The health and biodiversity of the ancestral maya forest: A zooarchaeological perspective

The Classic Period Maya thrived in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, southern Mexico and El Salvador for nearly eight centuries, constructing massive cites of limestone under a worldview that merged natural and human-constructed together. Zooarchaeology in the region has contributed to this understanding of the Maya’s non-anthropocentric ontology with an array of studies into how the Maya used animals in their diet, ritual, and daily life, and viewed them as part of the natural landscape. Studying faunal remains in the southern Maya lowlands has contributed to the reconstruction of the environments that the Maya lived in over the course of their deep ancestral past. Using zooarchaeological data previously unanalyzed from the Valley of Peace Archaeology project in central Belize, along with principles and theories from conservation biology like surrogate and umbrella species, I have attempted to analyze past biodiversity and forest health through the Preclassic to Postclassic (500 BCE-1500 CE) at three sites: Saturday Creek, Yalbac, and Cara Blanca. Preliminary trends in the faunal record suggest that at Saturday Creek, the Maya did not degrade their environment to necessitate the abandonment of the site, but at Yalbac and Cara Blanca, the Maya abandoned the sites prior to the Postclassic, possibly due to environmental changes. The sample size taken for this project is considerably smaller than other regional assessments through the lowlands, so these environmental trends are preliminary at best. However, analysis of the zooarchaeological record from these sites also indicates some level of differential access to animals and gives further insight into ritual activity occurring at all three sites during the Late and Terminal Classic (600-900 CE).

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Taylor, Rachel

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lucero, Lisa J
• Ambrose, Stanley
• Bishop, Katelyn J
• Paige, Ken

• Maya
• Zooarchaeology
• Classic Period Maya
• Belize
• Ancient Maya
• Ancestral Maya
• Cara Blanca
• Yalbac
• Conservation Biology
• Surrogate Species
• Forest
• Forest Health
• Biodiversity

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Rachel Taylor

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124278

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124278