Preclassic

Diet and Animal Husbandry of the Preclassic Maya at Cuello, Belize Isotopic and Zooarchaeological Evidence... 

Cuello was excavated by Hammond and co-workers between 1975 and 1993. It is the earliest known Preclassic Maya site, with a Preclassic occupation from ca. 1200 BC to AD 300 as well as later Classic period (AD 300-900) remains the earliest pottery-using phase (Swasey, 1200-900 BC) has not yet been found at other Preclassic sites, but the Bladen (900-600 BC) and subsequent phases match occupations elsewhere in date and material culture. The Cuello excavations have been extensively described in the report edited by Hammond (1991). Of particular relevance here are the chapters on the ecology and subsistence economy (Ch. 4) by Miksicek and by Wing and Scudder, and on the human burials (Ch. 7), by Frank and Julie Saul. More recent publications have focused on the subsistence economy (Crane and Carr 1994) and on the human skeletal remains (Saul and Saul 1997). 

We wished to establish the nature of the Preclassic Maya diet at Cuello, with special interest in the extent to which maize was a staple, and whether its importance increased over time as it became more productive. Given the importance of maize to Maya civilization, a measure of its consumption in the Preclassic is a high priority. 

The 8 C values of the Preclassic humans at Cuello (Table 2.1) average -12.9 0.9%o (n = 28) in collagen, -9.8 1.0 in bone apatite (n = 16), and -8.7 2.3%o in tooth enamel apatite (n = 33) the S N values in collagen average 8.9 1.0%o (n = 23). The discrepancy in the number of specimens is due to the fact that more teeth were available than post-cranial material, while some of the specimens contained insufficient collagen to measure the nitrogen isotope ratios. Additional bone apatite analyses are in progress. 

Figure 2.1. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values of human and animal bone collagen from the Preclassic at Cuello.

It is perhaps more instructive to compare the Preclassic 8 C collagen values with those of modern residents. The hair of the camp cook at the Cuello excavations had a 5 C value of-16.4%o and a 8 N value of 9.8%o (Table 2.3). 

Five other isotope studies of Maya skeletal populations in Belize are available for comparison with Cuello (Table 2.4 Fig. 2.3). These include a time series from Preclassic to Historic at Lamanai (White and Schwarcz 1989), an Early through Terminal Classic sequence at Pacbitun (White et al. 1993),... 

Figure 2.4. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values in human bone collagen from Preclassic Belize (Cuello and Lamanai) and from the Preclassic Peten (Altar de Sacrificios and Seibal).

Clutton-Brock, J. and Hammond, N. 1994 Hot dogs comestible canids in Preclassic Maya culture at Cuello, Belize. Journal of Archaeological Science 21 819-826. 

Crane, C.J. and Carr, S.H. 1994 The integration and quantification of economic data from a late Preclassic Maya community in Belize. In Sobolik, K.D., ed., Paleonutrition The Diet and Health of Prehistoric Americans. Occasional Paper 22, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Carbondale, University of Southern Illinois 66-79. 

Miksicek, C.H. 1991 The ecology and economy of Cuello the natural and cultural landscape of Preclassic Cuello. In Hammond, N., ed., Cuello An Early Maya Community in Belize. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 70-84. 

White, C.D., Longstaffe, F. and Song, R.-J. 1996 Preclassic Maya diet at Cahal Pech, Belize the isotopic evidence from human bone collagen. Paper presented at the 6L Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans. 

Fig. 3.27 Visible spectra for indigo (rhombs), dehydroindigo (squares), and a Maya Blue sample (triangles) from Calakmul, Late Preclassical period...

Activation analysis of selected groups of sherds of typically Oaxacan and Teotihuacan ceramics has shed some light on the question of the Oaxacan presence at Teotihuacan and the related concept of long-distance trade between the two centers during early Classic times. Studies of Preclassic Tlatilco figurines reveal them to have been locally manufactured. 

It seemed to us that the whole problem of Olmec trade and the interrelationship of the preclassic sites in Mesoamerica offered an unusually favorable case for the method of grouping via paste-compositional patterns based on neutron activation analysis. As a start on this program we include here the analysis of six preclassic Tlatilco figurines, and we compare their analyses with those of two modern specimens and touch upon the archaeological conclusions possible. 

However, one Oaxacan style sherd from Teotihuacan showed Oaxacan composition and thus was probably imported. Finally, the analysis of a group of six preclassic figurines and a clay from Tlatilco in the Valley of Mexico very strongly suggests that the figurines were also locally made. 

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