Adn Azteca

The Azteca ADN
The decline of Otomi group has been the subject of an anthropological study. And in the fifteenth century, the population of the city of Xaltocan faded and was supplanted by thegrowth of the Aztec culture.

At the fateful end of Otomi culture in the region is known for its historical conflicts and archaeological evidence. But now, a genetic study is to unravel the mystery ofthis culture.

In the said fifteenth century, what is now the country of Mexico, before it was separated by cultural identities. In 1428, many of these small towns came together to form the TripleAlliance, which culminated in the Aztec Empire.

Xaltocan, in central Mexico, was one of the cities that are assimilated, but the details of this cultural integration are unknown.

Sixteenth-centurydocuments suggest that the city was abandoned by the Otomi in 1395, then repopulated by the Aztecs in 1435. Archaeological evidence, in contrast, indicates that at least some Otomi remained in thearea after being abandoned, like when the Aztecs made it their own.

Jaime Mata-Miguez, an anthropologist at the University of Texas at Austin, decided to track the patterns of the Otomi through a DNAsample. The results were published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

So, Mata-Miguez and colleagues took samples of DNA from mitochondria in 25 bodies found in yards excavated fromold homes Xaltocan. The remains date from 1240 and 1521, working as patterns before and after the occupation of the area.

It turned out that the DNA did not match the pre-conquest of thepost-conquest, identifying new biological influences and cultural change.

The team ensures that samples are only a small part of the historical representation of the regional office.

"Originally thequestion was whether the population had been removed or not," says Mata-Miguez. "Now we have new questions, not only the site, but about households the place."

The researcher identifies three...