Ancient DNA Clarifies Osteological Analyses of Commingled Remains from Midnight Terror Cave, Belize

: In the past two decades, paleogenetics has made a significant impact on the field of archaeology. Interestingly, paleogenetic methods have not been extensively employed in osteoarchaeology despite its ability to address issues that cannot be resolved through traditional osteological analysis alone. This paper tackles a problem concerning the relationship between human remains in a comingled deposit from Midnight Terror Cave (MTC), Belize. Paleogenetic demonstrates that the bones in question belonged to multiple individuals, thus resolving an issue that was at the heart of the interpretation of social processes at the site. Midnight Terror Cave (MTC), located in the Cayo District of Belize, has produced an osteological assemblage of over 10,000 bones, most of which belong to victims of human sacrifice. Considering the dearth of large sacrificial assemblages, MTC holds promise for clarifying our understanding of ancient Maya human sacrifice. In dealing with human sacrifice, osteological analyses, under the best of conditions, provide insight into general health, age, sex, skeletal pathology, and evidence of physical violence suffered by an individual. The contribution of osteological analysis, however, is heavily dependent on the preservation of the archaeological context and the skeletal remains themselves. Where skeletal material is mixed and comingled, osteological analyses are more limited in what they can say. Preservation of human bone in the Maya area is generally poor as a result of the moist, humid climate and acidic soil. In such contexts, attempts to use osteological analyses to address larger issues of social process can be fraught with difficulties.