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UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press Title Maya Zooarchaeology: New Directions in Method and Theory Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/75h1s16p ISBN 978-1-931745-13-0 Authors Beaubien, Harriet F. Emery, Kitty F. Henderson, John et al. Publication Date 2004-06-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California MAYA ZOOARCHAEOLOGY: New Directions in Method and Theory Edited by Kitty F. Emery COTSEN INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES Monograph 51 The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA Charles Stanish, Director Julia L. J. Sanchez, Director of Publications Leslie Ellen Jones, Publications Assistant Editorial Board: Jeanne Arnold, Elizabeth Carter, Christopher Donnan, Susan Downey, Ernestine S. Elster, John Papadopoulos, Judith Rasson, Julia L. J. Sanchez, Charles Stanish, Lothar von Falkenhausen, Thomas Wake, and Willeke Wendrich Edited and produced by Leyba Associates, Villanueva, NM Cover art from Kerr Vase rollout no. 1181; section art from Kerr Vase rollout no. 5185; drawn by Merald Clark Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maya zooarchaeology : new directions in method and theory / edited by Kitty F. Emery. p. cm. — (Monograph ; 51) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-931745-13-7 (alk. paper) 1. Mayas—Ethnozoology. 2. Mayas—Antiquities. 3. Animal remains (Archaeology)—Central America. 4. Ethnozoology—Central America—Methodology. 5. Ethnoarchaeology—Central America-—Methodology. 6. Central America—Antiquities. I. Emery, Kitty F. II. Monograph (Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA) ; 51. F1435.3.E74M39 2004 972’.01--dc22 2004004997 © Copyright 2004 by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved Contents List of Figures. .v List of Tables. ix Contributors . xi Preface . xiii 1. Maya Zooarchaeology: Historical Perspectives on Current Research Directions. 1 K. F. Emery PART 1. METHODS IN MAYA ZOOARCHAEOLOGY 13 2. In Search of Assemblage Comparability: Methods in Maya Zooarchaeology. 15 K. F. Emery 3. Picks and Stones May Break My Bones: Taphonomy and Maya Zooarchaeology . 35 N. Stanchly 4. Excavation and Recovery of a Funerary Offering of Marine Materials from Copán. 45 H. F. Beaubien PART 2. ANIMAL REMAINS AND ENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTIONS 55 5. Ancient Maya Environment, Settlement, and Diet: Quantitative and GIS Spatial Analysis of Shell from Frenchman’s Cay, Belize. 57 H. McKillop and T. Winemiller 6. Environments of the Maya Collapse: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from the Petexbatún . 81 K. F. Emery 7. Fauna Exploitation from the Preclassic to the Postclassic Periods at Four Maya Settlements in Northern Belize . 97 M. A. Masson PART 3. NEW INTERPRETATIONS OF ANCIENT SPECIES SIGNIFICANCE 123 8. Ancient Lowland Maya Utilization of Freshwater Pearly Mussels (Nephronaias spp.) . 125 T. G. Powis iii MAYA ZOOARCHAEOLOGY 9. Feast, Field, and Forest: Deer and Dog Diets at Lagartero, Tikal, and Copán . 141 C. D. White, M. Pohl, H. P. Schwarcz, and F. J. Longstaffe 10. Empirical Data for Archaeological Fish Weight Analyses. 159 K. L. Seymour PART 4. MAYA ANIMALS IN RITUAL, POLITICS, AND ECONOMICS1 75 11. Animal Utilization in a Growing City: Vertebrate Exploitation at Caracol, Belize . 177 W. G. Teeter 12. Vertebrates in Tikal Burials and Caches. 193 H. Moholy-Nagy PART 5. ZOOARCHAEOLOGY FROM THE BORDERS OF THE MAYA WORLD 207 13. A Vertebrate Archaeofauna from the Early Formative Period Site of Paso de la Amada, Chiapas, Mexico: Preliminary Results. 209 T. A. Wake 14. Human Use of Animals in Prehispanic Honduras: A Preliminary Report from the Lower Ulúa Valley . 223 J. S. Henderson and R. A. Joyce PART 6. DISCUSSING NEW PERSPECTIVES ON MAYA ZOOARCHAEOLOGY 237 15. Where’s the Meat? Maya Zooarchaeology from an Archaeological Perspective . 239 D. M. Pendergast 16. Maya Zooarchaeology from a Zooarchaeological Perspective. 249 E. S. Wing Appendix: Taxonomic List of Important Mesoamerican Species Mentioned in Maya Zooarchaeology . 255 References Cited . 263 Index . 295 iv Figures Preface. Map of main sites discussed in Maya Zooarchaeology . xiv 1.1. Map of Maya area . 2 1.2. Chronology of the Maya realm. 3 2.1. Developmental history of a zooarchaeological assemblage . 18 4.1. Copán Structure 10L-26 tomb chamber . 46 4.2. Copán Structure 10L-26 tomb, plan map of dais grid . 47 4.3. Removing deposit fragments from Copán Structure 10L-26 tomb . 47 4.4. Contents of dais grid square 1J, Copán Structure 10L-26 tomb . 48 4.5. Western cluster selection . 52 4.6. Eastern cluster selection. 53 5.1. Map of the Maya area showing Frenchman’s Cay. 58 5.2. Settlement area of Frenchman’s Cay . 59 5.3. Shell frequencies from Frenchman’s Cay transect excavations . 68 5.4. Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) shells (Mollusca) by depth in Frenchman’s Cay transect excavations. 70 5.5. Spatial analysis of freshwater Pachychilus sp. shells (Mollusca) in Frenchman’s Cay transect excavations . 