Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T22:11:59.072Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A reconstruction of Middle Preclassic Maya subsistence economy at Cahal Pech, Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Terry G. Powis ,
Norbert Stanchly ,
Christine D. White ,
Paul F. Healy ,
Jaime J. Awe  and
Fred Longstaffe
Terry G. Powis
Affiliation:
Powis, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin TX 78712, USA, tpowis@mail.utexas.edu
Norbert Stanchly
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, England, norbert.stanchly@utoronto.ca
Christine D. White
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London ONT N6A 5C2, Canada, white2@julian.uwo.ca
Paul F. Healy
Affiliation:
Office of Research & Graduate Studies, Trent University, Peterborough ONT K9J 7B8, Canada, phealy@trentu.ca
Jaime J. Awe
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824, USA, jjawe@alberti.unh.edu
Fred Longstaffe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London ONT N6A 5B7, Canada, flongsta@julian.uwo.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The recovery of animal and plant remains from the site of Cahal Pech provides data on early diet and subsistence practices in the Belize Valley region of the Maya lowlands. Analysis of the material remains suggests that the Middle Preclassic Maya were practising a mixed subsistence economy relying on agricultural foodstuffs, local terrestrial game species, freshwater fish and shellfish and marine reef fishes. Isotopic analysis of human bone is used to aid in the reconstruction of actual food consumption.

Keywords

BelizeMayaMiddle Preclassicsubsistenceisotopic analysis
Type
Papers
Information
Antiquity , Volume 73 , Issue 280 , June 1999 , pp. 364 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, R.E.W. & Culbert, T.P.. 1977. The origins of civilization in the Maya Lowlands, in Adams, R.E.W. (ed.), The origins of Maya civilization: 3–24. Albuquerque (NM): University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Ambrose, S.H. & Norr, L.. 1993. Experimental evidence for the relationship of the carbon isotope ratios of whole diet and dietary protein to those of bone collagen and carbonate, in Lambert, J. & Grupe, G. (ed.), Prehistoric human bone: Archaeology at the molecular level: 1–37. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Awe, J.J. 1992. Dawn in the land between the rivers: Formative occupation at Cahal Pech, Belize and its implications for Preclassic development in the central Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of London.Google Scholar
Ball, J.W. & Taschek, J.T.. 1991. Late Classic Lowland Maya political organization and central-place analysis: new insights from the upper Belize Valley, Ancient Mesoamerica 2(2): 149–65.Google Scholar
Carr, H.S. 1985. Subsistence and ceremony: Faunal utilization in a Late Preclassic community at Cerros, Belize, in Pohl, (1985a): 115–32.Google Scholar
Carr, H.S. 1986. Preliminary results of analysis of fauna, in Robertson, R.A. & Freidel, D.A. (ed,), Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America, volume 1: An interim report: 127-46. Dallas (TX): Southern Methodist University Press.Google Scholar
Cliff, M.B. & Crane, C.J.. 1989. Changing subsistence economy at a Late Preclassic Maya community, in McAnany, P. & Isaac, B. (ed.), Research in economic anthropology: Prehistoric Maya economies of Belize: 295–324. Greenwich (CT): JAI Press Inc.Google Scholar
Deniro, M.J. 1985. Post-mortem preservation in in-vivo bone collagen interpretations in relation to paleodietary reconstruction, Nature 317: 806–9.Google Scholar
Dunn, R.K. & Mazzullo, S.J.. 1993. Holocene paleocoastal reconstruction and its relationship to Marco Gonzalez, Ambergris Caye, Belize, Journal of Field Archaeology 20: 121–31.Google Scholar
Fedick, S.L. 1989. The economies of agricultural land use and settlement in the upper Belize Valley, in McAnany, P. & Isaac, B. (ed.), Research in economic anthropology: Pre-historic Maya economies of Belize: 215–53. Greenwich (CT): JAI Press Inc.Google Scholar
Garber, J.F., Brown, M.K. & Hartman, C.J.. 1997. Excavations on Structure Bl at Blackman Eddy: results of the 1996 field season, in Garber, J.F. & Glassman, D.M. (ed.), The Belize Valley archaeology project: Results of the 1996 field season: 6–33. San Marcos (TX): Southwest Texas State University.Google Scholar
