From Ritual to Refuse: Faunal Exploitation by the Elite of Chinikihá, Chiapas, During the Late Classic Period

FROM RITUAL TO REFUSE: FAUNAL EXPLOITATION BY THE ELITE OF CHINIKIHÁ, CHIAPAS, DURING THE LATE CLASSIC PERIOD Submitted by Coral Montero López M. A. in Anthropology (specialty in Archaeology) B. A. in Anthropology (specialty in Archaeology) A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Historical and European Studies Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences La Trobe University Bundoora, Victoria 3086 Australia December 2011 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people I need to thank, and without whom, I would not have concluded my PhD dissertation. Firstly, I acknowledge all the wonderful people I met at La Trobe University (LTU) in Melbourne. Many thanks go first of all to my supervisor, Dr Richard Cosgrove, for his direction, comments and support which have made this a better piece or work. Dr Cosgrove was always available and kept his door open to me for a discussion regarding my research or a chat about personal matters. His support throughout my studies was of immense value. I also would like to thank him for giving me the opportunity of teaching Zooarchaeology at LTU during Semester 2, 2011. I thank Prof. Peter Mathews for all his support, from my application to the PhD program, to his comments on the Maya culture that resulted in a better understanding of this wonderful culture. His friendship and footy talks over many coffees made my days at uni more enjoyable. I would also like to acknowledge Dr Colin Smith, ARC Future Fellow, for his comments on an earlier draft version of the isotopes chapters. I am also in debt with all the staff members at the Archaeology Program, especially Prof. Peter Mathews, Dr David Frankel, Dr Nikki Stern, and Dr Susan Lawrence, all of who served as Postgraduate coordinators during the three and a half years that I was a student at La Trobe University. A special thank-you goes to the three external examiners, Prof Joaquín Arroyo Cabrales (Laboratorio de Arqueozoología “M. en C. Ticúl Álvarez” at the Sub-dirección de Laboratorios, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia at Mexico City), Dr Kitty Emery (Environmental Archaeology, Florida Museum of National History at the University of Florida at Gainesville), and Dr Sean Ulm (Department of Anthropology, Archaeology, and Sociology, James Cook University at Cairns) for reading the thesis in such a short time. Their input and support was invaluable, and their comments helped me to improve the original document. There are many wonderful people whom, without their help, this thesis could not have been completed. In Mexico, I have to thank first Dr Rodrigo Liendo Stuardo from iii Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas (IIA-UNAM) for allowing me to continue with the analysis of Chinikihá’s material during my PhD studies. Dr Liendo has been very supportive of all my work and has provided a great working environment where a lot of new ideas have flourished. From the Proyecto Arqueológico Chinikihá (PRACH), I wish to thank Luis Núñez for sharing all the osteological information on the human burials. It is nice to know that there is someone else with whom to share the passion for bioarchaeology, leading to many interesting discussions throughout the years. Esteban Mirón kindly provided some of the images from PRACH, as well as some of the information on the ceramics from Operación 114, while writing his own Honour’s thesis. To the rest of the crew from PRACH, I want to thank them for making a wonderful project, especially Keiko Teranishi and Atasta Flores for their friendship and good times, coffee breaks, chats and good company while in Mexico City and at Chinikihá. Special thanks go again to Atasta Flores and Armando Rodríguez for photographing some of the osteological material. I also thank Pedro Morales, and Edith Cienfuegos from Laboratorio de Isotópos Estables, from Instituto de Geología (IG-UNAM), for conducting the isotope analyses, and their friendship that has resulted in several collaborative papers and possibly many more to come. I also would like to thank Francisco Otero and Rafael Puente Martínez from IG- UNAM for processing samples for isotope analysis. I also thank Meredith Hands for her support during fieldwork in 2009, and for processing samples at IG-UNAM. Dr. José Reyes Gasca from Instituto de Física (IF-UNAM) ran the Crystallinity Index (CI) analysis on three samples. My trip to Mexico in 2009 to conduct fieldwork and laboratory analysis was covered by a Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Grant, and two separate School of Historical Research Grants, both from La Trobe University. The majority of this money covered the isotope analysis and my own fieldwork expenses. I processed manually most of the samples at the laboratory in order to decrease