Pulp pathosis associated with ancient Maya dental inlays.

OBJECTIVE: The ancient Maya used to practice dental inlays as part of the cultural traditions. Most of those inlays remain in place after more than one thousand years. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the incidence of pulp pathosis associated with ancient Maya dental inlays to assess the impact that such common practice had on the population's oral health. DESIGN: We scored 193 anterior inlaid teeth from 107 pre-Hispanic Maya dentitions studied at three archaeological storage facilities (Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, Harvard University, Atlas of Guatemala Project). Two hundred eleven untreated frontal teeth of pre-Hispanic Mayan collections were used as controls. We performed macroscopic, radiographic and microscopic analyses to assess the frequency of caries, pulp calcifications, internal root resorption (IRR), and periapical lesions (PALs). RESULTS: In the inlaid teeth, the frequencies of pulp calcifications, IRR, caries and PALs were 59.8%, 2.2%, 18.5% and 19.2%, respectively. Compared with untreated teeth, inlaid specimens exhibited greater susceptibility to caries, pulp calcifications, IRR and PALs than untreated teeth (pulp calcifications: 44.5%, IRR: 0%, caries: 1.4%, and PAL: 1.9%). Age-at-death did not have any significant influence on susceptibility to pulp calcifications, IRR, caries or PALs. CONCLUSIONS: We noted relatively low pulp irritation and a low frequency of carious infections, IRR and PALs in Mayan inlaid teeth. However, these levels exceeded the frequencies of untreated teeth from the same area and time period. We follow that the cements used by the pre-Hispanic Maya to fix the inlays into their sockets provided excellent sealing characteristics on average.

The C-shaped canal molar: an Endodontic-Archaeological study of the relationships between Mayan pre-Hispanic and contemporary population of Yucatán.

AIM: To assess the prevalence of C-shaped canal systems in mandibular second molars, in samples of modern and pre-Hispanic Mayan individuals in Yucatán, Mexico, and to analyse the trait through time and attempt to find new evidence of ethnical bonds between populations. METHODOLOGY: Three hundred and forty-one randomly selected patients were treated in the Endodontic Clinic at the Dental school of the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, and 48 mandibular second molars from pre-Hispanic Mayan collections were macroscopically and radiographically inspected. Statistical analysis was performed with a Fisher's exact test to compare the prevalence of C-shaped canal systems in modern and archaeological samples. RESULTS: In the clinical observation, 118 of 341 (35%) patients treated endodontically had C-shaped mandibular second molars. In the radiographical evaluation, 17 of 48 (35%) archaeological molars had fused roots and pulp chamber morphology categorized as C-shaped. There were no significant differences between the frequencies in both samples. CONCLUSION: This study highlighted that a one-rooted mandibular molar was likely to have a C-shaped canal. The similarity between ancient and modern samples indicates that the genetic make-up since the European conquest has not affected the expression of this trait. This study supports the theory that the Mayan population has a relationship with the Northeast Asian population.

A new reference collection of documented human skeletons from Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico.

This report documents the history and composition of a new reference collection currently composed of 84 identified human skeletons from the modern cemetery of Xoclán in Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico. The skeletal sample is the first of its kind in the Yucatan peninsula, a region with a population short of two million mostly local and non-local Mexican residents and descendants of the ancient Maya. The growing collection is curated at the Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas (School of Anthropological Sciences) of the Autonomous University of Yucatan. Here we describe recovery procedures, preservation, background information and validation measures of the individuals who make up the collection. Detailed information on the generational pattern, sex, and age distribution, along with socioeconomic context and provenance of the skeletons are provided. The majority of the skeletal series is represented by males and by older individuals of both sexes. Almost all of these individuals come from Mérida's middle and lower socioeconomic sectors and died within the urban city boundaries. Biographic information was collected on each individual at the municipal civil registry and confronted with information of national and municipal censuses (2000 and 2005), to be validated and to be discussed here in terms of the representativeness of the reference series and its potential uses in forensic, anthropological and medical research.

Linear enamel hypoplasia at Xcambó, Yucatán, during the Maya Classic period: An evaluation of coastal marshland impact on ancient human populations.

Non-specific stress markers such as linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) have been associated in the literature with a large number of possible conditions disrupting the individual's homeostasis, though metabolic strain originating synergistically by disease and malnutrition has been held to be the main cause behind enamel disruption. The analysis of LEH in the Maya Classic period site of Xcambó, located along the northern coast of the Yucatán peninsula, reveals high exposure to stressful conditions during infancy regardless of age and sex. Yet, the inhabitants of the site were of a medium to high social and economic status, with access to balanced and protein-rich nutritional resources, which should have functioned as a cultural buffer to the impact of stress. In the light of this apparent contradiction, this paper discusses the impact of environmental conditions on the record of metabolic stress. Our conclusions pose a cautionary caveat for inferring nutrition and status in ancient pre-antibiotic populations solely from the occurrence of linear enamel hypoplasia.

Who was the Red Queen? Identity of the female Maya dignitary from the sarcophagus tomb of Temple XIII, Palenque, Mexico.

The present investigation aims at contributing to the ongoing discussion on the unconfirmed identity of the Red Queen, a Classic Maya dignitary discovered in Temple XIII at Palenque, Mexico, by comparing her reconstructed facial profile to the portraiture of known female personages from the site. The comparison rests upon individual cranial features, like buccal prognatism, nasal root and inclination, chin prominence and the artificially shaped forehead. The similarities between the reconstruction, the female's funerary mask and local portraiture appear to identify the Red Queen as Lady Ix Tz'akb'u Ajaw (Ahpo Hel), the wife of Janaab' Pakal, one of the famous Maya rulers of the Classic Period. The proposed match and her family relationship with the king might explain the spatial closeness of their burial places in the Temple of the Inscriptions and Temple XIII.