La esperanza de vida en la ciudad de México (siglos XVI al XIX)

Abstract

This article contrasts various demographic scenarios constructed through the analysis of several osteological series from Mexico City, whose timing corresponds to the 17th to 19th centuries, consisting of creoles, mestizos and indigenous people; together with another series from a predominantly indigenous rural area in the 16th century, Xochimilco. The paleodemographic technique makes it possible to obtain specific demographic profiles for each series being compared, which are then discussed using the historical data available for Mexico city. The results of the urban series and the one rural series describe populations with low life expectancy, limited survival to adulthood and high infant mortality, resulting from health conditions, poverty and violence against a backdrop of major social and economic changes, in addition to epidemic and demographic crises and hunger.