Testing the Efficacy of Sulfur Isotopes from the Maya Site of Chulub

Summary

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

Stable isotope analysis of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) are often used to reconstruct ancient Maya diets. While these two isotopes provide us with a broad understanding of past subsistence practices, carbon and nitrogen are limited in their ability to differentiate freshwater and terrestrial based diets. Similar problems exist in other areas of the world and sulfur (34S/32S) stable isotopes have shown promise in separating the two. To determine the feasibility of this isotope’s use in the Maya region, we tested the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur composition of terrestrial and freshwater animal remains from the Classic to Postclassic (AD 800-1200) transitional site of Chulub, Belize. This site provides the ideal setting for testing sulfur’s utility because of its location within the Western Lagoon Wetlands, which provides a wide assortment of terrestrial and freshwater species that were available to the ancient Maya.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25334