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Ancient Maya mariners used the sea as a transportation highway that provided access around the Yucatan and to inland rivers, and offshore, for trade, travel, and seafood. In contrast, the inland Maya viewed the sea as hazardous, with unmarked shoals, dangerous marine life, and underworld symbolism. The mercantile Maya on offshore islands such as Wild Cane Cay did not put their financial resources into monumental architecture on the scale of inland cities, but the coastal Maya did display their wealth by burying expensive and imported goods with their deceased citizens. Gold, turquoise, jadeite, imported pottery from Pacific Guatemala, from Honduras, and Mexico, and other goods, were transported along the coast and taken out of circulation and buried in graves at coastal trading ports. Salt was brokered from surplus household production as standard units in the form of salt cakes at the Paynes Creek Salt Works in southern Belize and elsewhere along the coast. The salt cakes were transported by boat and traded at inland markets, where there was a demand for dietary salt. Because of their standard size and non-perishable packaging, salt cakes were used as tokens for keeping track of financial transactions at marketplaces. Sea-level rise has submerged ancient Maya coastal sites, which are hidden from modern view, underwater or in the modern mangrove landscape, making the coastal Maya less visible in modern times compared to antiquity. The coastal Maya of southern Belize from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic are reviewed, with broader discussion of the ancient maritime Maya in general.
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The Role of Marine Foods in Ancient Diets across a Coastal to Inland Transect of Monterey County
We examine the role of marine food across a transect of sites in Monterey County, California, from the Pacific Coast to 70 km. inland. This study presents new stable carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and strontium isotope data from human bone, and serial samples of teeth, as well as baseline data from a range of plant and animal remains. We estimate dietary contributions using two different mixing models. Results indicate that marine foods contributed between 65-75% of protein budgets on the coast, 30-40% in locations 10 km. from the coast, and just 1-6% 70 km. inland. Serial sampling of teeth, which estimates diet at 0.5-2.0 year intervals, shows that access to marine foods 10 km. from the coast was not marked by high-amplitude pulses, but was more continual and consistent, demonstrating the strong and persistent interconnections of coastal and near-coastal groups. By contrast, people living 70 km. inland were dependent almost entirely on terrestrial foods, consistent with consumption of resources such as pine and manzanita. Although they traded with coastal people for objects such as shell beads, the movement of marine foods themselves was minimal.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2021256
- PAR ID:
- 10451442
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of California and Great Basin anthropology
- Volume:
- 42
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2327-9400
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 159-176
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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