Abstract

MAYES, Arion; BARBER, Sarah B.; JOYCE, Arthur A.  and  BUTLER, Michelle M.. A Bioarchaeological Perspective on Social Change in the Lower Río Verde, Oaxaca, México. An. antropol. [online]. 2020, vol.54, n.1, pp.71-79.  Epub Jan 15, 2021. ISSN 2448-6221.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iia.24486221e.2020.1.68719.

Archaeological projects in the lower Río Verde Valley of Oaxaca, México, have uncovered a series of skeletal populations from the later Formative Period (400 BC-250 AD) through the Early Classic period (250-500 AD). These centuries were a time of significant social change, including a proposed conquest of the region by Monte Albán and an episode of political centralization and subsequent collapse. In this article, we evaluate the bioarchaeological record in the context of these broader social phenomena, especially the frequency and type of injuries and their relationship to daily activities. Bioarchaeological data from the site of Cerro de la Cruz (400-150 BC) are compared with data from three other sites. Osteological analyses did not reveal a conquest, but patterns of gradual, rather than abrupt, change in the forms of nutritional and occupational stress, fractura, and infectious disease. We conclude that Formative period social change likely was driven by local environmental and sociopolitical factors, population growth, and subsistence variation.

Keywords : bioarchaeology; Formative period; urbanization; paleopathology.

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