An investigation of ancient Maya intentional dental modification practices at Midnight Terror Cave using anthroposcopic and paleogenomic methods
Alternative Title
Journal of Archaeological Science
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Publication Date
3-1-2020
Volume Number
115
Abstract
Evidence of intentional dental modification practices has been found throughout Mesoamerica dating from the Early Preclassic period to the conquest. The recovery of 102 modified teeth from Midnight Terror Cave (MTC) provides a sufficiently large sample to critically examine current explanations of intentional dental modification. Paleogenomic analysis was employed in order to test hypotheses which link intentional dental modification to sex and kinship. DNA was extracted and genomic sequencing libraries were made for 27 teeth. Results show the presence of both sexes, indicating that the practice is not sex linked. The mitochondrial genome data detects a possible link between intentional dental modification and style.
Keywords
Dental modification, Ancient Maya, Paleogenomics, Midnight Terror Cave
Document Type
Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105096
Recommended Citation
Verdugo, Cristina; Zhu, Kimberly; and Prout, Michael, "An investigation of ancient Maya intentional dental modification practices at Midnight Terror Cave using anthroposcopic and paleogenomic methods" (2020). KIP Articles. 5909.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/5909
