THE ADULT AGE PROFILE AT THE CONTACT PERIOD SITE OF TIPU, BELIZE: HISTORICAL REALITY OR METHODOLOGICAL ARTIFACT?

Abstract

The seventeenth-century mission site of Tipu in west central Belize yielded one of the largest and best-preserved Maya populations. However, its age profile is unusually young with nearly 60% of adults having died by age 30 and few surviving past age 40. Several explanations for the profile are considered with a focus on the aging methods employed. Using a sample of 85 individuals, the mean age estimate produced using tooth wear was found to be ten and five years younger than those produced with pubic symphysis and auricular surface analysis, respectively. The sample was also re-aged Transition Analysis 3, a newly revised multifactorial method, which increased the mean age to 35 years as compared to 28 years using traditional methods. Application of TA3, however, was hampered by the numerous scoring sites that could not be evaluated due to taphonomic effects, resulting in extremely broad ranges for age estimates. However, all methods suggested Tipu truly did have a young adult population. The most likely explanation is that it reflects the large number of immigrants who moved to the site because of its strategic location to both the Maya and Spanish during the contact period.