Detection of significant demographic differences between subpopulations of prehispanic Maya from Copan, Honduras, by survival analysis

Abstract

Heterogeneity and small sample size are problems that affect many paleodemographic studies. The former can cause the overall distribution of age at death to be an amalgam that does not accurately reflect the distributions of any of the groups composing the heterogeneous population. The latter can make it difficult to separate significant from nonsignificant demographic differences between groups. Survival analysis, a methodology that involves the survival distribution function and various regression models, can be applied to distributions of age at death in order to reveal statistically significant demographic differences and to control for heterogeneity. Survival analysis was used on demographic data from a heterogeneous sample of skeletons of low status Maya who lived in and around Copan, Honduras, between A.D. 400 and 1200. Results contribute to understanding the collapse of Classic Maya civilization.

Estimation of age structure in anthropological demography

“…For example, hazards analysis, which reduces the mortality parameters to a small set, has recently been used in a number of anthropological demography studies (Gage, 1988;Weiss, 1989;Whittington, 1991). There are two numerical methods for including our current results into hazards models or other models with reduced numbers of parameters.…”

“…Over the past decade the field of paleodemography has undergone a resurgence of activity that has led to a number of contributions to method and theory (Meindl et al, 1983;Sattenspiel and Harpending, 1983;Buikstra et al, 1986;Johansson and Horowitz, 1986;Boldsen, 1988;Gage, 1988;Milner et al, 1989;Paine, 1989a,b;Siven, 1991;Whittington, 1991). Much of the recent interest in paleodemography has focused on analytical problems that plague this area of research.…”

Los mayas del Clásico Tardío y Terminal. Una propuesta acerca de la dinámica demográfica de algunos grupos mayas prehispánicos: Jaina, Palenque y Copán

“…(15) ) calculada para estas poblaciones muestra valores bajos que significan que sólo la mitad de la población sobrevivió a esa edad, lo que podría explicar los niveles moderados de nacimientos. Por otro lado, en el caso Copán, Whittington (1989) encuentra una alta frecuencia de lesiones relacionadas con anemia entre las mujeres jóvenes, lo que, según el autor, habría afectado su capacidad reproductiva.…”

“…Los estudios bioarqueológicos realizados en esta serie toman en consideración indicadores arqueológicos que muestran a esta sociedad como altamente estratificada. Respecto a los datos biosociales, se han presentado resultados de alta mortalidad en la niñez (menores de cinco años) así como entre los adolescentes y las mujeres jóvenes, como una característica de las poblaciones prehispánicas (Storey, 1992b(Storey, , 1997(Storey, y 1999Whittington, 1989). El análisis de indicadores de salud, como la hipoplasia del esmalte, la criba orbitaria, la espongio hiperostosis y las reacciones periósticas, 2 revelan que el grupo tenía problemas de salud pública, reflejados en una alta frecuencia de procesos infecciosos, tanto entre la elite como entre los comunes, muy similares a los de otros grupos de su tiempo como los de Palenque (Márquez, et al 2001;Márquez Morfín y Hernández Espinoza, 2008;Storey et al, 2002;Whittington, 1989Whittington, , 1991Whittington, , 1992Whittington, y 1999Wright, 1997).…”

What Maya Collapse? Terminal Classic Variation in the Maya Lowlands

“…At Copán, environmental degradation has been put forth as the major factor in the site's collapse (Abrams et al 1996;Paine and Freter 1996), but violence also may have been associated with it (Andrews V and Fash 1992). Nutritional differences between commoners and elites may have caused internal tensions (Lentz 1991;Storey 1992Storey , 1999Whittington 1989Whittington , 1991, and militaristic imagery at the site increased near its demise, indicating the site's aggressive stance (Fash 1992). Fash et al (2004) have described a rapid abandonment due to political crisis after the collapse of the ruling dynasty approximately A.D. 822, while Webster et al (2004), using a chronology based mainly on obsidian hydration, have argued for a much more protracted collapse due to environmental deterioration that continued into 13th century (see also Braswell 1992;Freter 1992;Manahan 2003Manahan , 2004Webster and Freter 1990a, b;Webster et al 2000).…”