Title

Osteobiography of a High-status Burial from the Lower Rio Verde Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

Authors

Authors

A. T. Mayes;S. B. Barber

Comments

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Abstract

This paper presents the osteobiography of an individual from an early complex society who was clearly of ''special" social status but was not classified a ruling elite. Our case derives from a unique burial found at the small site of Yugue, located in the lower Rio Verde valley of the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Burial 14-Individual 16 (B14-116) dates to the late Terminal Formative Period (CE 100-250), an era of regional political centralization and concomitant social inequality. B14-116 was interred with several valuable grave offerings. A plaster-backed pyrite mirror was found below his mandible, and his left hand held an elaborately incised flute made from a deer femur. The flute is the only object of its kind known for all of Terminal Formative Mesoamerica. Drawing on the physicality of inequality, we employ osteobiography to assess the social hierarchy, Although B14-116 was clearly an individual of unusual status in the context of Yugue, he was not immune from the biological assaults that affected people of less distinguished social position at this time. Like his contemporaries of all social statuses, he suffered ill health in the years during which he was weaned However, a longer weaning period and access to additional resources may have positioned him to endure later illness better than others in this population Passing the critical transition period at age 6 112, a time when many children died in this burial site, his adolescent health was better than that of others in this population. Although B14-116 did have adult responsibilities, he didn't engage in the kinds of physical tabour that marked the skeletons of others. The placement of Burial B14-116 in the middle tiers of the lower Rio Verde valley's ancient social hierarchy provides insight into issues of inequality and status an an individual scale. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons. Ltd.

Journal Title

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

Volume

18

Issue/Number

6

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Document Type

Article

First Page

573

Last Page

588

WOS Identifier

WOS:000262012200002

ISSN

1047-482X

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