Zooarchaeological habitat analysis of ancient Maya landscape changes

Journal of Ethnobiology

Volumn 28, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 154-178

  Emery, Kitty F ^a   Thornton, Erin Kennedy ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA   (United States)

Author keywords

animal habitat; landscape change; Late Classic Maya; Maya collapse; zooarchaeology

Indexed keywords

ANIMALIA;

EID: 77954318857     PISSN: 02780771     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771-28.2.154     Document Type: Article

References (118)

1. Abrams, E.M., A. Freter, D.J. Rue, and J.D. Wingard. 1996. The role of deforestation in the collapse of the Late Classic Copan Maya state. In Tropical deforestation: The human dimension, eds. L.E. Sponsel, T.N. Headland, and R.C. Bailey, pp. 55-75. Columbia University Press, New York.
2. Allen, M.F., A. Gomez-Pompa, S.L. Fedick, and J.J. Jimenez-Osornio. 2003. The Maya lowlands: A case study for the future? Conclusions. In The lowland Maya area: Three millennia at the human-wildland interface, eds. A. Gomez-Pompa, M.F. Allen, S.L. Fedick, and J.J. Jimenez-Osornio, pp. 623-634. Food Products Press, New York.
3. Anselmetti, F.S., D.A. Hodell, D. Ariztegui, M. Brenner, and M.F. Rosenmeier. 2007. Quantification of soil erosion rates related to ancient Maya deforestation. Geology 35:915-918.
4. Atran, S. 1993. Itza Maya tropical agroforestry. Current Anthropology 34:633-700.
5. -. 2003. Anthropogenic vegetation: A garden experiment in the Maya lowlands. In The lowland Maya area: Three millennia at the human-wildland interface, eds. A. Gomez Pompa, M.F. Allen, S.L. Fedick, and J.J. Jimenez-Osornio, pp. 517-532. Food Products Press, New York.
6. Alvard, M.S., J.G. Robinson, K. Redford, and H. Kaplan. 1997. The sustainability of subsistence hunting in the Neotropics. Conservation Biology 11:977-982.
7. Beach, T. 1998. Soil catenas, tropical deforestation, and ancient and contemporary soil erosion in the Petén, Guatemala. Physical Geography 19:378-405.
8. Beach, T. and N. Dunning. 1995. Ancient Maya terracing and modern conservation in the Petén rain forest of Guatemala. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 50:138-145.
9. Beach, T. and N.P. Dunning. 1997. An ancient Maya reservoir and dam at Tamarindito, El Petén, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 8:20-29.
10. Beach, T., N.P. Dunning, S. Luzzadder-Beach, D.E. Cooke, and J.C. Lohse. 2006. Impacts of the ancient Maya on soils and soil erosion in the central Maya lowlands. Catena 65:166-178.
11. Binford, M.W., M. Brenner, T.J. Whitmore, A. Higuera-Gundy, and E.S. Deevey. 1987. Ecosystems, paleoecology, and human disturbance in subtropical and tropical America. Quaternary Science Review 6:115-128.
12. Brenner, M. 1983. Paleolimnology of the Petén Lake District, Guatemala: II. Mayan population density and sediment and nutrient loading of Lake Quexil. Hydrobiologia 103:205-210.
13. Brenner, M., B.W. Leyden, and M.W. Binford. 1990. Recent sedimentary histories of shallow lakes in the Guatemalan savannas. Journal of Paleolimnology 4:239-252.
14. Brenner, M., M.F. Rosenmeier, D.A. Hodell, and J.H. Curtis. 2002. Paleolimnology of the Maya lowlands: Long-term perspectives on interactions among climate, environment, and humans. Ancient Mesoamerica 13:141-157.
15. Campbell, D.G., A. Ford, K.S. Lowell, J. Walker, J. Lake, C. Ocampo-Raeder, A. Townesmith, and M. Balick. 2006. The feral forests of the eastern Petén. In Time, complexity, and historical ecology, eds. W. Balee and C.L. Erickson, pp. 21-56. Columbia University Press, New York.
