I found one in Mesoamerica in the anthropometric data collected in north-central Mexico by Basauri in the 1930s. Although these data had been published, only one limited multivariate analysis had been performed on them. Although I have no plans to collect anthropometric data myself in the near future, I am interested in examining other historical data sets from Mesoamerica, since many have been collected and little work has been done with them recently. I have also been using surname data to study the structure and relationships of several different early American populations. Given my interest in ethnohistory, I wanted to explore potential uses of historical data for the study of population biology.
Surnames are particularly useful since they can serve as approximate genetic markers.
United States census data are more easily available than Colonial Mexican data, so I began my study with them, although I have the ultimate goal of looking at Mesoamerican materials as well. I have also gotten back into the field and renewed my undergraduate interest in the Maya world. In the summer of 1999 I spent one week in Guatemala City looking at the skulls and teeth excavated by the Piedras Negras Archaeological Project at that site along the Usumacinta River. I am looking forward to comparing these data with those from other sites, to see how the patterns found in the Maya lowlands compares with that in highland Oaxaca. Finally, while writing my dissertation, I took up birdwatching as a hobby that might take my mind off Oaxaca once in a while.