costs and increase the number of samples that could be run; however, I was unable to sample other samples besides the human and deer and one dog results that are here discussed, but sampling of the other species present in the same context is considered for the future. At Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), I would like to thank Belém Chávez for helping me in the washing and sorting process while I was in Mexico City. A iv special mention goes to Maestro Oscar Polaco, a great friend and mentor who pointed me in the right direction when I got interested in analysing faunal material in 2005. He took the time to teach and train me, and for that, I’ll be always in debt to him. Thank-you to all the personnel at Laboratorio de Zooarqueología (INAH), especially Dr Joaquín Arroyo Cabrales, Dr Fabiola Guzmán, and Maestra María Teresa Olivera for all their support at the laboratory, for granting access to the reference material, and mostly, for their friendship. A special thank-you goes to Aurelio Ocaña, whose help was priceless during the identification process. His friendship and good humour made my trips to Mexico City’s zócalo a little bit less stressing! In Palenque, Chiapas, I would like to thank archaeologists Héctor Cuevas and Carlos Varela from INAH for granting the permits to obtain plant vouchers and water samples inside the archaeological site of Palenque. I also would like to thank Don Geber, a tourist guide at Palenque, for helping me collect and identify plants for the creation of the modern reference collection. Marcelo Hernández Martínez and José Hernández Nava, from Palenque National Park (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, Región Frontera Sur), granted permission to collect water and plant samples within the archaeological site of Palenque, and provided one staff member for support. Finally, I would like to thank Dr Christopher Götz and Socorro Jiménez from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY) in Mérida. Dr Götz provided copies of bibliographical material that was used in this thesis, and I also would like him for his trust in submitting a sample of modern deer for isotope analysis. Socorro provided valuable information on the ceramics from Operación 114 from her own PhD studies. In Australia, I would like to begin thanking Duncan Jones for running some phytolith analysis of my samples while having to write his own PhD thesis. Mariela Soto-Berelov provided some of the maps, and also motivated me to keep practising rock climbing in order to keep me sane. Peter Saad kindly helped me with the final editing of some of the photographs, and was always up for a beer. Thank-you to all the friends from Melbourne, especially Kristy Forrest, Wendy Alberto, and April Lawry, for getting me away from my thesis and making sure I enjoyed my Australian experience to its fullest. To all my other Aussie friends and fellow PhD students at La Trobe, a big thank-you for making me feel at home while in Australia. v In Mexico, the biggest thank-you goes to my family, who has always been a support through my life. Dad, Mom, and all my brothers and sisters were always there for me, with their love and understanding, and for that, I deeply thank them all. To all my extended family and friends in Mexico, I am grateful to have such a huge circle of good people around me to nurture and support me. Special thanks, as always, go to Jessica Pérez, Laura Iglesias, Armando Rodríguez, Bertha González, Lucrecia Laddaga, Michelle Constante, Patricia Martínez, and Lucila Serrano for their constant support and for chatting with me in the awkward hours of their respective time zones. Finally, but not last, I want to thank Jarred Turnbull for helping me with the reference and appendix section, and for being such an amazing person who has shared with me this incredible journey called life. His constant support and love have made my time in Melbourne a wonderful one, full of new experiences, good music, great food, and footy! I thank him deeply for being such an incredible partner, and to all his family, I cannot thank them enough for making me feel one of them. Go Hawks! During my stay at the PhD program at La Trobe University in Melbourne, financial support was provided by La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (LTUPRS) and EIPRS (Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship). I also received financial support from Beca Complemento from Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP), granted to Mexican students conducting postgraduate studies overseas. vi “Emissaries had been sent to the fringes of the kingdom, two or three days walk away, to obtain deer, which were increasingly scarce, for the great feasts” -David Webster (2002:14), describing the great lengths hunters needed to go in order to bring back deer for ceremonies at Copán during the Late Classic period.

Load more