16. Cannon, M.D. 2001. Archaeofaunal relative abundance, sample size, and statistical methods. Journal of Archaeological Science 28:185-195.
17. Chase, A.F. and D.Z. Chase. 1998. Scale and intensity in Classic Period Maya agriculture: Terracing and settlement of the "Garden City" of Caracol, Belize. Culture and Agriculture 20:60-77.
18. Collins, L.M. 2002. The zooarchaeology of the Copan Valley: Social status and the search for a Maya slave class. Ph.D. Dissertation (Anthropology), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
19. Cooke, R., M. Jimenez, and A.J. Ranere. 2008. Archaeozoology, art, documents, and the life assemblage. In Case studies in environmental archaeology(2nd edition), eds. E.J. Reitz, C.M. Scarry, and S.J. Scudder, pp. 95-121. Springer, New York.
20. Cuaron, A.D. 2000. Effects of land-cover changes on mammals in a neotropical region: a modeling approach. Conservation Biology 14:1676-1692.
21. Culbert, T.P. 1988. The collapse of Classic Maya civilization. In The collapse of ancient states and civilizations, eds. N. Yoffee and G. Cowgill, pp. 69-101. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
22. Cullen, L., R.E. Bodmer, and C. Valladares Padua. 2000. Effects of hunting in habitat fragments of the Atlantic forests, Brazil. Biological Conservation 95: 49-56.
23. Deevey, E.S., D. Rice, P.M. Rice, H.H. Vaughan, M. Brenner, and M.S. Flannery. 1979. Mayan urbanism: Impact on a tropical karst environment. Science 206:298-306.
24. Diamond, J. 2004. Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed. Viking Adult, New York.
25. Dunning, N.P. and T. Beach. 1994. Soil erosion, slope management, and ancient terracing in the Maya lowlands. Latin American Antiquity 5:51-69.
26. -. 2000. Stability and instability in prehispanic Maya landscapes. In Imperfect balance, ed. D. Lentz, pp. 179- 202. Columbia University Press, New York.
27. Dunning, N.P., T. Beach, P. Farrell, and S. Luzzadder-Beach. 1998a. Prehispanic agrosystems and adaptive regions in the Maya lowlands. Culture and Agriculture 20:87-106.
28. Dunning, N.P., T. Beach, and D.J. Rue. 1997. The Paleoecology and ancient settlement of the Petexbatun region, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:255-266.
29. Dunning, N.P., S. Luzzadder-Beach, T. Beach, J.G. Jones, V.L. Scarborough, and T.P. Culbert. 2002. Arising from the bajos: The evolution of a neotropical landscape and the rise of Maya civilization. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92:267-283.
30. Dunning, N.P., D.J. Rue, T. Beach, A. Covich, and A. Traverse. 1998b. Human-environment interactions in a tropical watershed: The paleoecology of Laguna Tamarindito, El Petén, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 25: 139-151.
31. Dunning, N.P., V. Scarborough, F.J. Valdez, S. Luzzadder-Beach, T. Beach, and J. Jones. 1999. Temple mountains, sacred lakes, and fertile fields: Ancient Maya landscapes in northwestern Belize. Antiquity 73:650-660.
32. Eisenberg, J.F. 1989. Mammals of the neotropics: Vol 1. The northern neotropics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
33. Emery, K.F. 1995. Zooarqueología de Kaminaljuyu: Análisis de huesos animales del Proyecto Kaminaljuyu/Miraflores, 1995. In Excavaciones en Kaminaljuyu/ Miraflores: Informe sobre temporada de campo 1995, ed. J.A. Valdes, pp. 1-6. Instituto de Antropoloǧá e Historia, Guatemala City.
34. -. 1997. The Maya collapse: A zooarchaeological inquiry. Ph.D. Dissertation (Anthropology), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
35. -. 2002. The noble beast: status and differential access to animals in theMaya world. World Archaeology 34:498-515.
36. -. 2004. Environments of the Maya collapse: A zooarchaeological perspective from the Petexbatun, Guatemala. In Maya zooarchaeology: New directions in method and theory, ed. K.F. Emery, pp. 81-96. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles.
37. -. 2007. Assessing the impact of ancient Maya animal use. Journal of Nature Conservation 15:184-195.
38. -. 2007. Aprovechamiento de la Fauna en Piedras Negras: Dieta, ritual y artesan ía del per íodo Clasico Maya. Mayab 19:51-69.
39. Emery, K.F. and P. Baker. 1992. Ritual faunal use and the Pacbitun faunal remains. Report on file at Trent University, Peterborough, ON.
40. Emery, K.F., L.E. Wright, and H.P. Schwarcz. 2000. Isotopic analysis of ancient deer bone: Isotopic stability in collapse period Maya land-use. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:537-550.
41. Emmons, L.H. 1997. Neotropical rainforest mammals: A field guide. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
42. Escamilla, A., M. Sanvicente, M. Sosa, and C. Galindo-Leal. 2000. Habitat mosaic, wildlife availability, and hunting in the tropical forest of Calakmul, Mexico. Conservation Biology 14:1592-1601.
43. Faust, B. 2001. Maya environmental successes and failures in the Yucatan Peninsula. Environmental Science and Policy 4:153-169.
44. Fedick, S.L. 1994. Ancient Maya agricultural terracing in the upper Belize River area: Computer-aided modeling and the results of initial field investigations. Ancient Mesoamerica 5:107-127.
45. -. 1996. The managed mosaic: Ancient Maya agriculture and resource use. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
46. Fedick, S.L. and A. Ford. 1990. The Prehistoric agricultural landscape of the central Maya lowlands: An examination of local variability in a regional context. World Archaeology 22:18-33.
47. Ford, A. 1991. Economic variation of ancient Maya residential settlement in the upper Belize River area. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:35-46.
48. -. 1996. Critical resource control and the rise of the Classic period Maya. In The managed mosaic: Ancient Maya agriculture and resource use, ed. S.L. Fedick, pp. 297-303. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT.
49. Ford, A., R. Larios, J. Normark, P. Morales, and C. Ramos. 2001. Influence of ancient settlement in the contemporary Maya forest: Investigating land use at El Pilar. Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research, MesoAmerican Research Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.
50. Gomez-Pompa, A., A. Flores, and J.S. Sosa. 1987. The 'Pet Kot': A man-made tropical forest of the Maya. Interciencia 12:10-15.
51. Gomez-Pompa, A. and A. Kaus. 1999. From pre-Hispanic to future conservation alternatives: lessons from Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 96:5982-5986.
52. Grayson, D.K. 1984. Quantitative zooarchaeology: Topics in the analysis of archaeological faunas. Academic Press, New York.
53. Hamblin, N. 1984. Animal use by the Cozumel Maya. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
54. Haug, G.H., D. Gunther, L.C. Peterson, D.M. Sigman, K.A. Hughen, and B. Aeschlimann. 2003. Climate and the collapse of Maya civilization. Science 299:1731-1735.
55. Healy, P.F. 1983. An ancient Maya dam in the Cayo District, Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 10:147-154.
56. Healy, P.F., J.D.H. Lambert, J.T. Arnason, and R.J. Hebda. 1983. Caracol, Belize: Evidence of ancient Maya agricultural terraces. Journal of Field Archaeology 10:397-410.
57. Hodell, D.A., J.H. Curtis, and M. Brenner. 1995. Possible role of climate in the collapse of classic Maya civilization. Nature 375:391-394.
58. Howell, S., N.G. and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
59. Islebe, G.A., H. Hooghiemstra, M. Brenner, J.H. Curtis, and D.A. Hodell. 1996. A Holocene vegetation history from lowland Guatemala. In The Holocene, pp. 265-271.
60. James, S.R. 1997. Methodological issues concerning screen size recovery rates and their effects on archaeofaunal interpretations. Journal of Archaeological Science 24:385-397.
61. Kidder, A.V., J.D. Jennings, and E.M. Shook. 1946. Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution, Washington, DC.
62. Kozelsky, K. 2005. Identifying social drama in the Maya region: Fauna from the Lagartero Basurero, Chiapas, Mexico. unpublishedMA Thesis (Anthropology), Florida State University, Tallahassee.
63. Kricher, J. 1997. A neotropical companion: An introduction to the animals, plants, and ecosystems of the New World tropics (2nd Edition). Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
64. Lambert, J.D.H. 1985. The ecological consequences of ancient Maya agricultural practices in Belize. In Prehistoric intensive agriculture in the tropics, ed. I.S. Farrington, pp. 113-126. BAR International Series 232, Oxford.
65. Lee, J.C. 2000. A field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the Maya world. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
66. Leyden, B.W. 2002. Pollen evidence for climatic variability and cultural disturbance in the Maya lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica 13:85-101.
67. Linares, O.F. 1976. "Garden hunting" in the American tropics. Human Ecology 4:331-349.
68. Lohse, J.C. and P.N. Findlay. 2000. A classic Maya house-lot drainage system in northwestern Belize. Latin American Antiquity 11:175-185.
69. Loyn, R.H. 1987. Effects of patch area and habitat on bird abundances, species numbers, and tree health in fragmented Victorian forests. In Nature Conservation: The Role of Remnants of Native Vegetation, eds. D.A. Saunders, G. Armnold, A. Burbidge, and A. Hopkins, pp. 65-77. Surrey Beatty, Chipping Norton, NSW, Australia.
70. Masson, M.A. 1999. Animal resource manipulation in ritual and domestic contexts at Postclassic Maya communities. World Archaeology 31:93-120.
71. Medellin, R. and M. Equihua. 1998. Mammal species richness and habitat use in rainforest and abandoned agricultural fields in Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Applied Ecology 35:13-23.
72. Mendéz, E. 1984. Mexico and Central America. In White-tailed deer: ecology and management, ed. L.J. Halls, pp. 513- 524. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg.
73. Naughton-Treves, L., J.L. Mena, A. Treves, N. Alvarez, and V.C. Radeloffs. 2003. Wildlife survival beyond park boundaries: the impact of slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting on mammals in Tambopata, Peru. Conservation Biology 17:1106-1117.
74. Netting, R.M. 1993. Smallholders, householders: Farm families and the ecology of intensive, sustainable agriculture. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
75. Neusius, S.W. 1996. Game procurement among temperate horticulturists: The case for garden hunting by the Dolores Anasazi. In Case studies in environmental archaeology, eds. E.J. Reitz, L.A. Newsom, and S.J. Scudder, pp. 273- 288. Plenum Press, New York.
76. Newell, S.D. 2005. An analysis of compound specific carbon isotopes of lipid biomarkers: A proxy for paleoenvironmental change in the Maya lowlands of Petén, Guatemala. M.Sc. Thesis (Geology), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
77. Nowak, Ronald M. 1991. Walker's mammals of the world (5th edition). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
78. Peters, C.M. 2000. Precolumbian silviculture and indigenous management of neotropical forests. In Imperfect balance, ed. D. Lentz, pp. 203-223. Columbia University Press, New York.
79. Pohl, M.D. 1976. Ethnozoology of the Maya: An analysis of fauna from five sites in Petén, Guatemala. Ph.D. Dissertation (Anthropology), Harvard University, Boston.
80. -. 1977. Hunting in the Maya village of San Antonio, Rio Hondo, Orange Walk District, Belize. Journal of Belizean Affairs 5:52-63.
81. -. 1985. The privileges of Maya elites: Prehistoric vertebrate fauna from Seibal. In Prehistoric lowland Maya environment and subsistence economy, ed. M.D. Pohl, pp. 133-145. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
82. -. 1990a. The ethnozoology of the Maya: Faunal remains from five sites in the Petén, Guatemala. In Excavations at Seibal, Guatemala, ed. G.R. Willey, pp. 142-174. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
83. -. 1990b. Interpretation of wetland farming in northern Belize: Excavations at San Antonio Rio Hondo. In Ancient Maya wetland agriculture: Excavations on Albion Island, northern Belize, ed. M.D. Pohl, pp. 187-254. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
84. -. 1994. The economics and politics of Maya meat eating. In The economic anthropology of the state, ed. E.M. Brumfiel, pp. 121-149. University Press of America, New York, NY.
85. -. 1995. Late Classic Maya fauna from settlement in the Copán Valley, Honduras: Assertion of social status through animal consumption. In The Copán residential zone, eds. G.R. Willey, R. Leventhal, A.A. Demarest, and W. Fash, pp. 459-476. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
86. Pohl, M. and L.H. Feldman. 1982. The traditional roles of women and animals in lowland Maya economy. In Maya subsistence, ed. K. Flannery, pp. 295- 312. Academic Press, New York.
87. Pollock, H.E.D. and C.E. Ray. 1957. Notes on vertebrate animal remains from Mayapan. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Current Reports 41:633-656.
88. Reid, F.A. 1997. A field guide to the mammals of Central America and southeast Mexico. University Press, New York.
89. Reitz, E.J. and E.S. Wing. 1999. Zooarchaeology. Cambridge University Press, New York.
90. Rice, D.S. 1996. Paleolimnological analysis in the central Petén, Guatemala. In The managed mosaic: Ancient Maya agriculture and resource use, ed. S. Fedick, pp. 193-206. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT.
91. Robinson, J.G. and E.L. Bennett. 2004. Having your wildlife and eating it too: An analysis of hunting sustainability across tropical ecosystems. Animal Conservation 7:397-408.
92. Robinson, W.D. 1999. Long-term changes in the avifauna of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, a tropical forest isolate. Conservation Biology 13:85-97.
93. Rosenmeier, M.F., D.A. Hodell, M. Brenner, J.H. Curtis, and T.P. Guilderson. 2002a. A 4000-year lacustrine record of environmental change in the southern Maya lowlands, Petén, Guatemala. Quaternary Research 57:183-190.
94. Rosenmeier, M.F., D.A. Hodell, M. Brenner, J.H. Curtis, J.B. Martin, F.S. Anselmetti, D. Ariztegui, and T.P. Guilderson. 2002b. Influence of vegetation change on watershed hydrology: Implications for paleoclimatic interpretation of lacustrine records. Journal of Paleolimnology 27:117-131.
95. Sanders, W.T. 1979. The jolly green giant in tenth century Yucatan, or fact and fantasy in Classic Maya agriculture. Reviews in Anthropology 6:493-506.
96. Santley, R.S., T.W. Killion, and M.T. Lycett. 1986. On the Maya collapse. Journal of Anthropological Research 42:123-159.
97. Scarborough, V.L. 1986. Drainage canal and raised field excavations. In Archaeology at Cerros Belize, Central America, eds. R.A. Robertson and D.A. Friedel, pp. 75-87. Southern Methodist University Press, Texas.
98. Shaffer, B.S. and J.L.J. Sanchez. 1994. Comparison of 1/80 and 1/40 mesh recovery of controlled samples of small-to-medium-sized mammals. American Antiquity 59:525-530.
99. Shaw, J. 2003. Climate change and deforestation: Implications for the Maya collapse. Ancient Mesoamerica 14:157-167.
100. Shaw, L.C. 1991. The articulation of social inequality and faunal resource use in the Preclassic community of Colha, northern Belize. Ph.D. Dissertation (Anthropology), University of Massachusetts, Massachusetts.
