Canid Diets and Social Roles in Ancestral Maya Communities in the Eastern Maya Lowlands

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

For millennia dogs (Canis familiaris) have fulfilled various biological, functional, and companionship roles, yet their use and significance in Mesoamerica varied substantially through time. Previous studies of dogs in the Maya lowlands argued that human-canid relationships involved high levels of dog consumption, though zooarchaeology and epigraphic sources also suggest important ritual roles beyond food. This study explores the social role of dogs in the Belize River Valley region of western Belize from the Preclassic through Terminal Classic period (~1000 BC-AD 900/1000) through dietary reconstruction based on stable isotope analyses of dog bone collagen and apatite (δ13Cco, δ15Nco, δ13Cap). Results indicate a spectrum of diets reflecting differences in human-canid relationships. Some dogs consumed lower proportions of C4 foods like maize, suggesting they likely spent time away from human settlements and possibly served as forest hunting companions. Dog remains from Classic period (AD 300-900/1000) ceremonial deposits typically have a stronger C4 signal compared to those from domestic or monumental settings, perhaps suggesting purposeful feeding of animals included in ritual activity. Classic period management may be linked with the increasing importance of dogs as symbolic ritual agents instead of serving as food.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39328.0