72 5.6. Spatial analysis of butchered Strombus gigas shells (Mollusca) in Frenchman’s Cay transect excavations . 73 5.7. Spatial analysis of shells (Mollusca) from mangrove habitats in Frenchman’s Cay transect excavations . 74 5.8. Spatial analysis of shells (Mollusca) from shallow water in Frenchman’s Cay transect excavations . 75 5.9. Spatial analysis of moderately deepwater shells (Mollusca) in Frenchman’s Cay transect excavations . 76 5.10. Minimum number of individuals (MNI) shells (Mollusca) by depth and habitat in the Great White Lucine mound excavations. 79 6.1. Map of the Maya area with inset of the Petexbatún region . 83 6.2. Error bar of the chronological distribution of canopy resource use at Petexbatún sites . 90 6.3. Error bar of the chronological distribution of milpa resource use at Petexbatún sites . 90 v MAYA ZOOARCHAEOLOGY 6.4. Error bar of the chronological distribution of riverine and shoreline resource use at Petexbatún sites . 90 6.5. Error bar of the chronological distribution of carbon isotope ratios in Petexbatún . 92 7.1. Northern Belize sites from which faunal bones were analyzed. 100 7.2. Relative percentages of selected fauna NISP at Pulltrouser Swamp sites for Preclassic through Terminal Classic periods . 106 7.3. Relative percentages of selected fauna NISP by class from Colha (Middle/Late Preclassic and Late Preclassic periods) . 110 7.4. Percentage of fauna NISP for all bone at Northern River Lagoon (Terminal Classic) . 113 7.5. Percentage of fauna NISP from Northern River Lagoon Terminal Classic deposits (excluding fish) . 113 7.6. Proportion of elements of Northern River Lagoon catfish and noncatfish . 115 7.7. Percentage of fauna NISP at Laguna de On (Postclassic) . 117 7.8. Percentage of mammal NISP by site/period for all sites examined . 120 7.9. Percentage of large mammal NISP by site/period for all sites examined . 120 7.10. Percentage of small/medium mammal NISP by site/period for all sites examined . 121 7.11. Percentage of turtle bone by period for all sites examined. 121 8.1. Map of sites mentioned in the chapter. 126 8.2. Nephronaias sphenorhynchus from a Late Classic burial . 128 8.3. Nephronaias valve perforated for use as a pendant . 135 8.4. Three artifacts recovered from Late Classic Burial 2 at the Tolok Group, Cahal Pech, Belize. 135 8.5. Nephronaias nacre artifacts from Classic period Burial 130 at Cuello, Belize . 137 8.6. Nephronaias shell pendant from Late Classic tomb at Altun Ha, Belize . 137 9.1. Map showing sites mentioned in chapter text . 142 9.2. Late Classic polychrome vase from the cave of Actun Polbilche, Belize. 143 9.3. Late Classic figurine from Altar de Sacrificios . 143 9.4. Map of the ceremonial center at Lagartero . 145 9.5. Theoretical model of major Maya food sources . 147 vi MAYA ZOOARCHAEOLOGY 9.6. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic data for deer and dogs from all sites . 153 9.7. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic data for deer and dogs from Lagartero, Copán, and Tikal . 154 9.8. Comparison of carbon and nitrogen isotopic data by period for dogs. 157 10.1. Lateral view of flounder’s right dentary, with measurement X indicated . ..
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    Urban, Patricia, Edward Schortman y Marne Ausec 2000 ¿Poder sin límites?: Los acontecimientos políticos durante el Preclásico Medio en el valle de Naco, Honduras. En XIII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1999 (editado por J.P. Laporte, H. Escobedo, B. Arroyo y A.C. de Suasnávar), pp.901-920. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala (versión digital). 67 ¿PODER SIN LÍMITES?: LOS ACONTECIMIENTOS POLÍTICOS DURANTE EL PRECLÁSICO MEDIO EN EL VALLE DE NACO, HONDURAS Patricia Urban Edward Schortman Marne Ausec Este ensayo investiga la naturaleza de la complejidad socio-política en el Preclásico Medio (1100-400 AC) en el valle de Naco, al noroeste de Honduras. "Complejidad" es un concepto que consiste de variables cuyas expresiones universales están relacionadas diferencialmente en circunstancias históricas específicas (Feinman y Neitzel 1984; McGuire 1983; de Montmollin 1989; Nelson 1995; Roscoe 1993). Aquí se examinan tres de estas variables según su importancia general para modelar la complejidad y nuestra habilidad de dirigir ciertos aspectos de las variables con la información que tenemos de Naco. La centralización política se refiere hasta qué punto el poder, o la capacidad para ordenar las acciones de otros se concentra en las manos de una sola facción (Balandier 1970; Roscoe 1993:113- 114; Webster 1990). Esta variable se mide por la presencia, dimensión y número de estructuras monumentales (plataformas que tienen por lo menos 1.50 m de altura) fechadas al Preclásico Medio, que se encuentran en los sitios de Naco. El recurso de este criterio se basa en la suposición que el poder mueve a los trabajadores para levantar las estructuras asociadas con los gobernantes aspirantes y los estados que ellos anhelan gobernar.