School of Human, Health and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, 4702, Australia; School of Humanities and Languages, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Department of Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2014 May;154(1):140-51. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22490. Epub 2014 Feb 12.
This study investigates evidence of changes and continuities in ancient Maya violence and warfare in inland northwest Yucatan, Mexico from the Middle Preclassic (600-300 BC) to the Postclassic (AD 1050-1542) through bioarchaeological analysis of cranial and projectile trauma. It is hypothesized that the frequency of violence increases before the Classic Maya collapse and remains high during the Postclassic period. It is also hypothesized that the flat, open terrain was conducive to warfare and resulted in higher trauma frequencies than in other parts of the Maya area. Results show that the frequency of cranial trauma decreases before the Classic collapse and increases in the Postclassic, partially matching the expected chronological trends. The frequency of cranial trauma does not differ significantly from other Maya regions but the pattern does: for all periods, males have more healed injuries than females and they are concentrated on the left side of the anterior of the skull. Some injuries appear to be from small points hafted in wooden clubs. In addition, projectile trauma is evident in a scapula with an embedded arrowhead tip, the first such case reported in a Maya skeleton. Overall, these results suggest greater reliance on open combat and less on raids in this region compared with other parts of the Maya area, possibly due to the flat, open terrain, though the identification of perimortem trauma in both women and men indicates surprise raids on settlements were also practiced.
本研究通过对颅骨和投射物创伤的生物考古学分析，调查了墨西哥尤卡坦半岛西北部内陆地区从中古期（公元前 600 年至 300 年）到后古典期（公元 1050 年至 1542 年）古代玛雅暴力和战争的变化和连续性的证据。研究假设，暴力的频率在古典玛雅崩溃之前增加，并在后古典期保持高位。还假设平坦开阔的地形有利于战争，导致创伤频率高于玛雅地区的其他地区。结果表明，在古典崩溃之前，颅骨创伤的频率下降，在后古典期增加，部分符合预期的时间趋势。颅骨创伤的频率与其他玛雅地区没有显著差异，但模式不同：在所有时期，男性的愈合损伤比女性多，且主要集中在前颅骨的左侧。一些损伤似乎来自嵌在木制棍棒上的小尖头。此外，肩胛骨上有一个嵌入的箭头尖端，这是在玛雅骨骼中首次报告的投射物创伤，表明该地区与玛雅地区的其他地区相比，更依赖于开阔的战斗，而不是突袭，这可能是由于地形平坦开阔，尽管在女性和男性中都识别出了濒死期的创伤，表明对定居点的突袭也在进行。
