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Thesis
The Paleopathology of Migrants to the Ancient City of Copan During the Late Classic Period
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
This thesis investigates the correlation between paleopathology and migration status at the ancient site of Copan in Honduras from the Late Classic Period (AD 600-822). By using previously published data, more specifically radiogenic strontium isotope ratios and paleopathological data, this study will compare pathological conditions between locals and non-locals to evaluate if migration had any effect on the health of individuals. This thesis set out four hypotheses: migrants will have different health indicators than non-migrants, adult individuals will have different health indicators than sub-adults, males will have different health indicators than females, and rural residential groups will have different health indicators than urban residential groups. By using frequency data of 115 individuals separated into different categories such as age, sex, and neighborhood this study found that locals had more pathological conditions present than non-locals, but this difference is small at only 4%. Skeletal males were seen to have had the highest frequency of pathological conditions, but again the differences between the sex categories were small. Local sub-adults and adolescents had the highest frequency of pathological conditions among all age groups but while the frequency is high it does not showcase a high infant mortality rate but rather that childhood stress was high. While urbanity versus rurality was an aim of this thesis, it could not be examined as the data available was limited. While this thesis has shown that the locals at Copan had more pathological conditions than those that migrated to Copan, more research into this concept is needed.
Details
- Title
- The Paleopathology of Migrants to the Ancient City of Copan During the Late Classic Period
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Katherine Miller Wolf (Advisor)Ben Burgen (Committee Member)Allysha Winburn (Committee Member)Ramie Gougeon (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 144
- Copyright
- ⓒ 2023 Tiffany Santiago
- Identifiers
- 99380178797306600
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida