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- All Subjects: Bioarchaeology
- Creators: Knudson, Kelly
- Creators: Bell, Ellen E.
bioarchaeological and paleopathological scholarship.
The results highlight the complexity of Copan’s social structure within the lineage and house models proposed for ancient Maya social organization. The radiogenic strontium data are diverse; the percentage of potential non-local individuals varied by neighborhood, some with only 10% in-migration while others approached 40%. The biodistance results are statistically significant with differences between neighborhoods, patios, and even patios within one neighborhood. The high level of in-migration and biological heterogeneity are unique to Copan. Overall, these results highlight that the Copan community was created within a complex system that was influenced by multiple factors where neither a lineage nor house model is appropriate. It was a dynamic urban environment where genealogy, affiliation, and migration all affected the social structure.
This paper will cover a variety of stable isotope systems, both light and heavy, that are used to interpret isotopic analysis in two different disciplines: bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology. To begin, I will give short histories of both bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, including what is considered to be the beginning of the disciplines as well as the founders of said disciplines. Following the histories of the disciplines, there will be a short background in isotopes and isotopic analysis, including an introduction to isoscapes and how isotopic data can be collected for further interpretation. There will then be an introduction to light isotopes, focusing on the ones used for this thesis, which will lead into the background of each light isotope. Following the light isotopes is an introduction to the heavy isotopes and the backgrounds of each of the heavy isotopes. Finally, this thesis will end in the conclusions section.