teaching position that I had the privilege of taking with the department, which was an invaluable opportunity for my starting my teaching career. To the Graduate School and Office of Graduate Admissions, thank you for accepting me into graduate school, for the opportunity to be a graduate assistant, and for letting me experience a side of academia most students don’t get to see. Thank you to Dr. Karen Coats for allowing me to be a graduate assistant, for serving as the faculty advisor for the Graduate Student Senate, and for growing the graduate school into something great. To Carolyn Cawthon, Tracy Barnhill, Elisabeth McBride, Emily Lymon, Desira Bailey, Sue Fayard, Shelby Flores, and Jeanne Stewart, thank you for teaching me everything I needed to know to be a successful graduate assistant for you all, and for the iv enormous amount of thankless work you do for all graduate students. You’ve each made such a significant impact on me, and I’m grateful to know you all. I would like to thank the faculty and my advisors in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alabama. To Drs. Jason DeCaro, Jim Knight, and Keith Jacobi for giving me opportunities to participate in undergraduate research, taking the time to develop my skills, and for guiding me into graduate school. Also, to the former graduate students who helped me along the way. Thank you to the Graduate Student Senate, Student Government Association, and the amazing people I met serving with these organizations. Being a part of these groups started as a way for me to give back to USM, and to have a work-life balance outside of the program, but once I became involved I had a much deeper appreciation for the opportunity I was given to be a student at USM. The friendships I made are so precious to me, and helped me through some of the most difficult times of my life. Finally, thank you to Drs. Mark Cohen and Elizabeth Graham, and the Institute of Archaeology in Belize. This project would not be possible without your major contributions. Thank you for allowing me to use such a special collection, and allowing us to use it to further the education and passion of other students. v DEDICATION First, I want to dedicate this thesis to my late grandparents, Edward and Helen Gomberg, who made it possible for me to obtain my undergraduate degree and to pursue my graduate degree. Without their support none of this would have been possible, and for that I will always be grateful. Next, I want to dedicate this thesis to my parents and my sister. I would not have been able to finish without their emotional and financial support. I regret that, in many ways, I have not made the last five years easy for you. There isn’t enough I can do or say to thank you or show my appreciation in a way that you truly deserve. I love you so much, and I hope that I have made you proud. Finally, I want to dedicate this thesis to the loved ones that are no longer with us, Sylvia Danforth, my grandparents, and to Doc, Eliza, and Drew. You are all missed. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS