Taylor Seupaul at her poster session during the 2024 AABA conference

Author: Taylor Seupaul | Major: Anthropology | Semester: Spring 2024

I’m Taylor Seupaul, an anthropology major in UARK’s Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. In the Fall of 2024 and the Spring of 2024, I had the privilege of collaborating with Dr. Kathleen Paul on my honors thesis. Dr. Paul wears many hats at our university – she’s the pre-dental advisor, overseeds the Dental Phenomics Laboratory, teaches, and conducts her own research (seriously, is there anything she can’t do?). Dr. Paul graciously invited me to join her in researching the Aztec site of Tlatelolco alongside a team of academics from across the globe. My researched delved into the biological relationships within pre-colonial Tlatelolco, focusing particularly on adult tooth size. Throughout this journey, Dr. Paul has been an invaluable mentor, offering guidance on navigating the complexities of Tlatelolco, conducting analyses, and shaping the direction of my research.

Tlatelolco, bustling with thousands of daily visitors, stood as a vibrant market hub, housing a dense population, and holding significant political influences as the sister city to Tenochtitlan – the Aztec capital. Our research focused on the intricacies of relatedness within Tlatelolco to tell us more about microevolutionary dynamics. Specifically, we undertook a biodistance study aimed towards relationships surrounding ritualistic human sacrifice, drawing our insights from permanent dental remains from both ceremonial and residential contexts of Tlatelolco.

Following meticulous data treatments, we analyzed 22 tooth measurements representing 135 individuals through principal components analyses, hierarchical clustering, and multidimensional scaling to discern underlying patterns. The resulting UPGA agglomeration unveiled two primary clusters, with the second cluster being divided into three distinct subclusters (Clusters 2A, 2BA, & 2BB). Observations of these individuals included pathological conditions, traumatic injuries relating to ritualistic sacrifice, and the special contexts of Tlatelolco (Patio Sur, Atenantitech, Grupo Norte, and Paso a Desnivel). Of particular interest was subcluster 2BA, which was characterized by a high incidence of illness and individuals recovered from the residential contexts but an absence of traumatic injuries and individuals recovered from ceremonial contexts. This led us to hypothesize that individuals at the site were selected for ritualistic sacrifice based on factors such as biological kinship or their social standing, rather than solely health-status.

This research underscored the inherent biases in reconstructing past relationships, as historical narratives often shape our interpretations. However, leveraging biological markers enables us to mitigate such biases, providing a more nuanced and accurate glimpse into Tlatelolco’s history and the complexities of its societal dynamics.

With the help of my research grant, I had the opportunity to travel to the 2024 American Association of Biological Anthropology (AABA) conference in Los Angeles, California to present this research in a poster session. Here, I was able to share my research with like-minded people. The response to the research I had been working so hard on was amazing, and being able to get live feedback from people that specialize in various fields was extremely helpful. Kelly Blevins, who worked with the skeletal remains of the precolonial Tlatelolco individuals, was at the conference, as well. She, Dr. Paul, and I were able to discuss future directions for the project. This includes looking at more forms of pathology in skeletal remains, as well as focusing on one specific ceremonial context in our study, Patio Sur.

With such a positive experience in research, I am eager to continue my contributions. I will be studying public health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences before starting medical school, where I am hoping to pursue other research topics, while working to publish my research with Dr. Paul in whatever capacity that I can. I am so thankful to the Honors College for supporting my research, and for giving me the opportunity to share it with others. It is an experience that I will surely carry with me throughout my future research endeavors!