Strontium and stable oxygen isotope analysis in the Classic and Postclassic northern Maya lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula: An analysis of social and sex-related reasons for population movement

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science, reports reports, 2022-10, Vol.45, p.103624, Article 103624
• Main Authors: Cucina, Andrea, Ortega-Muñoz, Allan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Isotopic analysis; Maya Prehispanic; Northern Maya lowlands; Population movement
• ISSN: 2352-409X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103624

•Residential mobility is not restricted to a single-specific sex and age pattern.•Demographic mobility from inland to coast region was the most common movement during Prehispanic times.•More refined analysis to explain the causes of residential mobility and interregional migration is mandatory. Yucatan Peninsula’s northern Maya lowlands witnessed intense socio-political and commercial changes during Classic and Postclassic periods. Migration was part of many important changes, and isotopic analyses allow quantification of the extent of population movement and the migrants’ potential places of origin by sex, age, and other social determinants. The purpose of the present analysis is to highlight regional migration patterns using published data that move beyond site-specific interpretations. Overall, the picture that emerges is that mobility in the region was not limited to one specific sex or age group, nor was it the prerogative of any social level. A variety of reasons lay behind population movement, including trade, kinship, marital residence, and elite marriage alliances that served to reinforce power or establish new outposts. Regional analyses and comparison of large datasets will provide a better understanding of this complex and tangled process that shaped society on the Yucatan peninsula for millennia.