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Stable Isotope Analysis of Ancient Maya Skeletal Remains from Late Postclassic Iximche’, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2025

Stephen L. Whittington Open the ORCID record for Stephen L. Whittington [Opens in a new window] ,
David M. Reed ,
Robert H. Tykot ,
Karyn C. Olsen  and
Fred J. Longstaffe
Stephen L. Whittington*
Affiliation:
Independent Researcher, Leadville, CO, USA
David M. Reed
Affiliation:
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
Robert H. Tykot
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Karyn C. Olsen
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
Fred J. Longstaffe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
*
Corresponding author: Stephen L. Whittington; Email: whittisl@gmail.com
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Abstract

War, captives, and human sacrifice were parts of Late Postclassic (AD 1250–1524) Maya culture in highland Guatemala. Las Casas (1958:152) wrote that the supreme lord “put the heads of the sacrificed on some poles on a certain altar dedicated only to this, where they had these for some time, after which they buried them.” These cultural aspects show up in human remains excavated at Iximche’, the Kaqchikel Maya capital. Here, we integrate previously published and unpublished results of stable isotope analyses and explore their implications for diets and the geographic origins of individuals who were buried at the site on the eve of the Spanish conquest. Data from Iximche’ are compared with available results from other ancient Maya sites.

Resumen

Resumen

La guerra, los cautivos y los sacrificios humanos eran parte de la cultura maya del Posclásico Tardío (1250–1524 dC) en las tierras altas de Guatemala. Las Casas (1958:152) escribió que el señor supremo “[c]olocó las cabezas de los sacrificados en unos postes en cierto altar dedicado solo a esto, donde los tuvieron durante algún tiempo, después de lo cual los enterraron”. Estos aspectos culturales aparecen en los restos humanos excavados en Iximche’, la capital maya kaqchikel. Aquí, integramos resultados previamente publicados y no publicados de análisis de isótopos estables y exploramos sus implicaciones para las dietas y los orígenes geográficos de los individuos que fueron enterrados en el sitio en vísperas de la conquista española. Los datos de Iximche’ se comparan con los resultados disponibles de otros sitios mayas antiguos.

Keywords

Mayaskeletonsstable isotopesdietdecapitationMayaesqueletosisótopos establesdietadecapitación

Information

Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , March 2025 , pp. 138 - 159
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

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