Bacalar Museum Skeleton
Technical Data of the skeleton from the Fort of San Felipe Bacalar.
By:
MSc. Allan Ortega Muñoz
Researcher at the Centro INAH Quintana Roo
Sex:
male
Age:
35 years of age (with a range of 35 to 39 years old).
Physical Characteristics:
The morphological characteristics of the skeleton show little robustness, indicating that the individual did little physical work. Therefore, it appears that the person could have held a high socioeconomic position in Bacalar society of the nineteenth century.
Approximate Height: Between 161.71cm (63.67 in) and 164.32cm (64.69).
Conditions of health and nutrition:
There was cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis in the skull, indicators associated with a possible deficiency of iron in his diet at some point in his life. It also shows periosteal reaction in the tibia bone and the rest of the skeleton, which are associated with infectious diseases caused by an unspecified number of microorganisms (Staphylococcus and Streptococcus). The right humerus (right arm) has elements suggestive of a possible dislocation.
The individual shows in general good dental health, however as is common in people during this period (nineteenth century), because of the habit of little or no oral hygiene, to have cavities, dental plaque and loss of small quantities of dental material.
Traces of weapon injuries and trauma
In the skull, specifically in the left parietal, a few millimeters from the temple, an elliptical depression with the following dimensions: 0.63mm by 0.88mm. This injury could be the result of a blow carried out with a blunt weapon. However, this lesion did not cause death to the individual.
Racial Origin:
Based on the characteristics of the skull and the teeth it was determined that the individual was caucasoid (white), possibly European.
Genetic traits:
Inca bone or suture mendoza and spina bifida. Genetic traits. The last feature has been seen in high frequency (30% and 50%) among the population of the Canary Islands. This is an important fact because in 1733 Bacalar was repopulated by migrants from these islands, so that: Could person be one of the descendants of these migrants from the eighteenth century?
Archaeological context:
Two of the Buttons were made of shell, one of bone (possibly from cattle) and one of glass. He may have been a person with good purchasing power given the characteristics of the material and excellent quality of worksmanship. The characteristics of the material of the buttons and their manufacture could have place this person between 1820-1870.
