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Human sacrifice in Mesoamerican cities was diverse and highly ritualized, and it remains incompletely understood. Knowing who was selected for ritual violence is essential for interpreting specialized mortuary deposits and furthering research on Mexica society. To understand the structure and variability of sacrificial and mortuary practices, we examine here three burial contexts from Tlatelolco, a densely populated city in the heart of the Triple Alliance. The interment contexts of Grupo Norte (n = 52) and Paso a Desnivel (n = 45) had been excavated from within the ceremonial center near the Tlatelolco Templo Mayor, and Atenantitech (n = 40) from a bordering calpulli or neighborhood. To establish which contexts are likely sacrificial deposits, we compare the age-at-death distributions, biological sex, and perimortem ritual trauma across these sites. We seek to understand if social status determined sacrificial inclusion by using metabolic and infectious disease as proxies for resource inequality. We find that the residential deposit approximates an attritional mortality distribution and that ceremonial center deposits primarily comprised non-adults, who also presented with significantly higher rates of metabolic and infectious disease than the non-adults from the residential site. Informed by previous studies and the ethnohistorical literature, we propose that impoverished individuals living on the margins of Mexica society were chosen as sacrificial victims. High prevalence of metabolic and infectious disease comorbidity indicates that these individuals endured long-term nutritional deficiency, apparently vitamin C. Further, variation in age, pathology, and perimortem treatment among ceremonial center deposits reveals the striking diversity of ritualized killings in a prominent Mexica city. El sacrificio en mesoamérica fue en extremo diverso, con muy diferentes y complejos rituales, saber quién y porqué fue seleccionado, para ser consagrados en un lugar específico es fundamental para interpretar los depósitos mortuorios y avanzar en la investigación sobre la sociedad mexica. Para comprender la estructura y variabilidad de las prácticas mortuorias, examinamos tres contextos de entierros de Tlatelolco, una ciudad densamente poblada localizada en el corazón de la Triple Alianza. Los contextos de entierro de Grupo Norte (n = 52) y Paso a Desnivel (n = 45) habían sido excavados dentro del centro ceremonial cerca del Templo Mayor de Tlatelolco, y Atenantitech (n = 40) de un barrio o calpulli limítrofe. Para confirmar y explicar qué contextos son depósitos de sacrificio, comparamos las distribuciones de edad biológica al morir, el sexo y el trauma ritual perimortem en estos restos humanos. Buscamos esclarecer si el estatus social determina la inclusión sacrificatoria mediante el análisis de enfermedades metabólicas e infecciosas como parámetros de una desigualdad de recursos. Encontramos que los individuos del sitio de enterramientos residencial se aproxima a una distribución de mortalidad por deterioro físico y que los depósitos de restos humanos del centro ceremonial estaban compuestos principalmente por sujetos no adultos que a su vez presentan tasas significativamente más altas de enfermedades metabólicas e infecciosas que los no adultos del sitio residencial. Con base en estudios previos y la literatura etnohistórica, proponemos que algunos individuos con una calidad de vida menoscabada que vivían en los márgenes de la sociedad mexica, fueron elegidos como víctimas de sacrificio. La alta prevalencia de comorbilidad de enfermedades metabólicas e infecciosas indica que estas personas soportaron durante un largo plazo padecieron deficiencias nutricionales, aparentemente de vitamina C. Además, la variación entre la edad, la patología y el tratamiento perimortem entre los individuos de los depósitos mortuorios del centro ceremonial revela una sorprendente diversidad de rituales sacrificiales en una ciudad mexica prominente.

