Analysis of Faunal Material from Sacred Spaces at Agua Lluvia and Along the Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology Project in Northwestern Belize.

Author(s): Kyle Ports; C. L. Kieffer; Rissa Trachman; Marisol Cortes-Rincon

Year: 2015

Summary

This research focuses on the faunal material from the caves and sacred deposits at Agua Lluvia and along the Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology Project in northwestern Belize. The analysis and interpretation of faunal material in caves can be problematic for zooarchaeologists. Unlike other archaeological features, caves have the added complexity of bioturbation, irregular stratigraphy, and inconsistent preservation. Similarly, faunal remains found within caves can easily be disregarded on the grounds that preservation conditions allow for invasive species to enter the archaeological record. This research bears these factors in mind while comparing the new data with existing cave faunal studies in Central America. Due to the quantity of jute (pachychilus spp.) found throughout the sites, special attention was paid to contexts the jute was discovered in and how it was modified. This study also stresses the importance of analyzing species utilization through time as well as spatial deposition on the sacred landscape to gain a greater understanding of exploitation and reliance of ritual resources. Ultimately, the data clearly reflects an assemblage that is not completely environmentally driven and accumulated by natural means. Rather these assemblages demonstrate a purposeful deposition of faunal remains by humans in a ritualized manner.

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Cite this Record

Analysis of Faunal Material from Sacred Spaces at Agua Lluvia and Along the Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology Project in Northwestern Belize.. C. L. Kieffer, Kyle Ports, Marisol Cortes-Rincon, Rissa Trachman. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 397447)

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Keywords

General
Cave archaeology • Maya archaeology • Zooarchaeology

Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 12.383 ; max long: -86.353; max lat: 23.08 ;