101. -. 1999. Social and ecological aspects of Preclassic Maya meat consumption at Colha, Belize. In Reconstructing ancient Maya diet, ed. C. White, pp. 83- 102. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
102. Shaw, L.C. and P.H. Mangan. 1994. Faunal analysis of an Early Postclassic midden, Operation 2032, Colha, Belize. In Continuing archaeology at Colha, Belize, eds. T.R. Hester, H.J. Shafer, and J.D. Eaton, pp. 69-78. Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX.
103. Smith, D.A. 2005. Garden game: Shifting cultivation, indigenous hunting, and wildlife ecology in western Panama. Human Ecology 33:505-537.
104. Stahl, P.W. 2006. Microvertebrate synecology and anthropogenic footprints in the forested neotropics. In Time and complexity in historical ecology, eds. W. Balee and C.L. Erickson, pp. 127- 149. Columbia University Press, New York.
105. Stanchly, N. 1995. Formative period Maya faunal utilization at Cahal Pech, Belize: Preliminary analysis of the animal remains from the 1994 season. In Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project: Report on the 1994 season, eds. P.F. Healy and J.J. Awe, pp. 124-149. Trent University, Peterborough, ON.
106. Thornton, E.K. and K.F. Emery. 2007. Uso e intercambio prehispánico de recursos de fauna en la entidad pol ítica de Motul, Petén, Guatemala. In XX Simposio de investigaciones arqueológicas en Guatemala, eds. J.P. Laporte and B. Arroyo, pp. 1181-1192.
107. -. in press. Preliminary analysis of zooarchaeological remains from El Mirador. In Introduction to Investigations at El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala. El Mirador Series, Part I, eds. R.T. Matheny and D.G. Matheny, Salt Lake City, UT.
108. Tillman, D., R.M. May, C.L. Lehman, and M.A. Nowak. 1994. Habitat destruction and the extinction debt. Nature 371: 65-66.
109. Turner, B.L. and P.D. Harrison. 1983. Pulltrouser Swamp: Ancient Maya habitat, agriculture, and settlement in northern Belize. University of Texas Press, Austin.
110. Wake, T.A. 2004. On the paramount importance of adequate comparative collections and recovery techniques in the identification and interpretation of vertebrate archaeofaunas: A reply to Vale and Gargett (2002). Archaeofauna 13:173-182.
111. Webster, D. 2002. The fall of the ancient Maya: Solving the mystery of the Maya collapse. Thames and Hudson, Ltd., London.
112. Whittington, S.L. 1989. Characteristics of demography and disease in low status Maya from Classic period Copan, Honduras. Ph.D. Dissertation (Anthropology), Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania.
113. Whittington, S.L. and D.M. Reed. 1997. Commoner diet at Copan: Insights from stable isotopes and porotic hyperostosis. In Bones of the Maya: Studies of ancient skeletons, eds. S.L. Whittington and D.M. Reed, pp. 157-170. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
114. Wing, E.S. 1975. Animal remains from Lubaantun. In Lubaantun: A Classic Maya realm, ed. N. Hammond, pp. 379-383. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
115. Wing, E.S. and S.J. Scudder. 1991. The exploitation of animals. In Cuello: An early Maya community in Belize, ed. N. Hammond, pp. 84-97. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
116. Wiseman, F.M. 1985. Agriculture and vegetation dynamics of the Maya collapse in central Petén, Guatemala. In Prehistoric lowland Maya environment and subsistence economy, ed. M.D. Pohl, pp. 63-71. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
117. Woodbury, R.B. and A.S. Trik. 1954. The ruins of Zaculeu, Guatemala. United Fruit Company, William Byrd Press, Richmond, NY.
118. Wright, L.E. 2006. Diet, health, and status among the Pasión Maya: A reappraisal of the collapse. Vanderbilt Institute of Mesoamerican Archaeology, Nashville, TN.