Native American population history is reexamined using a large data set of pre-Columbian mitochondrial genomes., The exact timing, route, and process of the initial peopling of the Americas remains uncertain despite much research. Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of humans as far as southern Chile by 14.6 thousand years ago (ka), shortly after the Pleistocene ice sheets blocking access from eastern Beringia began to retreat. Genetic estimates of the timing and route of entry have been constrained by the lack of suitable calibration points and low genetic diversity of Native Americans. We sequenced 92 whole mitochondrial genomes from pre-Columbian South American skeletons dating from 8.6 to 0.5 ka, allowing a detailed, temporally calibrated reconstruction of the peopling of the Americas in a Bayesian coalescent analysis. The data suggest that a small population entered the Americas via a coastal route around 16.0 ka, following previous isolation in eastern Beringia for ~2.4 to 9 thousand years after separation from eastern Siberian populations. Following a rapid movement throughout the Americas, limited gene flow in South America resulted in a marked phylogeographic structure of populations, which persisted through time. All of the ancient mitochondrial lineages detected in this study were absent from modern data sets, suggesting a high extinction rate. To investigate this further, we applied a novel principal components multiple logistic regression test to Bayesian serial coalescent simulations. The analysis supported a scenario in which European colonization caused a substantial loss of pre-Columbian lineages.

Introduction: The effect of rheumatic and infectious diseases on skeletal remains provides an important source of information for knowledge of contemporary medicine. Few pathologic conditions have attracted so much interest as treponematoses. One of these, syphilis, was the most feared venereal disease throughout the civilized world until the introduction of penicillin in the 20th century. Objective: To describe paleopathological and ceramic illustrations of treponematoses in ancient Mexico. Materials and Methods: Paleopathological and ceramic material examples from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico were reviewed. Results: A unique paleopathologic site for treponemal diseases comprises the La Candelaria Cave skeletal collection from northern Mexico. The cave was used as a burial site and contained the bones of at least 83 adults and 33 subadults. Fifty-one percent of the recovered skulls possess erosions of the vault consistent with treponematoses. Some of these exhibit the impressive frontal bone lytic changes with irregular borders typical of caries sicca. In addition, periostosis of the long bones was found in up to 88% of the study sample, including 6 examples of saber-shin deformity of tibias. Radiocarbon dating ( 14 C) of a bone retrieved from the cave ranges from 1100 to 1300 A.D. Additionally, a Pre-Hispanic ceramic figurine from the Mexican state of Nayarit depicting a lame man with multiple nodular skin lesions that suggest gummatous treponemal infection is described. Conclusions: These ancient specimens reinforce the notion that treponemal infection was present on the American Continent before European penetration of the New World. These very advanced paleopathologic lesions and ceramic representations demonstrate the degree to which these diseases wrought devastation before the antibiotic era. In ancient times, treponematoses were true rheumatic diseases that produced profound skeletal abnormalities marked by periosteal accretion and bone destruction.

In this text, we described a case of mycetoma (an osteophylic mycotic disease) found in the Tlatilco skeletal collection. The osseous lesions presented the characteristic features for the diagnosis of mycetoma. It had clinical similarities with the actual prevalence features. The topic Tlatilco culture included ecosystem characteristics and daily activities proper for this culture, showing and comparing the uncertainty of this disease nowadays.

"En este trabajo se da a conocer un caso de micetoma encontrado en la colección esquelética de Tlatilco; las lesiones óseas presentan las características diagnósticas de este padecimiento y concuerdan con la edad y el sexo predominantes en esta entidad. El contexto de la cultura de Tlatilco, desde su ecosistema hasta las diversas actividades realizadas por esta sociocultura, muestra el cuadro en que se haya incierto actualmente esta enfermedad."

