Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Zooarchaeological and Isotopic Perspectives on Ancient Maya Economy and Exchange

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Investigations into the organization of ancient Maya economy, including systems of production, consumption and exchange, continue to provide insights into the overall structure of Maya society. Understanding how commodities were acquired and distributed can answer important questions regarding the level of inter-site dependency, the function of trade networks and the degree of elite control over subsistence and non-subsistence resources. Although recent archaeological research has expanded our knowledge of lithic and ceramic production-distribution systems, we have less information about how other commodities were incorporated in the Maya economy. Animals and animal products are one important category of natural resources that has not yet been explored in terms of economic research. Despite the importance of faunal resources as both subsistence and prestige goods, researchers disagree about the scale of faunal resource exchange, and whether trade functioned primarily as a means of establishing and maintaining elite power through the exchange of high status items, or as a more practical means of redistributing subsistence resources. Through an inter-regional comparison of Maya animal use, this project will therefore assess how faunal resources were incorporated into the Maya economy at local, regional and inter-regional scales.Under the direction of Dr. Kitty Emery, Erin Thornton will examine the patterns of ancient Maya animal use and exchange through zooarchaeological and isotopic analysis of faunal remains from three Late Classic to Post Classic period (ca. 600-1300 A.D.) sites located within the Maya lowlands of Belize and Guatemala. The study sites include the coastal site of Marco Gonzalez, the inland lacustrine site of Trinidad de Nosotros, and the riverine site of Cancuen located at the highland/lowland interface. The sites' faunal assemblages will be compared with available zooarchaeological data from their major trading partners to reconstruct how faunal resources were incorporated into the Maya economy at multiple scales. Strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis will be used as a second method of reconstructing trade in animal resources. Current studies of long-distance trade in animal products rely on the identification of exotic species found outside their natural ranges, but such methods are inadequate for identifying trade in species with large geographic distributions, or trade in highly modified bone or tooth artifacts. Faunal remains from Marco Gonzalez, Trinidad de Nosotros, and Cancuen will be included in the strontium analysis in addition to samples from several other Classic period Maya sites. This analysis represents a novel application of this methodology within the field of zooarchaeology.The broader contribution of this research will result primarily from the training of Guatemalan and U.S. students in both the field and lab components of the project. Knowledge gained from the research will be returned to the Guatemalan research community and to local communities involved in the project through yearly reports and presentations in both formal and informal settings. This research will also contribute to a larger NSF-funded effort by Emery, in collaboration with Guatemalan museums and research institutions, to build a modern zooarchaeological research laboratory in Guatemala City. The laboratory is intended for use by in-country and international researchers, and for the training of Guatemalan students in zooarchaeological analysis.