Kinship analysis requires multiple individuals from the same context; isolated burials cannot be subjected to the same analysis that made the Chichén Itzá findings possible.

The interpretation of ancient genomic findings in terms of social and ritual significance remains difficult.

Genetics establishes biological facts — sex, ancestry, relatedness — but social meaning is constructed by people, not written in DNA.

The gap between the biological facts and their social interpretation must always be bridged by contextual knowledge from archaeology, history, and comparative anthropology.

Future directions: Advances in extraction and sequencing methods are continuing to lower the bar for ancient DNA recovery from challenging preservation environments.

As more ancient Maya genomes are generated from more sites and time periods, the comparative context for interpreting specific findings — like the Chichén Itzá chultún — will become richer.