Trace Element Analysis of Bone from Past Populations in the Peninsula of Yucatan

This dietary study compares concentrations of trace elements in human skeletal series from the municipal cemetery of Xoclan, in Merida, Yucatan, and a skeletal collection that was donated by the Yucatecan State Justice Department (PGH). The results from these modern samples are to be compared to those obtained from human collections from a colonial cemetery from Campeche and the pre-Hispanic Maya site of Xcambo. Our results indicate that the archaeological series show higher concentrations of Sr compared to the modern populations, both of which showed very similar values. Zn concentrations were similar when the modern values were compared to those derived from the colonial series from Campeche. Xcambo’s population, in turn, shows a high degree of variability in Zn values, which may be due to diagenetic contamination.