A reconstruction of Middle Preclassic Maya subsistence economy at Cahal Pech, Belize

Antiquity

Volumn 73, Issue 280, 1999, Pages 364-376

  Powis, Terry G ^a   Stanchly, Norbert ^b   White, Christine D ^c   Healy, Paul F ^d   Awe, Jaime J ^e   Longstaffe, Fred ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO   (Canada)

^d TRENT UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

^e UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE   (United States)

Author keywords

Belize; Isotopic analysis; Maya; Middle Preclassic; Subsistence

Indexed keywords

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS; HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY; SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE;

BELIZE; CAHAL PECH;

EID: 0032795466     PISSN: 0003598X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0003598X00088311     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. ADAMS, R.E.W. & T.P. CULBERT. 1977. The origins of civilization in the Maya Lowlands, in R.E.W. Adams (ed.), The origins of Maya civilization: 3-24. Albuquerque (NM): University of New Mexico Press.
2. AMBROSE, S.H. & L. NORR. 1993. Experimental evidence for the relationship of the carbon isotope ratios of whole diet and dietary protein to those of bone collagen and carbonate, in J. Lambert & G. Grupe (ed.), Prehistoric human bone: Archaeology at the molecular level: 1-37. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
3. AWE, J.J. 1992. Dawn in the land between the rivers: Formative occupation at Cahal Pech, Belize and its implications for Preclassic development in the central Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of London.
4. BALL, J.W. & J.T. TASCHEK. 1991. Late Classic Lowland Maya political organization and central-place analysis: new insights from the upper Belize Valley, Ancient Mesoamerica 2(2): 149-65.
5. CARR, H.S. 1985. Subsistence and ceremony: Faunal utilization in a Late Preclassic community at Cerros, Belize, in Pohl (1985a): 115-32.
6. 1986. Preliminary results of analysis of fauna, in R.A. Robertson & D.A. Freidel (ed.), Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America, volume 1: An interim report: 127-46. Dallas (TX): Southern Methodist University Press.
7. CLIFF, M.B. & C.J. CRANE. 1989. Changing subsistence economy at a Late Preclassic Maya community, in P. McAnany & B. Isaac (ed.), Research in economic anthropology: Prehistoric Maya economies of Belize: 295-324. Greenwich (CT): JAI Press Inc.
8. DENIRO, M.J. 1985. Post-mortem preservation in in-vivo bone collagen interpretations in relation to paleodietary reconstruction, Nature 317: 806-9.
9. DUNN, R.K. & S.J. MAZZULLO. 1993. Holocene paleocoastal reconstruction and its relationship to Marco Gonzalez, Ambergris Caye, Belize, Journal of Field Archaeology 20: 121-31.
10. FEDICK, S.L. 1989. The economies of agricultural land use and settlement in the upper Belize Valley, in P. McAnany & B. Isaac (ed.), Research in economic anthropology: Prehistoric Maya economies of Belize: 215-53. Greenwich (CT): JAI Press Inc.
11. GARBER, J.F., M.K. BROWN & C.J. HARTMAN. 1997. Excavations on Structure B1 at Blackman Eddy: results of the 1996 field season, in J.F. Garber & D.M. Glassman (ed.), The Belize Valley archaeology project: Results of the 1996 field season: 6-33. San Marcos (TX): Southwest Texas State University.
12. GIFFORD, J.C. 1976. Prehistoric pottery analysis and the ceramics of Barton Ramie in the Belize Valley. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Memoir 18.
13. HAMBLIN, N.L. 1984. Animal use by the Cozumel Maya. Tucson (AZ): University of Arizona Press.
14. HAMMOND, N. 1986. New light on the most ancient Maya, Man (n.s.) 21: 399-413.
15. (Ed.) 1991. Cuello: An early Maya community in Belize. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16. 1992 Preclassic Maya civilization, in E.C. Danien & R.J. Sharer (ed.), New theories on the ancient Maya: 137-44. Philadelphia (PA): University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Monograph 77.
17. HAMMOND, N., A. CLARKE & S. DONAGHEY. 1995. The long goodbye: Middle Preclassic Maya archaeology at Cuello, Belize, Latin American Antiquity 6(2): 120-28.
18. HATHER, J.G. & N. HAMMOND. 1994. Ancient Maya subsistence diversity: root and tuber remains from Cuello, Belize, Antiquity 68: 330-35.
19. HEALY, P.F. & J.J. AWE (ed.). 1995a. Belize Valley Preclassic Maya project: Report on the 1994 field season. Peterborough (ONT): Trent University. Occasional Paper in Anthropology 10.
20. 1995b. Preclassic Maya of the Belize Valley: 1994-1995 project research objectives, in Healy & Awe (1995a): 1-17.
21. 1995c. Radiocarbon dates from Cahal Pech. Belize: Results from the 1994 field season, in Healy & Awe (1995a): 198-215.
22. 1996. Belize Valley Preclassic Maya project: Report on the 1995 field season. Peterborough (ONT): Trent University. Occasional Papers in Anthropology 12.
23. HEALY, P.F., K. EMERY & L. WRIGHT. 1990. Ancient and modern Maya exploitation of the jute snail (Pachychilus), Latin American Antiquity 1(2): 170-83.
24. HOHMANN, B. & T. POWIS. 1996. The 1995 excavations at Pacbitun, Belize: Investigations of the Middle Formative occupation in Plaza B, in Healy & Awe (1996): 98-117.
25. KEEGAN, W.F. & M.J. DENIRO. 1988. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone collagen used to study coral-reef and terrestrial components of prehistoric Bahamian diet, American Antiquity 53: 320-36.
