Duncan Craig Wrote:
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> Okay, thanks. I get a sense of the parameters, I
> think. They can't trace the remains to a specific
> location because that would require having
> skeletal remains from Montagua or the lowlands to
> compare the ratios. 'Climate and geologic
> variables' seems to suggest that there is a set of
> specific signatures that can be used to trace the
> origin of skeletal remains, but the degree of
> speculation (possibly from Montagua, maybe from
> the lowlands) suggests that we are still a ways
> from being able to do that. Yet I recall a
> previous study that stated some remains were
> definitely from Oaxaca (?). This abstract focuses
> on the differentiation of the origins skeletal
> remains found in the same context (Teotihuacan).
> Hope I'm making sense.
> Is the state of the art of isotope ratio analysis
> sufficient to trace the Teotihuacan remains to a
> specific place?
> Duncan
>
From the conclusions:
The combined use of oxygen- and strontium-isotope ratios in enamel and the comparison of enamel and bone provide a finer resolution of the environments involved in human geographical relocations. The childhood residences of the human sacrifices from the Moon Pyramid (with a few possible exceptions) were all foreign to Teotihuacan. There are four clusters of combined d18Op values and 87Sr/86Sr ratios for enamel.
Probable regions of origin for these clusters include other areas within the Basin of Mexico and the central highlands, as well as the Gulf coast, the Sierra Madre del Sur, and possibly the southern highlands, the Motagua Valley and the Maya Lowlands. The range of 87Sr/86Sr ratios is consistent with that found in previous studies of Teotihuacan sites. Although a wide range of d18Op values in both enamel and bone has also been found elsewhere in Teotihuacan, and is largest at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, there are a number of individuals in the Moon Pyramid who come from a location not yet found anywhere else in the city.
These individuals have very high d18Op values (i.e., higher than 20‰) and probably came from a low-lying, hot, humid/wet environment such as the Gulf coast. By comparison, the Feathered Serpent Pyramid contains a number of individuals whose geographic origins (as represented mainly by d18Op enamel values) were not found in the Moon Pyramid.
These excluded areas likely include Monte Alban, Valley of Oaxaca, western Mexico, and the Pacific coast/piedmont region of Guatemala.
As you can see, the situation is better than you think. For example, they can exclude Monte Alban from the Moon Pyramid while showing that there were Monte Alban natives in the Feathered Serpent Pyramid sacrifices.
Bernard
