Wild Animals Were Traded And Captured in Ancient Mesoamericans

According to a new study, from the Maya city of Copan, in Honduras, Mesoamericans routinely captured and traded wild animals for the ritual and symbolic purposes. The study was published on 12th September, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Wild animals such as puma and jaguar were used by ancient Mesoamericans for many purposes. It includes symbolic displays of status and power, as resources for processing into venison or craft product and as subjects of ritual sacrifice.

In A.D. 1-550, evidence of wild animals which were used in ancient Mesoamerica dates back to the Teotihuacan culture in what is now central Mexico. In the 1500s, Archaeological discoveries of indigenous Mesoamerican animal management techniques have generally been underemphasized, because of the lack of large tamed diversion in the New World in contrast with the devastating impression of European animals. In Honduras, the research team analysed the study and said that archaeological samples of wild animals excavated from five ritual sites in the Maya city of Copan (A.D. 426-822).

The team performed stable isotope analyses on teeth and bone from jaguar, puma and other unidentified fields along with owl, deer, spoonbill, and crocodile, to determine the diet and geographical origin of the animals. These findings also confirm the previous research. Nawa Sugiyama, an Assistant Professor in Sociology and Anthropology summarizes: Encoded into the bones of jaguars and pumas at the Maya site of Copan was evidence of both captivity and of expansive trade networks trading ritualized carnivores across the dynamic Mesoamerican landscape."

By: Vidhi Kesarwani

Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180912144430.htm