Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-10T15:15:07.002Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE ANCIENT SHELL COLLECTORS: TWO MILLENNIA OF MARINE SHELL EXCHANGE AT CEIBAL, GUATEMALA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2019

Ashley E. Sharpe Open the ORCID record for Ashley E. Sharpe [Opens in a new window]
Ashley E. Sharpe*
Affiliation:
Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archaeology, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa-Ancón, Panama 0843-03092
*
E-mail correspondence to: SharpeAE@si.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examines 2,000 years of marine trade to the ancient Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Located almost 150 kilometers from the nearest coast in Belize, Ceibal was a large community spanning the Middle Preclassic through early Postclassic periods (1000 b.c.–a.d. 1200). It therefore provides an excellent opportunity to assess the marine resources imported through the southern Maya lowlands over many centuries, offering insight into trade networks, uses of shell ornaments, religious beliefs and rituals, and other activities involving marine species. The study compares marine invertebrate data from Ceibal to a neighboring subordinate community, Caobal, as well as data previously reported from sites in the southern Mesoamerican lowlands, in order to understand regional sociocultural and trade connections over time. The majority of Ceibal's marine taxa are Atlantic species and reflect shell trends observed elsewhere in Guatemala and Belize, suggesting strong ties to trade networks eastward to the coast that lasted many centuries.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , Fall 2019 , pp. 493 - 516
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Abbott, R. Tucker, and Morris, Percy A. 1995 Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies. 4th ed. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York.Google Scholar
Adams, Richard E.W. 1971 Ceramics of Altar de Sacrificios, Guatemala. Peabody Museum Papers 63. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Aizpuruia, Ilean Isel Isaza, and McAnany, Patricia A. 1999 Adornment and Identity: Shell Ornaments from Formative K'axob. Ancient Mesoamerica 10:117–127.Google Scholar
Andrews, E. Wyllys IV 1969 The Archaeological Use and Distribution of Mollusca in the Maya Lowlands. Middle American Research Institute Publication 34. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Andrews, E. Wyllys V, and Hammond, Norman 1990 Redefinition of the Swasey Phase at Cuello, Belize. American Antiquity 55:570–584.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo, and Munson, Jessica 2012 Ancient Maya Obsidian Exchange and Chipped Stone Production at Caobal, Guatemala. Mexicon 34:34–42.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo, Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Pinzón, Flory, Palomo, Juan Manuel, MacLellan, Jessica, and Sharpe, Ashley 2017a Early Maya Ritual Practices and Craft Production: Late Middle Preclassic Ritual Deposits Containing Obsidian Artifacts at Ceibal, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 42:408–422.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo, Inomata, Takeshi, Pinzón, Flory, and Palomo, Juan Manuel 2017b Polished Greenstone Celt Caches from Ceibal: The Development of Maya Public Rituals. Antiquity 91:701–717.Google Scholar
Ball, Joseph W., and Taschek, Jennifer T. 2003 Reconsidering the Belize Valley Preclassic: A Case for Multiethnic Interactions in the Development of a Regional Culture Tradition. Ancient Mesoamerica 14:179–217.Google Scholar
Barrera Rubio, Alfredo 1985 Littoral-marine Economy at Tulum, Quintana Roo, México. In The Lowland Maya Postclassic, edited by Chase, Arlen F. and Rice, Prudence M., pp. 50–61. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Bazy, Damien, and Inomata, Takeshi 2017 Multiple Waves of Political Disintegration in the Classic Maya Collapse: New Insights from the Excavation of Group D, Ceibal, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 42:82–96.Google Scholar
Beaubien, Harriet 2004 Excavation and Recovery of a Funerary Offering of Marine Materials from Copan. In Maya Zooarchaeology: New Directions in Method and Theory, edited by Emery, Kitty F., pp. 45–54. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles Press, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Blume, Anna 2011 Maya Concepts of Zero. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 155:51–88.Google Scholar
Bozarth, Steven R., and Guderjan, Thomas H. 2004 Biosilicate Analysis of Residue in Maya Dedicatory Cache Vessels from Blue Creek, Belize. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:205–215.Google Scholar
Brady, James E., and Ashmore, Wendy 1999 Mountains, Caves, Water: Ideational Landscapes of the Ancient Maya. In Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by Ashmore, Wendy and Knapp, A. Bernard, pp. 124–145. Blackwell Publishers, Malden and Oxford.Google Scholar
Burham, Melissa 2012 Excavaciones en las unidades residenciales 54 y F4-15: Operaciones CB210 y CB213. In Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun informe de la temporada de campo 2012, edited by Aguilar, Victor Castillo and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 163–192. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Burham, Melissa, and Rodas, Ricardo 2014 Excavaciones en el Grupo Pek: Operación CB218. In Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun informe de la temporada de campo 2014, edited by Pinzón, Flory María and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 118–137. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Buttles, Palma Jeanne 2002 Material and Meaning: A Contextual Examination of Select Portable Material Culture from Colha, Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Chase, Diane Z., and Chase, Arlen F. 1998 The Architectural Context of Caches, Burials, and Other Ritual Activities for the Classic Period Maya (as Reflected at Caracol, Belize). In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 299–332. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Claassen, Cheryl 2000 Quantifying Shell: Comments on Mason, Peterson, and Tiffany. American Antiquity 65:415–418.Google Scholar
