Life and Death Among the Earliest Maya: A Review of Early and Middle Preclassic Burials From the Maya World

Abstract

This article presents a review of the earliest Maya skeletal remains thus far found, including a list of 398 burials dating to the Early (1800–900 b.c.) and Middle Preclassic periods (900–300 b.c.) and adjacent regions. These sites are spread throughout the Maya region and the data allow basic descriptive syntheses about early mortuary behavior and aspects of health and diet. Poor preservation and differences in scoring and reporting severely limit the scope of interpretation possible at this point, but it is hoped that this review stimulates coordinated research into the biology of early groups.

Settling down at Ceibal and Cuello: variation in the transition to sedentism across the Maya lowlands

“…The region is unusual in its high quantity of Middle Preclassic burials. Few Early Middle Preclassic burials are known from elsewhere in the lowlands, and even Late Middle Preclassic burials are relatively uncommon (Ringle, 1985, p. 288-313;Awe, 1992, p. 334, 335;Wrobel et al, 2021). The practice of burying the dead in house platforms began very early at Cuello, around 800 BCE.…”