PHEMOR: PostHumous Exhumation and Movement of Osteological Remains - An iso-histological approach to Prehispanic Maya mortuary practices and migration

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The aim of the PHEMOR project is to reconstruct the posthumous movement of human osteological remains from prehispanic (250 BCE to 1525 CE) Maya archaeological sites in Central America using a novel iso-histological approach. The results will transform understandings of mortuary practices and refine reconstructions of migration in prehispanic Maya communities. PHEMOR is the first project to integrate two well established methods in archaeological science - isotopic and histological analyses - to address postmortem movement of human remains in archaeology globally. A narrative of the role of posthumous movement in Maya mortuary behaviour will be developed by applying the iso-histological method to 199 individuals of both sexes from primary and secondary contexts at nine prehispanic Maya sites in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Differentiating nonlocal individuals that moved during life from those who were moved following death is also vital for accurate reconstructions of past migratory processes, as the sociocultural factors influencing each differed. The results will contribute to ongoing and emerging research themes in Maya archaeology, including the significance of deceased ancestors in the formation of identity and community and the implications of nonlocal individuals in non-funerary deposits, framing future studies of Maya mortuary practices and migration. This study further focuses on a untapped archaeological dataset - samples that have been altered after burial by diagenesis. PHEMOR's methodological advancements also provide a framework for unleashing the potential of underutilized datasets and for applying the cutting-edge iso-histological method to identify exhumed and transported human remains other archaeological and forensic contexts. PHEMOR therefore has important legacy benefits for archaeologists working in Europe and elsewhere in the world, end users in related fields such as criminal justice, and for local Central American communities.