Funding is requested for the continuation of a research project concerned with the identification of human migration in ancient Mesoamerica. The method uses stable isotopes of strontium, oxygen, and lead as isotopic tracers of human movement in the past by measuring these amounts in ancient bone and teeth. Geographically distinctive isotope ratios are deposited in human tooth enamel during infancy and early childhood and remain largely unaltered after death. If an individual dies and is buried outside their place of origin, local isotope ratios usually will be different from the enamel values. This principle has been utilized for the last several years in the study of human and animal samples to construct a preliminary map of isotopic variation in Mesoamerica and to investigate questions of migration at a number of archaeological sites including Teotihuacan, Copan, Palenque, Colonial Campeche, Tikal, Kaminaljuyu, and others. The project's studies have documented the movement of royal personages and commoners in the Maya region, the place of origin of sacrificial victims, the large-scale movement of people into the first cities in this region, and the birthplace of the colonial inhabitants of the town of Campeche.
In the current proposal funding is requested for another three years of investigations to expand essential baseline data and to continue investigation of human migration in Mesoamerica. Baseline information will be obtained from both modern and archaeological human and animal samples collected from areas where isotopic data is currently lacking. In addition to sample collection via fieldwork, the research team is collaborating with archaeozoologists active in Mesoamerica to obtain faunal samples from a number of sites. This information will be used to help fill in the blank areas on a baseline map. New investigations will be initiated at several sites. Ongoing investigations at Calakmul, Chac, Palenque, and Teotihuacan will be expanded. In addition the investigation of oxygen and lead isotopes as tracers of migration in this region will continue. Using more than one isotope will provide more detail on places of origin. The goal is to learn as much as possible regarding isotopic variability and human migration in ancient Mesoamerica.
This project provides is opportunity to resolve important archaeological questions about human mobility and migration in a major cultural area of the New World, including the rates of migration into urban areas, the origins of individuals, differences in migration based on age, gender, and status at the major centers of Mesoamerica. This information has substantial implications for questions regarding cultural change and interaction. Direct evidence will be available on the relationships among distinct political and cultural groups in ancient Mesoamerica. The study will also document the application of isotopic methods for the investigation of human migration. At the same time new methods for the proveniencing of prehistoric human remains will be developed.
The study will demonstrate the application of new scientific methods to old archaeological questions and involve a number of young scholars in the process. The project is cooperative one among senior scientists, younger colleagues, and graduate students. This is an international research project involving scholars from the US and Mexico. The work will also interface with local archaeologists in several parts of Mesoamerica. The project will result in at least one PhD dissertation as well as publications in a variety of journals including Latin American Antiquity and the Journal of Archaeological Science, among others. Publication in both English and Spanish is an important goal of the project. The data generated by the proposed research will be archived in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and permanently posted on the Internet at the website for the Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry.