Gifford, J.C. 1976. Prehistoric pottery analysis and the ceramics of Barton Ramie in the Belize Valley. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Memoir 18.Google Scholar
Hamblin, N.L. 1984. Animal use by the Cozumel Maya. Tucson (AZ): University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1986. New light on the most ancient Maya, Man (n.s.) 21: 399–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, N. (Ed.). 1991. Cuello: An early Maya community in Belize. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1992. Preclassic Maya civilization, in Danien, E.C. & Sharer, R.J. (ed.), New theories on the ancient Maya: 137–44. Philadelphia (PA): University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Monograph 77.Google Scholar
Hammond, N., Clarke, A. & Donaghey, S.. 1995. The long goodbye: Middle Preclassic Maya archaeology at Cuello, Belize, Latin American Antiquity 6(2): 120–28.Google Scholar
Hather, J.G. & Hammond, N.. 1994. Ancient Maya subsistence diversity: root and tuber remains from Cuello, Belize, Antiquity 68: 330–35.Google Scholar
Healy, P.F. & Awe, J.J. (ed.). 1995a. Belize Valley Preclassic Maya project:Report on the 1994 field season. Peterborough (ONT): Trent University. Occasional Paper in Anthropology 10.Google Scholar
Healy, P.F. & Awe, J.J. 1995b. Preclassic Maya of the Belize Valley: 1994–1995 project research objectives, in Healy, & Awe, (1995a): 1–17.Google Scholar
Healy, P.F. & Awe, J.J. 1995c. Radiocarbon dates from Cahal Pech, Belize: Results from the 1994 field season, in Healy, & Awe, (1995a): 198–215.Google Scholar
Healy, P.F. & Awe, J.J. 1996. Belize Valley Preclassic Maya project: Report on the 1995 field season. Peterborough (ONT): Trent University. Occasional Papers in Anthropology 12.Google Scholar
Healy, P.F., Emery, K. & Wright, L.. 1990. Ancient and modern Maya exploitation of the jute snail (Pachychilus), Latin American Antiquity 1(2): 170–83.Google Scholar
Hohmann, B, & Powis, T.. 1996. The 1995 excavations at Pacbitun, Belize: Investigations of the Middle Formative occupation in Plaza B, in Healy, & Awe, (1996): 98–117.Google Scholar
Keegan, W.F. & Deniro, M.J.. 1988. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone collagen used to study coral-reef and terrestrial components of prehistoric Bahamian diet, American Antiquity 53: 320–36.Google Scholar
Lawlor, E.J., Graham, A.J. & Fedick, S.L.. 1995. Preclassic floral remains from Cahal Pech, Belize, in Healy, & Awe, (1995a): 150–72.Google Scholar
Lee, D. & AWE, J.J.. 1995. Middle Formative architecture, burials, and craft specialization: Report on the 1994 investigations at the Cas Pek group, Cahal Pech, Belize, in Healy, & Awe, (1995a): 95–115.Google Scholar
Lentz, D. 1996. Foodstuffs, forests, fields, and shelter: A paleoethnobotanical analysis of vessel contents from the Cerén site, El Salvador, Latin American Antiquity 7(3): 247–62.Google Scholar
Lentz, D., Ramirez, C.R. & Griscom, B.W.. 1997. Formative-period subsistence and forest-product extraction at the Yarumela site, Honduras, Ancient Mesoamerica 8(1): 63–74.Google Scholar
Longin, R. 1971. A new method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating, Science 230: 241–2.Google Scholar
Mckillop, H. 1995. Underwater archaeology, salt production, and coastal Maya trade at Stingray Lagoon, Belize, Latin American Antiquity 6: 214–28.Google Scholar
Mackinnon, J.J. & Kepecs, S.M.. 1989. Prehispanic saltmaking in Belize: New evidence, American Antiquity 54: 522–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marino, B. & Mcelroy, M.B.. 1991. Isotopie composition of atmospheric C02 inferred from carbon in C4 plant cellulose, Nature 349: 127–31.Google Scholar
Miksicek, C.H. 1991. The ecology and economy of Cuello I: The natural and cultural landscape of Preclassic Cuello, in Hammond, (1991): 70–84.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, H. 1978. The utilisation of pomacea snails at Tikal, Guatemala, American Antiquity 43(1): 65–73.Google Scholar
Pohl, M. 1985a. The privileges of Maya elites: Prehistoric vertebrate fauna from Seibal, in Pohl, M. (ed.), Prehistoric Lowland Maya environment and subsistence economy: 133–45. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Paper 77.Google Scholar
