Coastal Consumption: Diet and Social Organization at Four Postclassic Sites in the Yucatán Peninsula
Author ORCID Identifier:
Date of Graduation
8-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Anthropology
Advisor/Mentor
Ungar, Peter
Committee Member
Ortega-Muñoz, Allan
Second Committee Member
Paul, Kathleen
Keywords
Bioarcheology; Dental Microwear Texture Analysis; Isotope Analysis; Oral Pathology; Postclassic Maya Civilization; Yucatan Peninsula
Abstract
This research examines Postclassic Maya food practices during CE 1200–1600 to understand how eating behaviors reflect systems of social hierarchy, political economy, and cultural identity. The investigation focuses on four archaeological sites in the northern Yucatán Peninsula—Tulum, El Rey, El Meco, and San Miguelito—to examine dietary behaviors through dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), oral pathology, and stable isotope data within a biocultural framework. The research aims to identify whether elite and non-elite individuals exhibited notable variations in food texture consumption, access to resources, and nutritional health. High-resolution 3D surface metrology enabled DMTA to assess the mechanical properties of consumed foods, revealing short-term dietary fluctuations. Long-term nutritional stress was evaluated by analyzing dental caries and enamel hypoplasia. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis provided insights into protein sources from marine versus terrestrial environments, as well as distinctions between C₄ and C₃ plant consumption. Burial positioning, associated artifacts, and site-level data on political control and trade access were used to contextualize the biological indicators. This multi-proxy approach facilitated a detailed understanding of how diet functioned both biologically and symbolically within complex Maya social systems. The analysis reveals subtle but meaningful differences between elite and non-elite diets, despite minimal statistically significant distinctions. Higher-status individuals may have consumed foods that required different preparation techniques or had access to more nutritionally diverse options, as indicated by microwear texture and pathology data. Lower-status individuals exhibited slight indicators of increased physiological stress. These differences demonstrate how political control, trade connections, and household-level food availability shaped daily life and reinforced social inequality. This research contributes to ongoing debates in bioarcheology and Mesoamerican archaeology by showing how small-scale dietary differences, when interpreted in context, can reveal broader patterns of social differentiation and survival strategies. Food functioned as both a material necessity and a symbolic medium through which political-economic systems were maintained and, at times, contested. The integration of new microwear data with existing isotopic and archaeological evidence provides a more refined understanding of how ancient Maya societies negotiated status, identity, and subsistence through practices of consumption.
Citation
Choudhury, P. (2025). Coastal Consumption: Diet and Social Organization at Four Postclassic Sites in the Yucatán Peninsula. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/5930
