For Yous Data - Wild Fauna Were Routinely Captured Too Traded Inwards Ancient Mesoamerica

New bear witness from the Maya urban marrow of Copan, inward Honduras, reveals that ancient Mesoamericans routinely captured in addition to traded wild animals for symbolic in addition to ritual purposes, according to a report published inward the open-access magazine PLOS ONE past times Nawa Sugiyama from George Mason University, Virginia, USA, in addition to colleagues.

Puma skull from the Motmot burial [Credit: N. Sugiyama]

Ancient Mesoamerican cultures used wild animals such equally puma in addition to jaguar for many purposes, including inward symbolic displays of condition in addition to power, equally subjects of ritual sacrifice, in addition to equally resources for processing into venison or arts and crafts products. Evidence of wild animals utilisation inward ancient Mesoamerica dates dorsum to the Teotihuacan civilization inward what is at ane time key United Mexican States (A.D. 1-550).

Archaeological findings of indigenous Mesoamerican fauna management strategies get got traditionally been underemphasized, due to the paucity of large domesticated game inward the New World inward comparing to the devastating touching of European livestock introduced inward the 1500s. In this study, the question squad analyzed archaeological samples of wild animals excavated from 5 ritual sites inward the Maya urban marrow of Copan (A.D. 426-822), inward Honduras.

The squad performed stable isotope analyses on os in addition to teeth from puma, jaguar in addition to other unidentified felids along amongst deer, owl, spoonbill, in addition to crocodile, to decide the diet in addition to geographical rootage of the animals. Some of the felid specimens tested, including puma in addition to jaguar, had high levels of C4 intake indicative of an anthropogenic diet despite the absence of indicators of captive breeding. Oxygen isotope levels inward deer in addition to felid specimens advise that unopen to animals in addition to derived arts and crafts products (e.g. pelts) used inward ritual practices originated inward distant regions of the Copan Valley.

These findings confirm previous question showing that Mesoamerican cultures kept wild animals inward captivity for ritual purposes in addition to let out that fauna merchandise networks across ancient Mesoamerica were to a greater extent than extensive than previously thought.

Sugiyama summarizes: "Encoded into the bones of jaguars in addition to pumas at the Maya site of Copan was bear witness of both captivity in addition to of expansive merchandise networks trading ritualized carnivores across the dynamic Mesoamerican landscape."

Source: Public Library of Science [September 12, 2018]


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