Pohl, M. 1985b. Osteological evidence for subsistence and status, in Pohl, (1985a): 107–13.Google Scholar
Powis, T. 1996. Excavations of Middle Formative period round structures at the Tolok Group, Cahal Pech, Belize. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Trent University, Peterborough (ONT).Google Scholar
Powis, T. 1997. Ancient Lowland Maya utilisation of the freshwater clam (Nephronaias sp.). Paper presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Nashville.Google Scholar
Reed, D.M. 1994. Ancient Maya diet at Copan, Honduras, as determined through the analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, in Sobolik, K.D. (ed.), Paleonutrition: The diet and health of prehistoric americans: 210–21. Carbondale (IL): Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University. Occasional Paper 22.Google Scholar
Schwarcz, H.P., Melbye, J., Katenberg, M.A. & Knyf, M.. 1985. Stable isotopes in human skeletons of southern Ontario: Reconstructing paleodiet, Journal of Archaeological Science 12: 187–206.Google Scholar
Sharer, R.J. 1992. The Preclassic origin of Lowland Maya states, in Danien, E.C. & Sharer, R.J. (ed.), New Theories on the ancient Maya: 131–6. Philadelphia (PA): University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Monograph 77.Google Scholar
Shaw, L. 1991. The articulation of social inequality and faunal resource use in the Preclassic community of Colha, Northern Belize. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (MA).Google Scholar
Stanchly, N. 1995. Formative period Maya faunal utilisation at Cahal Pech, Belize: Preliminary analysis of the animal remains from the 1994 field season, in Healy, & Awe, (1995a): 124–49.Google Scholar
Tykot, R.H., Van Der Merwe, N.J. & Hammond, N.. 1996. Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen, bone apatite and tooth enamel in the reconstruction of human diet: A case study from Cuello, Belize, in Orna, M.V. (ed.), Archaeological chemistry: Organic, inorganic, and biochemical analysis: 355–65. Washington (DC): American Chemical Society.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Der Merwe, N.J., Tykot, R.H. & Hammond, N.. 1994. Diet and animal husbandry of the Preclassic Maya at Cuello, Belize. Paper presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Webster, D., Gonlin, N. & Sheets, P.. 1997. Copan and Cerén: Two perspectives on ancient Mesoamerican households, Ancient Mesoamerica 8: 43–61.Google Scholar
White, C.D., Healy, P.F. & Schwarcz, H.P.. 1993. Intensive agriculture, social status, and Maya diet at Pacbitun, Belize, Journal of Anthropological Research 49: 347–75.Google Scholar
White, C.D., Longstaffe, F. & Song, R.. 1996. Preclassic Maya diet at Cahal Pech, Belize: The isotopie evidence from human bone collagen. Paper presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans.Google Scholar
White, C.D., Pohl, M.D. & Schwarcz, H.P.. 1997. Maya husbandry of deer and dog. Paper presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Nashville.Google Scholar
White, C.D. & Schwarcz, H.P.. 1989. Ancient Maya diet: As inferred from isotopie and chemical analysis of human bone, Journal of Archaeological Science 16: 451–74.Google Scholar
Wiesen, A. & Lentz, D.. 1997. Floral remains at Cahal Pech and surrounding sites: Summary report. New York (NY): New York Botanical Garden.Google Scholar
Willey, G.R., Bullard, W.R. Jr., Glass, J.B. & Gifford, J.C. 1965. Prehistoric Maya settlement in the Belize Valley. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Paper 54.Google Scholar
Wing, E. 1975. Animal remains at Lubaantun, in Hammond, N. (ed.), Lubaantun: A Classic Maya realm: 379–83. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Monograph 2.Google Scholar
Wing, E. & Scudder, S.. 1991. The ecology and economy of Cuello II: The exploitation of animals, in Hammond, (1991): 84–97.Google Scholar
Wright, L. 1994. The Sacrifice of the earth? diet, health and inequality in the Pasión Maya lowlands. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Wright, L. & White, C.D.. 1995. Human biology in the Classic Maya collapse: Evidence from paleopathology and paleodiet, Journal of World Prehistory 10: 147–98.Google Scholar