Absolute geomagnetic intensity record from pre-Columbian pottery dates elite Tlailotlacan Woman in ancient Teotihuacan

A detailed rock-magnetic and archaeomagnetic investigation were carried out on seven pottery fragments (49 specimens) found within the burial of an individual with the most body/dental modifications and prestige elements found so far in the ancient Teotihuacan city. The skull of this 35 to 40 years old woman (at the time of death) shows an intentional cephalic modification with frontal-occipital compression. This is very uncommon within the Teotihuacan population and indicating the southern provenance (Oaxaca or Maya area). The age estimations, based on relative datings, placed the archaeological context between 350 and 400 CE. The magnetic mineralogy experiments were characterized by a single remanence component, occasionally accompanied by a soft overprint, probably of viscous origin and Curie temperatures between 540 °C and 565 °C. Only twelve specimens, belonging to two distinct pottery fragments, yielded reliable determinations meeting very strict selection criteria. The values retrieved from both fragments are statistically undistinguishable. The absolute age estimation of the Tlailotlacan Woman archaeological context obtained in this study contradicts the early estimations and indicates a late time interval between 650 and 800 CE corresponding to the decline of Teotihuacan, where the social differences of their inhabitants became much more evident.