Dental Caries and Antemortem Tooth Loss in the Northern Peten Area, Mexico: A Biocultural Perspective on Social Status Differences Among the Classic Maya Andrea Cucina, 1 * and Vera Tiesler 1 Facultad de Ciencias Antropolo ´gicas, Universidad Auto ´noma de Yucata ´n, Me ´rida, Yucata ´ n, Mexico KEY WORDS dental anthropology; subsistence patterns; social strata; Classic Maya ABSTRACT Dental caries and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) are investigated in a Classic Maya sample ob- tained from the sites of Calakmul, Dzibanche ´ , and Kohun- lich (Mexico). This study aims at assessing the effect that sex and social status had on the prevalence of oral pathol- ogies. The lack of a direct relationship between caries, AMTL, and age-at-death led us to interpret the results in terms of the biological, socioeconomic, and behavioral con- ditions prevailing in these ancient Maya settlements. Ben- efits related to sex and social status are evident in the frequency of carious lesions, which appear less frequently in elite males than in low-status individuals of both sexes and in elite females. Individuals from problematic mortu- ary contexts and isolated bone assemblages, who could not be ascribed to any status group, showed the highest rates of caries. Sex discrimination in dietary preferences ap- pears in the elite sample, while the homogeneity encoun- tered between sexes in the low-status segment suggests a more uniform access to resources. Tooth loss clearly dis- tinguishes elite individuals from commoners, regardless of sex, with the former bearing a much higher rate of loss. In individuals from the undefined mortuary assemblages and sacrificial contexts, it was even more pronounced than in the other groups, although its interpretation is problem- atic due to a lack of associated funerary data. The overall evidence from oral pathologies is interpreted to be the result of deficient oral hygiene coupled with a softer and more refined diet in the high-status population, particu- larly males. Whereas elite males’ subsistence was appar- ently based more on animal proteins and relatively soft and refined foods, a diet relying on carbohydrates may account for the observed rate of oral pathologies in elite females and commoners. Am J Phys Anthropol 122:1–10, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. One of the features that characterized Lowland Maya civilization during the Classic period (A.D. 250 –900) was its marked social stratification, with a few related families ruling over a large population living in the regional centers and their sustaining hinterland (Chase and Chase, 1992; Sharer, 1994). Power in the apical spheres of ancient Maya society was accompanied by a set of privileges and a char- acteristic lifestyle enjoyed only by the elite. From this point of view, the imposing palaces and monu- mental temple structures at Maya sites remain as architectural witnesses not only of culture and wealth, but also of the marked hegemonic social structure and authority of Classic Maya rulers. Likewise, the ever-growing corpus of inscriptions and the iconographic record reinforce the image of an elite exclusive social standing and way of life (Coe, 1992). We argue here that the distinctive lifestyles, which developed within the social structure during the Classic period, were accompanied by differential distribution of resources and access to food supply between and within social strata, similar to what has been observed in other human archaeological settings (Powell, 1988; Larsen, 1997; Goodman, 1998). We propose that the privileges enjoyed at the upper end of Maya society, coupled with general differences in lifestyle, are inevitably mirrored by divergent patterns of manifestations of nutritional and pathological conditions. Like other precontact Mesoamerican areas, the Lowland Maya population was characterized by its strong dependence on maize and other tropical crops, which made up a large portion of the diet (Wright and White, 1996; Saul and Saul, 1997; White, 1997, 1999; Wright, 1997; Whittington, 1999). Nonetheless, studies on caries and stable iso- topes indicate a high level of heterogeneity in plant consumption both between and within sites (Sand- ers and Price, 1968; Gerry and Krueger, 1997; White, 1999; Whittington, 1999), when investigated in terms of sex and social stratification. The avail- able evidence provides divergent results on diet and *Correspondence to: Andrea Cucina, Ph.D., Facultad de Ciencias Antropolo ´gicas, Universidad Auto ´noma de Yucata ´ n, Calle 76 #455 LL 41 y 43, 97000 Me ´rida, Yucata ´ n, Mexico. E-mail: acucina@yahoo.com or cucina@tunku.uady.mx Received 6 February 2002; accepted 10 January 2003. DOI 10.1002/ajpa.10267 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 122:1–10 (2003) © 2003 WILEY-LISS, INC.