Clarke, John E. 1991 The Beginnings of Mesoamerica: Apologia for the Soconusco Early Formative. In The Formation of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica, edited by Fowler, William R. Jr., pp. 13–26. CRC Press, Boca Raton.Google Scholar
Cochran, Jennifer Lynn 2009 A Diachronic Perspective of Marine Shell Use from Structure B1 at Blackman Eddy, Belize. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas, Arlington.Google Scholar
Coe, William R. 1990 Excavations in the Great Plaza, North Terrace and North Acropolis of Tikal. 6 vols. Tikal Reports, No. 14. University Museum Monograph 61. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dunning, Nicholas, Wahl, David, Beach, Timothy, Jones, John, Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl, and McCane, Carmen 2014 The End of the Beginning. In The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context: Case Studies in Resilience and Vulnerability, edited by Iannone, Gyles, pp. 107–126. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Emery, Kitty F., and Aoyama, Kazuo 2007 Bone, Shell, and Lithic Evidence for Crafting in Elite Maya Households at Aguateca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 18:69–89.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A., Reese-Taylor, Kathryn, and Mora-Marín, David 2002 The Origins of Maya Civilization: The Old Shell Game, Commodity, Treasure, and Kingship. In Ancient Maya Political Economies, edited by Masson, Marilyn A. and Freidel, David A., pp. 41–86. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A., Masson, Marilyn A., and Rich, Michelle 2017 Imagining a Complex Maya Political Economy: Counting Tokens and Currencies in Image, Text and the Archaeological Record. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 27:29–54.Google Scholar
Garber, James F. 1989 Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America. Volume II: The Artifacts. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.Google Scholar
Garber, James F. 2004 The Ancient Maya of the Belize Valley: Half a Century of Archaeological Research. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Geller, Pamela L. 2014 Sedimenting Social Identity: The Practice of Pre-Columbian Maya Body Partibility. In The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place, edited by Gabriel D. Wrobel, pp. 15–38. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Giovas, Christina M. 2009 The Shell Game: Analytic Problems in Archaeological Mollusc Quantification. Journal of Archaeological Science 36:1557–1564.Google Scholar
Gischler, Eberhard 2003 Holocene Lagoonal Development in the Isolated Carbonate Platforms Off Belize. Sedimentary Geology 159:113–132.Google Scholar
Graham, John A. 1990 Excavations at Seibal: Monumental Sculpture and Hieroglyphic Inscriptions. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 17, No. 1. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gutiérrez Castillo, Yeny Myshell 2015 Análisis de artefactos malacológicos provenientes del sitio arqueológico El Zotz, Petén, Guatemala. Unpublished Licenciatura thesis, Escuela de Historia, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Rachel J. 1987 The Archaeological Mollusca of Cerros, Belize. Unpublished Bachelor's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman, Clarke, Amanda, and Donaghey, Sara 1995 The Long Goodbye: Middle Preclassic Maya Archaeology at Cuello, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 6:120–128.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard D. 2005 Perspectives on Olmec-Maya Interaction in the Middle Formative Period. In New Perspectives on Formative Mesoamerican Cultures, edited by Powis, Terry G., pp. 51–72. Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
Healy, Paul F., Emery, Kitty F., Wagner, Teresa, Hohmann, Bobbi, and Stanchly, Norbert 2014 Bone and Shell Artifacts of Pacbitun. In Zooarchaeology of the Ancient Maya Centre of Pacbitun (Belize), edited by Healy, Paul F. and Emery, Kitty F., pp. 97–151. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, No. 16. Trent University, Peterborough.Google Scholar
Healy, Paul F., and Blainey, Marc G. 2011 Ancient Maya Mosaic Mirrors: Function, Symbolism, and Meaning. Ancient Mesoamerica 22:229–244.Google Scholar
Helmke, Christophe, Cheong, Kong F., Healy, Paul F., and Jørgensen, Mads S. 2015 A Painted Spondylus Shell from Burial 1-9, Pacbitun, Belize. Mexicon 37:43–47.Google Scholar
