Anthropology

2000-Year Maya Odyssey: Tracking Animal Use and Exchange During the Rise and Fall of a Maya State
by Ashley Sharpe, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida
The site of Ceibal, Guatemala, was one of the oldest and longest-lasting Maya centers, with an occupational sequence spanning over two millennia (1000 BC – AD 1000). Zooarchaeological analysis of the animal remains gives an unprecedented view of how socioeconomic practices at the site changed over time, and reflect wider social changes throughout the Maya region. I examine how the ancient Maya used animals and their products to propagate status inequality and specializations, how the ritual and symbolic use of animals assisted in Ceibal’s rise as a major ceremonial center, and how certain local taxa may have been overexploited over time. Using stable isotopic analysis, I also examine whether the inhabitants at Ceibal attempted to manage wild fauna in captivity, and whether terrestrial species were imported to Ceibal from other regions as trade networks grew. Patterns in the faunal data reflect Ceibal’s development as one of the Maya region’s first state capitals, its struggle to maintain dominance over the area as political conditions across Mesoamerica shifted and reorganized over time, and its brief prosperity as one of the last surviving lowland capitals during the Classic Maya collapse.