Carolyn Freiwald

Isotopic Insights into Mortuary Treatment and Origin at Xunantunich, Belize

Burial practices can provide insight into the complex and multilayered identities of both individuals and communities. We explore one aspect of identity—an individual’s origin—and the way that it was expressed in funerary treatment at Xunantunich in the Belize Valley. Strontium, carbon, and oxygen isotope values in the tooth enamel of 19 individuals show that some individuals with nonlocal origins were buried in the same households, or even the same graves, as locally born individuals. In contrast, most individuals with Central Peten-like isotope values were placed in atypical burial positions and graves, including termination ritual contexts. We discuss the relationship between their origins and burial treatment in relation to major political changes that were occurring during Late and Terminal Classic periods in the Maya lowlands, and show that origin also was important in burial treatment in contemporaneous cultures elsewhere in the Americas.

A Case Study of Funerary Cave Use from Je’reftheel, Central Belize

Bioarchaeological analysis of mortuary deposits from Je’reftheel, a small cave located in the Roaring Creek Works of central Belize, focused on characterizing the nature of mortuary activities conducted in the cave to determine whether the site was used for funerary or sacrificial purposes. In contrasting caves and cenotes, ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and epigraphic accounts of cave use by the Maya fairly consistently mention mortuary events that occur in caves, as funerary. The combined osteological and isotopic analyses from Je’reftheel are also consistent with models of funerary behavior among the Maya. The skeletal deposits comprise both primary, articulated bodies, and secondary deposits. Other data suggest that most of the individuals were of local origin and may have been closely related. Together, these results provide a strong analogy to funerary behavior documented in tombs throughout the Maya region and beyond.

The Origins of Early Colonial Cows at San Bernabé, Guatemala: Strontium Isotope Values at an Early Spanish Mission in the Petén Lakes Region of Northern Guatemala

ABSTRACT The earliest Spanish explorers in the 15th century brought ships stocked with European domesticated animals to the Americas. Yet for nearly two centuries, the Maya living in Guatemala’s Petén Lakes region continued to rely on traditional wild animal species. A small number of cow, equid, and pig bones have been identified in Kowoj and Itza Maya Contact period contexts at Ixlú, Nixtun Ch’ich’, Tayasal, and Zacpetén; however, significant changes in regional animal use are only visible after the Spanish began to build missions in the region during the early 1700s. We explore the introduction of European domesticates to the region at the San Bernabé mission near Tayasal using faunal, isotopic, and historic data. There were marked differences in mammal use, but a continued reliance on aquatic species such as turtles and snails. Animal acquisition strategies changed as well, with potentially significant impacts on local and regional land use and the daily lives of the Mayas.

TECHNOLOGIES OF DOMINATION AT MISSION SAN BERNABÉ, PETÉN, GUATEMALA

Abstract The Spaniards established several congregaciones or missions in central Petén, Guatemala, shortly after the 1697 conquest of the region to help control local indigenous populations. Recent investigations at the church and community of Mission San Bernabé revealed details about the entangled relations of Mayas and Spaniards. Foucaults four technologies of domination help explicate these power relations as they were played out in the small settlement and the church at its center. Material culture differed in many ways from that of the pre-conquest Itzas, but was clearly predominantly “Maya.” Spanish-style goods and burial patterns were found as were hybrid ceramic wares, the Spanish-style artifacts most common in an elite residence, reflecting that Maya elite acted as brokers with the Spaniards. The occupants also incorporated Spanish domesticates into their diets. Some changes likely resulted from various ethnic groups residing in the same settlement, but others were the product of indigenous adaptations to the situation of contact. Nevertheless, it is clear that the mission anchored a number of strategies of domination that subdued the occupants of San Bernabé.