Life and Death in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan
Life and Death in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan
A Modern Paleodemographic Synthesis
Cities arose independently in both the Old World and in the pre-Columbian New World. Lacking written records, many of these New World cities can be studied only through archaeology, including the earliest pre-Columbian city, Teotihuacan, Mexico, one of the largest cities of its time (150 B.C. to A.D. 750). Thus, an important question is how similar New World cities are to their Old World counterparts.
Before recent times, the dense populations of cities made them unhealthy places because of poor sanitation and inadequate food supplies. Storey's research shows clearly that although Teotihuacan was a very different environment and culture from 17th-century London, these two great cities are comparable in terms of health problems and similar death rates.
This significant addition to the growing literature on Mesoamerican paleopathology and paleodemography should be methodologically emulated by all students of ancient human osteology. An excellent, provocative, error-free study that provides a firm foundation for additional and future research.'
—Latin American Anthropology Review
The reconstruction of the nutrition and health status of past populations is an exceedingly intriguing but difficult venture . . . but Storey has done an excellent job.'
—American Anthropologist
