Bone isotope ratios and their bearing on elite privilege among the Classic Maya

This article discusses dietary patterns among the Classic Maya as they are revealed by stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios preserved in human bone. Skeletal samples are drawn from seven sites: Uaxactun, Holmul, Baking Pot, Barton Ramie, Siebal, Altar de Sacrificios, and Copán. The isotopic results indicate that Maya nutrition was not so much socially dictated as it was spatially determined; i.e., neither class nor gender nor chronological context are significant factors of isotopic variation when compared to geographic location. These data specifically challenge the notion that Maya elites had quantitative dietary privileges; they do, however, allow for the existence of qualitative privileges. Micro-environmental factors might account for the regional groupings defined, but ultimately, settlement density is considered a more significant variable. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.