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Paleodietary analysis of the sacrificial victims from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan

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Abstract

The consumption of different types and quantities of food frequently serves as a practice that expresses and reinforces social distinctions among individuals within complex societies. This study explores the dietary behavior of probable sacrificial victims interred within the offering complex underlying the Feathered Serpent Pyramid as a line of evidence concerning the identities and life experiences of individuals selected for inclusion within one of Teotihuacan’s public monuments. Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope values from rib samples of 12 individuals within the Feathered Serpent Pyramid complex were compared with those of 14 individuals interred in residential contexts within the city. Results provide new information concerning daily subsistence at Classic period Teotihuacan (ca. A.D. 200–600) and highlight the dietary distinctiveness of individuals interred within the Feathered Serpent Pyramid as compared to the general residential population of the site, particularly in terms of the carbon isotope composition of protein sources consumed by a number of the sacrificial victims. Oxygen isotope analysis suggests that most individuals from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid resided within the local Teotihuacan area during the years immediately prior to their deaths, indicating that the unique dietary pattern seen in stable carbon isotope values cannot be attributed to nonlocal residence prior to sacrifice. Rather, these dietary differences may suggest that the group of individuals selected for interment within the Feathered Serpent Pyramid offering complex maintained a distinctive social or economic identity as compared to the rest of the Teotihuacan population during their lives.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from the Arizona State University Graduate and Professional Student Association. We would like to thank Oralia Cabrera, Rubén Cabrera, and George Cowgill for generously allowing access to the skeletal collections incorporated into this project, as well as the Consejo de Arqueología of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia of Mexico for the permission to export and analyze the archeological samples in the USA. Lourdes Caballero, Claudia Lόpez, and Raúl Rojas facilitated access to the archeological collections and provided valuable assistance during the sample selection process. We would also like to thank Gwyneth Gordon, Everett Shock, and Ben Moan for access to the laboratories, equipment, and technical expertise necessary to carry out the chemical analyses. Finally, Jane Buikstra and George Cowgill provided valuable intellectual guidance throughout the development and implementation of this research project.

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  1. Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Kristin L. Nado & Kelly J. Knudson

  2. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Natalya Zolotova

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Nado, K.L., Zolotova, N. & Knudson, K.J. Paleodietary analysis of the sacrificial victims from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 9, 117–132 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0416-y

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