People signal and contest identity in a variety of ways and have done so for millennia. This fundamental aspect of human societies can be examined across space and time to improve understanding of how and why it occurs. This seminar examines social identity on the western Maya frontier and centres on Late Classic (A.D. 600-900) Comalcalco in coastal Tabasco and Late Classic-Early Postclassic (A.D. 600-1250) Moxviquil in highland Chiapas. I compare data on mortuary practices and body modification between these sites’ monumental centres and outlying areas as well as with neighbouring sites to evaluate the nature of interaction across political and ethnic boundaries. I argue that different segments of these populations manipulated identity to achieve distinct goals. By integrating the literatures on corporeal presentation and material culture style with the bioarchaeological study of identity, I reveal how intergroup boundaries are manipulated and modified through time in a border region.

Dr. Stanley Serafin is a bioarchaeologist and his research investigates identity, inequality and long term human-environment interaction among the precolonial and early colonial peoples of Mesoamerica.