Perceptions vs. Reality: Animal Lives in the Ancient Maya, Aztec, and Inca Cultures

Summary

Past and present human-animal relationships have always been shaped by culturally-based beliefs, perceptions, and treatment of nonhuman animals, which in turn influence the lives of the animals in their environments. That being said, how accurate were ancient cultures in their attempts to understand animals, and how did subsequent human perceptions influence animal realities? What might it have been like as a nonhuman animal living near ancient peoples, based on biology and culture? What of the animals in Central and South America, for instance? This research provides an interdisciplinary, anthrozoological study of animal lives in the ancient Maya, Aztec, and Inca cultures. After a brief introduction to the cultures and species present among them, this paper delves deeper into an analysis of four animals (felines, deer, snakes, and canines) and their potential, culturally influenced realities. A comparison of these interspecies relationships reveals a cultural continuum based on ideological and practical proximity to nature, creating a framework for future studies of ancient, as well as present, human-animal interactions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20876