Preclassic Cuello

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). 

The historic Maya diet is protein-deficient, and it was long assumed that prehispanic meat intake was also low (Morley 1946 25 Behar 1968), although 

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. 

Where CO2 in the free atmosphere has a 5 C value of-7%o, C3 and C4 plants are anticipated to have 5 C values of about -26.5%o and -12.5%o respectively (van der Merwe 1989) archaeological maize, however, typically averages -9.5%o(Schwarcz et al. 1985). The isotopic values of modern maize and C3 plant foods in Mesoamerica (Wright 1994 203-206), after correction for the Industrial Effect, average -9.6%o and -26.4%o respectively. Since herbivore collagen is typically enriched by +5%o relative to the diet (van der Merwe 1989), animals from this region with a pure C3 plant diet should 

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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. 

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

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. 

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