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Description
The purpose of this research is to determine the applicability of dental cementum increment analysis (DCIA) on a bioarchaeological sample and if applicability is determined, what these results suggest regarding age and season of death. The sample consists of 35 teeth coming from 22 individuals. Individuals included in this study were excavated in 1988, 2000, and 2012, with their dentition being harvested and exported back to San Diego State University for histological analysis in 2014. These individuals were given age at death estimations during field analysis. Using DCIA, each individual is assigned a new age at death estimate and season of death is estimated as well. DCIA has been widely used on modern teeth with only a handful of published studies implementing this method on bioarchaeological samples. The beginning of this thesis includes background information on Oaxaca and the archaeological investigations in the lower Río Verde Valley, specifically at the site of Río Viejo. The 22 included individuals were excavated during three different projects, RV88, RV00, and PRV12, and from three different locations at Río Viejo, Mound 1, 8, and 9. In order to discuss the applicability of DCIA on bioarchaeological samples, first a review of commonly used age estimation methods will be addressed so a comparison of age estimations can be made. A section on histology explains dental cementum increment analysis and how samples are processed and analyzed. Using the histological results of this study, it is the conclusion of this thesis that DCIA is a viable method to use on bioarchaeological samples. The results indicate that clear histological sections can be obtained to estimate age and season of death. The new age estimates prove to have a smaller range and it is argued that this new estimate more accurately reflects each individual’s age at death. Results of the season of death further verify the use of DCIA, however, no significant differences can be seen when comparing the season of death in regard to sex, burial location, and time period.
