Avances de investigación de los entierros humanos del sitio Pueblo Viejo de Teposcolula y su contexto arqueológico

Abstract

Excavations conducted during the 2004 and 2005 field seasons in the central portion of the site Pueblo Viejo of Teposcolula site revealed the presence of numerous human burials in Plaza 3. Analysis of these burials within their archaeological context facilitates the documentation of funerary customs and provides data contributing to at least a partial understanding of social and cultural patterns of the inhabitants of Pueblo Viejo at a definite time in history. Multiple, simultaneous burials intruded into contemporaneous occupational surfaces indicate that these are the remains of victims of an epidemic, or epidemics, inflicted on the ancient inhabitants of Teposcolula. Technical analysis of osteological remains and consultation of historical sources corroborate this hypothesis, provide a general understanding of the population of the Mixteca Alta during the first century of the colonial period.