Abstract

HIGELIN PONCE DE LEON, Ricardo; BLOMSTER, Jeffrey P.; PEREZ RODRIGUEZ, Verónica  and  MARTINEZ TUNON, Antonio. Funerary Treatment at the Mixteca Alta during Mesoamerican Formative. An. antropol. [online]. 2020, vol.54, n.1, pp.93-104.  Epub Jan 15, 2021. ISSN 2448-6221.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iia.24486221e.2020.1.68705.

With this study, we attempt to better understand the cultural behavior and practices surrounding funerary treatment in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca during Formative times. Funerary treatment involves the entire process that an individual’s body undergoes during and after its burial. Mortuary data from the sites of Etlatongo and Cerro Jazmín allow us to study social interactions related to death. From bioarchaeological approach, we test whether differences in funerary treatment provide information on social organization, including social relationships and social memory, as well as religious beliefs. We analyzed the available data from the Middle Formative (850-400 BCE), Late Formative (400 BC-50 AD), Terminal Formative (50-200/300 AD) and Transition (200-300 AD) period contexts, focusing on three parameters: a) burial locations, b) the funerary spaces used, and c) the body position of burials. Therefore, with a sample of 67 individuals, we discuss the changes that occurred in the funeral treatment of the Mixteca Alta during four time periods, and how these changes relate to the degree of social complexity.

Keywords : Bioarchaeology; Social Organization; Oaxaca.

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