Lacustrine Resource Use at Isla Cilvituk, Campeche, Mexico: A Case Study for Pomacea flagellata

Author(s): Ruth Maria Martínez Cervantes

Year: 2008

Summary

This thesis analyzes the social and subsistence value of the freshwater gasptropod Pomacea spp. in Isla Cilvituk. This is a Postclassic (900 -1525 A.D.) archaeological site on the Maya lowlands. The site is located in Lake Silvituc, Campeche, Mexico. Freshwater resources, such as Pomacea sp., have been neglected from archaeological studies. Scholars have argued that these types of resources are of little importance to the diet, stating that these contain low nutritional value, and even excluding them as a desperation food or part of a marginal diet. The ethnographic documentation of freshwater resource use shows that lacustrine exploitation is ancient and of great value in the diet. The statistical analysis from the archaeological assemblage of Isla Cilvituk show that Pomacea spp. is an important source of food and a prestige item, as it is discarded with non-local items such as obsidian and marine shell.

Cite this Record

Lacustrine Resource Use at Isla Cilvituk, Campeche, Mexico: A Case Study for Pomacea flagellata. Ruth Maria Martínez Cervantes. Masters Thesis. New Mexico State University (NMSU), Anthropology. 2008 ( tDAR id: 501737) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8501737

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

URL: https://nmsu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma99135014...


Keywords

Culture
LOWLAND MAYA

Material
Building Materials • Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Dating Sample • Fauna • Ground Stone • Macrobotanical • Metal • Pollen • Shell

Site Name
Isla Cilvituk, Campeche, Mexico

Site Type
Agricultural Field or Field Feature • Ancient Church / Religious Structure • Ancient Governmental Structure • Ancient Structure • chultun • House • House Mound • Platform Mound • Plaza • Pyramid • Stairway • stelae • Temple • Terrace • Town / City • Water Control Feature

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Data Recovery / Excavation • Historic Background Research • Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis • Reconnaissance / Survey • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
Household Archaeology • Lacustrine settlement • Postclassic Lowland Maya • Resilience • Settlement Ecology • Terminal Classic-Postclassic transition

Geographic Keywords
Northern Maya Lowlands

Temporal Keywords
Terminal Classic through Late Postclassic period (AD 600-1500)

Temporal Coverage

Radiocarbon Date: 1324 to 387 (14C Age BP, 9 radiocarbon dates from animal bone)

Calendar Date: 600 to 1500 (Architecture and Ceramics)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -90.312; min lat: 18.608 ; max long: -90.26; max lat: 18.655 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Principal Investigator(s): Rani T Alexander

Record Identifiers

Consejo de Arqueologia, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH)(s): Oficio #: C.A. 401-36/492, C.A. 401-36/188, C.A.401-36/427

New Mexico State University, Institutional Review Board, Human Subjects Research(s): Permit 5711 (expedited) 2003

Notes

General Note: This archaeological project was not born digital.

File Information

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