FROM DEER TO DOGS: A DYNAMIC VIEW OF SUBSISTENCE, STATUS AND SOCIOPOLITICAL DEVELOPMENT AT CUELLO, BELIZE

Stable isotope data from the analysis of human and faunal remains from the Preclassic Maya site of Cuello, Belize provides information not only on subsistence strategy but also on status and gender differences among the site's inhabitants. When examined in chronological perspective, these data illustrate patterns in maize consumption that may reflect genetic developments in the maize cob, changes in agricultural productivity, and increasing social differentation, over a time span of more than one thousand years.

Specifically, carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bone collagen, and carbon isotope analyses of tooth enamel and/or bone apatite from a large sample of Cuello's 180 human burials are used to estimate the contribution of both protein and energy sources to the diet, and to differentiate between terrestrial and marine components. An equally large dataset for the archaeological fauna (deer, dogs, armadillo, peccary, turtle) and modern wildlife (including fish and shellfish), along with the information gained from the well-preserved botanical and faunal remains at Cuello, allows for the contextual reconstruction of the entire food web.

These results complement the isotopic data now available from other, mostly Classic, Maya sites. The large number of human individuals examined from Cuello, however, provide singular spatial and temporal control over the relationship between diet, age, sex, and burial wealth. Long-term cultural continuity in the Maya region is indicated by the probable consumption of maize-fed dogs at Cuello; in contrast, ethnohistoric suggestions of taming or loose-herding deer cannot be extended back to the Preclassic.