The Maya Are a People of Movement: Reconstructing Shifts in Maya Mobility From Oxygen Isotopes Across Three Millenia at Santa Rita Corozal (Chactemal), Northern Belize

Objectives

Decades of archaeological and bioarchaeological research have demonstrated that ancient Maya cities underwent dynamic changes over time, including shifts in sociopolitical organization as well as their cultural and economic ties to other areas of Mesoamerica. Such transformations are often associated with the movement of people across and beyond the Maya world, but the relationship between temporary and permanent migrations and sociopolitical change is complex and differs over time and between contexts. At Santa Rita Corozal (Chactemal), archaeological evidence indicates that early phases were marked by ties to central Belize and the Petén, while later phases show ties to the Northern Lowlands of the Yucatán. Ethnohistoric records similarly document movements of people between these regions in relation to sociopolitical change prior to the Spanish Invasion and during the Spanish colonial era.

Materials and Methods

Here we reconstruct patterns of mobility at Santa Rita Corozal (SRC) using stable oxygen isotope data from the teeth and bones of 96 Maya Ancestors who span three millennia of continuous settlement from the Middle Preclassic (BCE 800–300) to the Late Postclassic (CE 1350–1532).

Results

Our data reveal non-locals in the Preclassic have δ18O values below the range for SRC, indicating they may have come from highland areas. Conversely, non-locals in the Postclassic have δ18O values above the local range, suggesting that they may have come from low-elevation areas.

Discussion

These movements shed new light on the settlement and demographic history of SRC and help to inform the complex cultural, political, and economic ties evident in the archaeological and ethnohistoric records.