Modificaciones de la estructura corporal en grupos prehispánicos del norte y sureste de México debido a procesos de microadaptación fenotípica y formas de organización social

Abstract

The discussion on di?erent adaptation processes that can be observed in di?erent human groups, takes particular interest when we relate directly to the issue of physical variability. However, although much has been written on topics of body morphology, little has been addressed from a functional point of view. In addition to the pressures of the ecogeographic environment,  socio-cultural  factors  will  greatly  condition  the level of adaptation, a recurrent problem in ancient populations to the phenomenon of occupational stress. In this sense, the analysis of the mechanical parameters in the long bones (Ac, AT, AM, J and Nordin Index, among others), are useful to understand the types (fishing, hunting, gathering and agriculture) and levels (walking, running, climbing and carrying) of adaptation developed by human  populations  according  to  the  environment  and  their social organization. This contribution discusses the comparative results between two prehispanic samples, of both sexes; the first (N=60  femurs)  from  Alta  Vista,  Zacatecas,  Postclassic  period (1100 AD) with a centralized-heterarchical social organization, whose subsistence base was agriculture and mining. The second (N = 107 femurs) were individuals who lived in the Yucatan Peninsula, between the Classic and Postclassic periods (600-1500AD) with a heterogeneous, centralized and segmented social organization. With a homogeneous physical environment, whose subsistence base was agriculture and The results show a biomechanical bone response to sociocultural environments, rather than geographical and / or climatic ones.