Brief Report: The Non-Metric Variation in the Dentition of the Earliest Americans (13.721 – 11.640 CYBP)

Dental non-metric data were described in a group of seven individuals of North and Central America. This report contributes to studies regarding the settlement of America by decribing the non-metric dental traits of the most ancient dentitions in the Americas. The sample consists of seven individuals from the Final Late Pleistocene (13.721-11.640 CYBP). Permanent dentitions from individuals between 5 and 35 years of age were scored for 13 dental traits based on the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS). These findings help us to have a comparable database with other groups and thus better understand the settlement process of human groups in the Americas and its relationship with migratory movements from Asia

Brief Report: The Non-Metric Variation in the Dentition of the Earliest Americans (13.721 – 11.640 CYBP)

Dental non-metric data were described in a group of seven individuals of North and Central America. This report contributes to studies regarding the settlement of America by decribing the non-metric dental traits of the most ancient dentitions in the Americas. The sample consists of seven individuals from the Final Late Pleistocene (13.721-11.640 CYBP). Permanent dentitions from individuals between 5 and 35 years of age were scored for 13 dental traits based on the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS). These findings help us to have a comparable database with other groups and thus better understand the settlement process of human groups in the Americas and its relationship with migratory movements from Asia

Mayan Mortuary Deposits in the Cenotes of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, Mexico

The Yucatan Peninsula contains a great number of submerged caves and collapsed dolinas of sedimentary limestone origin, locally known as cenotes. The importance of caves and cenotes for the Mayas was documented in the 16th century by Fray Diego de Landa and other chroniclers, but the interest in exploring them began in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with travelers like John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood and institutions like the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Mayan infraworld, identified in the karstic systems, was associated with different mythological beings and fantastic animals such as the moan bird, as it was named by Eduard Seler. The spatial association of cenotes with pre-Hispanic settlements, the presence of culturally deformed skulls, and the presence of Late pre-Classic to Early Classic pottery, in one case directly associated with one osteological group, supports the hypothesis that the deposits have remained in situ since early pre-Hispanic times

Grabados y astros: el papel de los símbolos celestes entre las manifestaciones del conjunto rupestre del Arroyo de las flechas (Caborca, Sonora, México).

Este trabajo se centra en las representaciones grabadas de carácter astral del Arroyo de las Flechas, con una propuesta interpretativa sobre su contexto espacial, temático y cultural. Este conjunto rupestre se localiza en la Sierra de El Álamo (noroeste de Sonora), un sitio conocido también como Aguaje de las Palomas. La primera referencia a este conjunto de petroglifos corresponde a D. Ballereau (1991), quien realizó un primer inventario y clasificación iconográfica. En el año 2013 hemos reemprendido el estudio de este yacimiento, con la reelaboración del inventario y el estudio temático de sus representaciones, en el ámbito del proyecto ¿Ocupaciones Humanas durante el Cuaternario en el Noroeste de Sonora (OHCNS-Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)¿ Su contenido está constituido por figuras humanas, animales, objetos o instrumentos (flechas y puntas de proyectil), elementos abstractos y astronómicos. El arroyo de las Flechas parece haber desempeñado el papel de espacio ceremonial destinado a ritos de fertilidad, asociados al culto solar y lunar.This paper is focused on the rock art engravings representations of astral character in the Arroyo de las Flechas, with an interpretative proposal in its spatial, thematic and cultural context. This rupestrian set is located in the Sierra de El Álamo (northwestern Sonora), a site also known as Aguaje de las Palomas. The first reference to this petroglyphs set corresponds to D. Ballereau (1991) who made a preliminary inventory and an iconographic classification. In 2013 we have taken up again the study of this site, with the reworking of the inventory and the thematic study of its representations within the project ¿Ocupaciones Humanas durante el Cuaternario en el Noroeste de Sonora (OHCNS- Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)¿. Its content is composed by human figures, animals, objects or instruments (arrows and arrowheads), abstracts and astronomical elements. The Arroyo de las Flechas seems to have played the role of ceremonial space for fertility rites associated with the solar and lunar cult.Área de Historia del Arte, UPOPreprin

Morphological variation of the early human remains from Quintana Roo, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico: Contributions to the discussions about the settlement of the Americas.

The human settlement of the Americas has been a topic of intense debate for centuries, and there is still no consensus on the tempo and mode of early human dispersion across the continent. When trying to explain the biological diversity of early groups across North, Central and South America, studies have defended a wide range of dispersion models that tend to oversimplify the diversity observed across the continent. In this study, we aim to contribute to this debate by exploring the cranial morphological affinities of four late Pleistocene/early Holocene specimens recovered from the caves of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The four specimens are among the earliest human remains known in the continent and permit the contextualization of biological diversity present during the initial millennia of human presence in the Americas. The specimens were compared to worldwide reference series through geometric morphometric analyses of 3D anatomical landmarks. Morphological data were analyzed through exploratory visual multivariate analyses and multivariate classification based on Mahalanobis distances. The results show very different patterns of morphological association for each Quintana Roo specimen, suggesting that the early populations of the region already shared a high degree of morphological diversity. This contrasts with previous studies of South American remains and opens the possibility that the initial populations of North America already had a high level of morphological diversity, which was reduced as populations dispersed into the southern continent. As such, the study of these rare remains illustrates that we are probably still underestimating the biological diversity of early Americans

The Muknal cave near Tulum, Mexico: An early-Holocene funeral site on the Yucatán peninsula

Here, we report on an incomplete human skeleton, soot patches related to anthropogenic fireplaces, and cut marks on the mandible of an extinct peccary, from the submerged Muknal cave southwest of Tulum on the Mexican Yucatán peninsula. The human individual, here named ‘Muknal Grandfather’, was identified as a male based on cranial parameters. The age at the time of death was estimated to be between 40 and 45 years. We propose that the human bones have been brought to the cave during the latest Pleistocene or early Holocene, but not later than 8600 14C yr BP (ca. 9600 cal BP), as a secondary burial of a partial skeleton. The peccary mandible was placed close to the burial site, possibly as part of the same ritual. The Muknal cave therefore served as a place for funeral rituals