A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Caves Branch Rockshelter and Sapodilla Rockshelter

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This poster provides an analysis of faunal materials from mixed deposits in both the Caves Branch Rockshelter (CBR) and Sapodilla Rockshelter (SDR) in Central Belize. This analysis continues previous research at the two sites from contexts spanning the Protoclassic to Terminal Classic temporal periods concerning ancient Maya ritual and mortuary behaviors. The composition of fauna from both rockshelters demonstrates similarities and differences between animal use at the sites and articulates the practices leading to the deposition of faunal remains. Analysis of materials followed methods used at the Northern Arizona University, Department of Anthropology, Faunal Analysis Laboratory (NAUDAFAL), including standard procedures for identifying elements, taxonomic categories, and taphonomic features. For example, evidence of burning illustrates one of the primary taphonomic features present on these faunal remains.These data are further understood and interpreted through the context in which they were discovered, primarily location within the cave and associated artifactual or mortuary materials.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25000