The Utility of Nestedness in Zooarchaeological Assemblages: A Study from the Northern Maya Lowlands

Summary

Nestedness analysis suggests that the presence of specific ichthyofauna in assemblages from seven different sites from the northern Yucatán peninsula may be a result of the life-histories of those species or cultural preferences rather than being driven by environmental barriers. The results suggests that the assemblages may be derived from different populations suggesting that they are not coming from the same source. I argue that while trade is playing a role, it is also likely that ancient fishermen were obtaining fish from the surrounding environment nearest to the archaeological site. Thus, the variation in fish species between sites is a result of differential selection of fish based on their availability as constricted by their life-histories or by cultural preferences rather than environmental barriers. The local nature of ichthyofauna within zooarchaeological assemblages has been previously argued for the site of Xcambó and I suggest that this can be extended to more of the sites covered by the analysis. Only an expanded dataset at more sites will be able to provide insight into the breadth of this potential pattern; however, nestedness analysis provides the initial data for the potential in connecting fish species to local site habitats.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15187