Ian Nathaniel Roa

This project investigates ritual engagement with animals from well-documented, previously excavated ritual contexts at four major Maya polities – Baking Pot, Cahal Pech, Lower Dover, and Xunantunich in the Belize River Valley. In contrast to much previous Maya zooarchaeological research, this project takes ritual economy and social zooarchaeology approaches in a multi-sited comparative study to provide a “zoontological” perspective on sociopolitical variability across the local region. This project focuses on two critical periods: Middle/Late Preclassic (300 BC-AD 300) when the lineaments of Maya political structure, center development, and ceremonial practices were codified, and the Late/Terminal Classic (AD 750-900/1000) when Belize Valley residents responded to social and ecological challenges (particularly drought) that ultimately resulted in political collapse. This research aims to review the role played by ritual manipulation of animals (physical and symbolic) in these developments. From this material, a sample of 189 specimens will be utilized for stable isotope analysis providing information on animal diet, geographic origins, and climate conditions. This large, evenly distributed sample will make it possible to address a number of current hypotheses concerning the extent of unique processes of Maya ritual engagement with socially valued animals.