Power and Pressure: Frailty as a Measure of Cumulative Stress Among Ancient Maya Royals from Belize
Health is a reflection of total physical, mental, and social well-being that can be disrupted by stressors (environmental, nutritional, social). Frailty is an accumulation of this stress and leaves skeletal biomarkers which provides evidence of ongoing stress and survived stress event at time of death. The thought that elite status in ancient Maya buffers individuals from physiological stress due to better access to resources has been challenged in recent years. Skeletal age and sex were estimated following standard techniques. Six skeletal and dental frailty biomarkers were scored according to the Skeletal Frailty Index (SFI). Kaplan-Meier and Cox hazard analyses were used for statistical analysis. Hazard analyses demonstrated that higher number if skeletal biomarkers present is associated with higher survival probability. These results suggest that the royals, despite having access to food and resources, were not completely buffered from the accumulation of physiological stressors. However, no individual expressed a high frailty index, suggesting that stress loads in this group did not include all six biomarkers. Overall, these results suggest that individuals who survived longer had more time to accumulate skeletal stress markers.
Ancient Maya, Buenavista del Cayo, Cahal Pech, Frailty, Skeletal Stress Markers
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