Early Colonial Diet in El Japón, Xochimilco, Mexico: Examining dietary continuity through stable isotope analysis of bone collagen and bioapatite

OBJECTIVES

Early colonial documents from central Mesoamerica detail raising and planting of European livestock and crops alongside native ones. The extent to which Indigenous people, especially of the rural commoner class, consumed newly introduced foods is less known. This gap in knowledge is addressed through stable isotope analysis and comparison to published archaeological botanical, human, and faunal data.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen and bioapatite is applied to 74 skeletal samples of Indigenous human remains representing Colonial period individuals from El Japón-a farming hamlet in the Xochimilco area-to provide insight into long-term individual dietary practices in the context of a rapidly transforming Mesoamerican world.

RESULTS

Carbon isotope ratios in collagen (δ13Ccollagen) average -8.10/00 VPDB (SD 0.55), while δ15N averages 8.90/00 AIR (SD 0.50). δ13Cbioapatite averages -2.90/00 VPDB (SD 0.60). Modest increase in carbon isotopic diversity is observed among more recent males from El Japón when compared to earlier males and females.

DISCUSSION

Based on the isotopic results, it is estimated that the individuals of El Japón consumed maize or other C4 plants as a central source of carbohydrates. Dietary protein was largely supplied through domestic maize-fed fauna but potentially supplemented by wild terrestrial and aquatic fauna and fowl. Similarity in skeletal isotopic composition between precontact Mesoamericans from other sites and El Japón individuals of both earlier and later stratigraphy is interpreted as continuity in local diets and foodways despite potentially available European alternatives. Colonial taxation demands on preexisting agricultural regimes may have incentivized maize production, thus indirectly contributing to the maize-centered aspect of local foodways.

Condiciones de salud de una población antigua del occidente de Mesoamérica: estudio de los habitantes del sitio arqueológico Los Limones, México (600-1000 d.C.)

Esta investigación evalúa las condiciones de salud de 29 individuos que habitaron el sitio Los Limones durante la fase Armería (600-1000 d.C.) para determinar si tenían alguna relación con la subsistencia agrícola que se ha propuesto para este sitio. Con base en la metodología estandarizada de indicadores de estrés, se realizó un análisis macroscópico de cuatro lesiones óseas y seis lesiones dentales. Las caries, los cálculos dentales, la pérdida de piezas dentales ante mortem y las reacciones periostales fueron las lesiones más frecuentes y se identificaron en individuos juveniles, adultos jóvenes y adultos de ambos sexos. La integración de los datos del medio ambiente, del contexto arqueológico y de la identificación de las lesiones óseas y dentales permitió sugerir que los antiguos habitantes del sitio Los Limones pudieron haber tenido una estrategia de subsistencia mixta que integró actividades como la agricultura, la pesca, la caza y la recolección de plantas y frutos silvestres.

Age-at-death standards for Mesoamerican Prehispanic and colonial infant, child, and juvenile skeletons

This study aims to develop age-at-death standards for Valley of Mexico skeletal collections. Using 159 individuals, with a dental age-at-death between 0 to 15 years, we develop linear and quadratic inverse regression models of age-at-death estimation between dental age and the diaphyseal length of the six long bones. A blind test for both regressions was performed, also a regression developed for a Maya group was carried out. We also compared skeletal growth of our sample by applying regressions developed for Maya and North American populations to assess the magnitude of the differences among ethnically unrelated populations. Our regressions yielded a close correlation between the diaphyseal length and dental age, especially femur and radius. It is noticeable that the disparities between younger and older age categories, the latter presenting larger standard deviations. Quadratic regression fitted better than linear and Maya regressions, and the differences of age-at-death distributions are significant. The skeletal growth curve of the Valley of Mexico is statistically different from other Native American groups. We conclude that for the present standards, despite the high degree of variance, the quadratic regression is a better applicable age estimator, when it is applied to biologically close populations.

Historic Treponema pallidum genomes from Colonial Mexico retrieved from archaeological remains

Treponema pallidum infections occur worldwide causing, among other diseases, syphilis and yaws. In particular sexually transmitted syphilis is regarded as a re-emerging infectious disease with millions of new infections annually. Here we present three historic T. pallidum genomes (two from T. pallidum ssp. pallidum and one from T. pallidum ssp. pertenue) that have been reconstructed from skeletons recovered from the Convent of Santa Isabel in Mexico City, operational between the 17th and 19th century. Our analyses indicate that different T. pallidum subspecies caused similar diagnostic presentations that are normally associated with syphilis in infants, and potential evidence of a congenital infection of T. pallidum ssp. pertenue, the causative agent of yaws. This first reconstruction of T. pallidum genomes from archaeological material opens the possibility of studying its evolutionary history at a resolution previously assumed to be out of reach.