En este trabajo se presentan algunos de los elementos que a un grupo de investigadores de la Dirección de Antropología Física del INAH nos llevaron a plantear la necesidad de elaborar un proyecto sobre las Momias de México. Para ello, iniciamos reconstruyendo la información dispersa que, desde los años cincuentas, se cuenta sobre la identificación de sitios y la recuperación, conservación e investigación antropofísica sobre estos importantes vestigios de la población que habitaron el territorio nacional. Se describen así, los trabajos sobre la cueva de la Candelaria, en el estado norteño de Coahuila, los restos humanos encontrados y estudiados y sus contextos arqueológicos, con la finalidad de presentar una panorámica general sobre este importante sitio y la riqueza que puede aportar un estudio integral de sus materiales. Finalmente se presenta un recuento detallado de los materiales con cuentan con vestigios orgánicos con la finalidad de exponer el tipo de análisis que, en el futuro cercano, se realizará dentro del proyecto mencionado Several caves, thought to be prehistoric funeral sites, have been found in northern Mexico. The dead were deposited as mortuary bundles inside the caves and climatic conditions led to the partial, natural mummification of the corpses. Other well preserved items include the textiles used to wrap the bodies and the funeral offerings. During the 1950s, several of these caves were explored leading to the discovery of La Candelaria cave in the state of Coahuila. La Candelaria is considered one of the most important caves due to the quantity and quality of materials it contained. Several papers were written based on studies made of the materials found in the cave. In this paper, we present a summary of these studies as well as an inventory of all the human skeletal remains with preserved soft tissues, those which will be analyzed in the near future

Infeccion de treponema fue encontrada en una población esqueletal recuperada en la Cueva de Coahuila en la Candelaria. En este estudio nosotros tratamos de establecer los diferentes diagnósticos de los tres síndromes que afectan al tejido oseo. El análisis de esta población se realizó de acuerdo a la propuesta de Rothschild y Rothschild 1994 y Hertzkowitz et al. (1994) el estudio de los diferentes patrones de la población tuvo por objeto establecer el tipo de treponematosis presente. En esta colección existe un solo fardo funerario de infante que fue estudiado radiologicamente. Esta Cueva se encuentra en el área cultural de Los Irritila o Laguneros, un grupo nomádico con un modo de vida basado en la pesca, la recolección y la caza dentro de un ambiente semidesertico. La cronología de este sitio fue determinada con C 14 y fluctúa entre 1100 a 1300 D.C. Los restos esqueletales de esta cueva consisten principalmente en un osario y dos fardos de mortuorios de infante. Uno de ellos no muestra ningún tipo de lesión o alteración morfológica. De los diferentes huesos recuperados de la cueva nosotros estudiamos 107 cráneos, 143 tibias, 153 fémur, 85 fibulas y el esqueleto del infante del fardo. No existen huesos de las manos y los pies. Existe evidencia paleopatólogica de treponematosis endémica en diferentes partes de Mesoamérica (Mansilla y Pijoan 1998a y 1998b). En este caso el patrón de las lesiones de los huesos y el esqueleto del fardo funerario fuertemente sugieren la presencia de Yaws como síndrome de treponematosis en esta población Treponemal infection was found in the skeletal population recovered from the Candelaria, Coahuila cave. In this study we tried to make the differential diagnosis of the three syndromes that involves the bone tissue. The population analysis was done as proposed by Rothschild and Rothschild (1994) and Herskowitz et al. (1994). The study of the different population patterns was made in order to establish what kind of treponematosis was present. Among this collection there is a unique infant burial bundle studied radiologically. This cave belongs to the cultural area of the irritila o laguneros, a nomadic group with, fishing, gathering and, hunting way of life in a semidesertic environment. The chronology of this site was determinate with C 14 and it fluctuates from 1100 to 1300 AD. The skeletal remains of this cave consist mainly of an ossuary and two infant mortuary bundles. One of them does not show any kind of lesions or morphological alterations. From the different bones recovered from the cave we studied: 107 skulls, 143 tibiae, 153 femurs and 85 fibulae and the infant skeleton of the bundle. There are no hands and feet bones. There is paleopathologic evidence of endemic treponematosis in different parts of Mesoamerica (Mansilla and Pijoan 1998a and 1998b). In this case the pattern of the lesions of the bones and skeleton of the bundle strongly suggest Yaws as the treponematosis syndrome present in this population

Estudios Mesoamericanos