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Gender and Health Among the Colonial Maya of Tipu, Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Marie Elaine Danforth ,
Keith P. Jacobi  and
Mark Nathan Cohen
Marie Elaine Danforth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5074, USA
Keith P. Jacobi
Affiliation:
Alabama Museum of Natural History, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0340, USA
Mark Nathan Cohen
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Pittsburgh, NY 12901, USA
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Abstract

The health of the Colonial-period Maya from Tipu, Belize, was evaluated using a skeletal series to explore differential effects of European contact by sex. Variables addressed were nutrition and disease patterns, reproductive patterns, and occupational stress. Results suggest that females enjoyed fewer childhood health disruptions, likely as a result of greater genetic buffering. No evidence of male preferential treatment was observed. Frequencies of indicators were similar to those reported for precontact Maya. Markers of adult activity patterns, including timing of parity, were also comparable to those of earlier groups. These findings support the cultural continuity with the Postclassic suggested by the archaeological and ethnohistorical records at Tipu.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997 , pp. 13 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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