2094 - Body, Place, and Time: Biocultural Dimensions of Mortuary Features among Early Farmers of Northwest Mexico

This paper describes how the adoption of, and adaptation to, agriculture in northwest Mexico some 2,000 years ago impacted both biological and social dimensions of the areas earliest farmers. The Early Agricultural period (circa 1,600 B.C.-A.D. 150) site of La Playa, located in north-central Sonora, has produced the largest sample of inhumation mortuary features (n=286) in the region. Highly variable patterns of mortuary treatment and differential disease, violence, and activity markers indicate that this time period was one of considerable unpredictability. We hypothesize that these biocultural signatures are the result from adjustments to larger settlements and the integration and co-residence of multiple biologically, and possibly ethnically diverse groups.

Palavras-chaves: biocultural, Early Agricultural period, mortuary customs

Autores: Watson, James (University of Arizona, Ud States of Am / USA)