An isotopic examination of Maya Preclassic and Classic animal and human diets at Ceibal, Guatemala

Abstract

This study examines the carbon (δ13C), oxygen (δ18O), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes from the dental enamel of 63 animals and compares these data to the carbon signatures from 21 humans from the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Comparing both domestic dogs and non-domestic species over a history spanning two millennia, we find that subsistence strategies and interregional relationships between Ceibal and other areas changed over time, likely because of broader sociopolitical trends that affected the entire Maya region. During the first half of Ceibal’s history (1100 BCE – 250 CE), dogs consumed more maize than humans. Dogs were likely intentionally fed maize as they were a major meat source at the time, and “foreign”-born dogs were transported to the site from the volcanic highlands, two hundred kilometers to the south. The reliance on dogs as food appears to have changed during the Early Classic period (250 – 600 CE), as much of the site was abandoned and the remaining inhabitants began to focus their subsistence predominantly on maize agriculture and hunting local deer. Mammals were no longer moved from long distances to Ceibal, as the principal faunal imports were marine shells from an exchange network with the Caribbean coast. The isotope data complement other artifactual data at the site and demonstrate how Maya subsistence strategies varied over time.