26. LAWLOR, E.J., A.J. GRAHAM & S.L. FEDICK. 1995. Preclassic floral remains from Cahal Pech, Belize, in Healy & Awe (1995a): 150-72.
27. LEE, D. & J.J. AWE. 1995. Middle Formative architecture, burials, and craft specialization: Report on the 1994 investigations at the Cas Pek group, Cahal Pech, Belize, in Healy & Awe (1995a): 95-115.
28. LENTZ, D. 1996. Foodstuffs, forests, fields, and shelter: A paleoethnobotanical analysis of vessel contents from the Cerén site, El Salvador, Latin American Antiquity 7(3): 247-62.
29. LENTZ, D., C.R. RAMIREZ & B.W. GRISCOM. 1997. Formative-period subsistence and forest-product extraction at the Yarumela site, Honduras, Ancient Mesoamerica 8(1): 63-74.
30. LONGIN, R. 1971. A new method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating, Science 230: 241-2.
31. MCKILLOP, H. 1995. Underwater archaeology, salt production, and coastal Maya trade at Stingray Lagoon, Belize, Latin American Antiquity 6: 214-28.
32. MACKINNON, J.J. & S.M. KEPECS. 1989. Prehispanic saltmaking in Belize: New evidence, American Antiquity 54: 522-33.
33. 4 plant cellulose, Nature 349: 127-31.
34. MIKSICEK, C.H. 1991. The ecology and economy of Cuello I: The natural and cultural landscape of Preclassic Cuello, in Hammond (1991): 70-84.
35. MOHOLY-NAGY, H. 1978. The utilisation of pomacea snails at Tikal, Guatemala, American Antiquity 43(1): 65-73.
36. POHL, M. 1985a. The privileges of Maya elites: Prehistoric vertebrate fauna from Seibal, in M. Pohl (ed.), Prehistoric Lowland Maya environment and subsistence economy: 133-45. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Paper 77.
37. 1985b. Osteological evidence for subsistence and status, in Pohl (1985a): 107-13.
38. POWIS, T. 1996. Excavations of Middle Formative period round structures at the Tolok Group, Cahal Pech, Belize. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Trent University, Peterborough (ONT).
39. 1997. Ancient Lowland Maya utilisation of the freshwater clam (Nephronaias sp.). Paper presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Nashville.
40. REED, D.M. 1994. Ancient Maya diet at Copán, Honduras, as determined through the analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, in K.D. Sobolik (ed.), Paleonutrition: The diet and health of prehistoric americans: 210-21. Carbondale (IL): Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University. Occasional Paper 22.
41. SCHWARCZ, H.P., J. MELBYE, M.A. KATENBERG & M. KNYF. 1985. Stable isotopes in human skeletons of southern Ontario: Reconstructing paleodiet, Journal of Archaeological Science 12: 187-206.
42. SHARER, R.J. 1992. The Preclassic origin of Lowland Maya states, in E.C. Danien & R.J. Sharer (ed.), New Theories on the ancient Maya: 131-6. Philadelphia (PA): University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Monograph 77.
43. SHAW, L. 1991. The articulation of social inequality and faunal resource use in the Preclassic community of Colha, Northern Belize. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (MA).
44. STANCHLY, N. 1995. Formative period Maya faunal utilisation at Cahal Pech, Belize: Preliminary analysis of the animal remains from the 1994 field season, in Healy & Awe (1995a): 124-49.
45. TYKOT, R.H., N.J. VAN DER MERWE & N. HAMMOND. 1996. Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen, bone apatite and tooth enamel in the reconstruction of human diet: A case study from Cuello, Belize, in M.V. Orna (ed.), Archaeological chemistry: Organic, inorganic, and biochemical analysis: 355-65. Washington (DC): American Chemical Society.
46. VAN DER MERWE, N.J., R.H. TYKOT & N. HAMMOND. 1994. Diet and animal husbandry of the Preclassic Maya at Cuello, Belize. Paper presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. New Orleans.
47. WEBSTER, D., N. GONLIN & P. SHEETS. 1997. Copan and Cerén: Two perspectives on ancient Mesoamerican households, Ancient Mesoamerica 8: 43-61.
48. WHITE, C.D., P.F. HEALY & H.P. SCHWARCZ. 1993. Intensive agriculture, social status, and Maya diet at Pacbitun, Belize, Journal of Anthropological Research 49: 347-75.
49. WHITE, C.D., F. LONGSTAFFE & R. SONG. 1996. Preclassic Maya diet at Cahal Pech, Belize: The isotopic evidence from human bone collagen. Paper presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans.
50. WHITE, C.D., M.D. POHL & H.P. SCHWARCZ. 1997. Maya husbandry of deer and dog. Paper presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Nashville.
51. WHITE, C.D. & H.P. SCHWARCZ. 1989. Ancient Maya diet: As inferred from isotopic and chemical analysis of human bone, Journal of Archaeological Science 16: 451-74.
52. WIESEN, A. & D. LENTZ. 1997. Floral remains at Cahal Pech and surrounding sites: Summary report. New York (NY): New York Botanical Garden.
53. WILLEY, G.R., W.R. BULLARD, JR., J.B. GLASS & J.C. GIFFORD. 1965. Prehistoric Maya settlement in the Belize Valley. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Paper 54.
54. WING, E. 1975. Animal remains at Lubaantun, in N. Hammond (ed.), Lubaantun: A Classic Maya realm: 379-83. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Monograph 2.
55. WING, E. & S. SCUDDER. 1991. The ecology and economy of Cuello II: The exploitation of animals, in Hammond (1991): 84-97.
56. WRIGHT, L. 1994. The Sacrifice of the earth? diet, health and inequality in the Pasión Maya lowlands. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of Chicago.
57. WRIGHT, L. & C.D. WHITE. 1995. Human biology in the Classic Maya collapse: Evidence from paleopathology and paleodiet, Journal of World Prehistory 10: 147-98.