Hohmann, Bobbi M. 2002 Preclassic Maya Shell Ornament Production in the Belize Valley, Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Hohmann, Bobbi M. 2014 Middle Preclassic Shell Working at Pacbitun. In Zooarchaeology of the Ancient Maya Centre of Pacbitun (Belize), edited by Healy, Paul F. and Emery, Kitty F., pp. 56–78. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, No. 16. Trent University, Peterborough.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2014 Fire Intensity Assessment Through the Analysis of Artifacts and Building Materials: Burning and Abandonment at the Classic Maya Sites of Aguateca and Ceibal, Guatemala. Advances in Archaeological Practice: A Journal of the Society for American Archaeology 2:50–63.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2017 The Emergence of Standardized Spatial Plans in Southern Mesoamerica: Chronology and Interregional Interactions Viewed from Ceibal, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 28:329–355.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Pinzón, Flory, Burham, Melissa, Ranchos, José Luis, Aoyama, Kazuo, and Haraguchi, Tsuyoshi 2018 Archaeological Application of Airborne LiDAR to Examine Social Changes in the Ceibal Region of the Maya Lowlands. PLoS ONE 13:e0191619.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, MacLellan, Jessica, Burham, Melissa, Aoyama, Kazuo, Palomo, Juan Manuel, Yonenobu, Hitoshi, Pinzón, Flory, and Nasu, Hiroo 2017a High-Precision Radiocarbon Dating of Political Collapse and Dynastic Origins at the Maya Site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114:1293–1298.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, and Aoyama, Kazuo 2017b After 40 Years: Revisiting Ceibal to Investigate the Origins of the Lowland Maya Civilization. Ancient Mesoamerica 28:187–201.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Aoyama, Kazuo, Castillo, Victor, and Yonenobu, Hitoshi 2013 Early Ceremonial Constructions at Ceibal, Guatemala, and the Origins of Lowland Maya Civilization. Science 340:467–471.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Pinzón, Flory, Palomo, Juan Manuel, Sharpe, Ashley, Ortíz, Raúl, Méndez, María Belén, and Román, Otto 2017c Public Ritual and Interregional Interactions: Excavations of the Central Plaza of Group A, Ceibal. Ancient Mesoamerica 28:203–232.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, MacLellan, Jessica, Triadan, Daniela, Munson, Jessica, Burham, Melissa, Aoyama, Kazuo, Nasu, Hiro, Pinzón, Flory, and Yonenobu, Hitoshi 2015 Development of Sedentary Communities in the Maya Lowlands: Coexisting Mobile Groups and Public Ceremonies at Ceibal, Guatemala. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112:4268–4273.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Emery, Kitty 2014 Bone and Shell Artifacts. In Life and Politics at the Royal Court of Aguateca: Artifacts, Analytical Data, and Synthesis, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Triadan, Daniela, pp. 127–157. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Stiver, Laura 1998 Floor Assemblages from Burned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala: A Study of Classic Maya Households. Journal of Field Archaeology 25:431–452.Google Scholar
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) 2018 Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Electronic database, https://www.itis.gov, accessed January 26, 2018.Google Scholar
Keller, Angela H. 2012 Creating Community with Shell. In Chan: An Ancient Maya Farming Community, edited by Robin, Cynthia, pp. 253–270. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Kerr, Justin 2018 The Maya Vase Database. Electronic database, http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya.html, accessed January 26, 2018.Google Scholar
Kidder, Alfred V. 1947 The Artifacts of Uaxactun, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution Publication 576. Carnegie Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro 2005 Exploración y restauración en la plataforma este de Mundo Perdido (Estructuras 5D-83 a 5D-89). In XVIII simposio de investigaciones arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2004, edited by Laporte, Juan Pedro and Escobeco, Hector L., pp. 147–193. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología Guatemala, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro, and Ponce de León, María Josefa Iglesias 2004 Objetos de concha y caracol: Contexto y función en una colección de Tikal. Asociación Tikal, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Lee, Thomas A. 1969 The Artifacts of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 26. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Lomitola, Lisa M. 2012 Ritual Use of The Human Form: A Contextual Analysis of the “Charlie Chaplin” Figure in the Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando.Google Scholar
MacLellan, Jessica, and Cordero, Marta Alejandra 2014 Excavaciones en el grupo Karinel (Plataforma 47-Base): Operación CB211. In Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun informe de la temporada de campo 2014, edited by Pinzón, Flory María and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 76–103. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
MacLellan, Jessica, Cordero, Marta Alejandra, Mejía, Evelyn, and Burgos, Darling 2015 Excavaciones en el Grupo Karinel (Plataforma 47-Base): Operación CB211. In Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun informe de la temporada de campo 2015, edited by Pinzón, Flory María and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 55–96. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda R., Bokhimi, Xim, Tenorio, Dolores, Jiménez-Reyes, Melania, Rosales, Edgar, Martínez, Cira, and Winter, Marcus 2017 Procedencia de la mica de Teotihuacan: Control de los recursos suntuarios foráneos por las élites gobernantes. Anales de Antropología 51:23–38.Google Scholar
Mason, Roger D., Peterson, Mark L., and Tiffany, Joseph A. 1998 Weighing vs. Counting: Measurement Reliability and the California School of Midden Analysis. American Antiquity 63:303–324.Google Scholar
Maxwell, David Bruce Saxon 1996 An Analysis of Caches of Four Sites in the Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Maxwell, David Bruce Saxon 2000 Beyond Maritime Symbolism: Toxic Marine Objects from Ritual Contexts at Tikal. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:91–98.Google Scholar
McKillop, Heather I., and Winemiller, Terance 2004 Ancient Maya Environment, Settlement, and Diet: Quantitative and GIS Analyses of Mollusca from Frenchman's Cay, Belize. In Maya Zooarchaeology: New Directions in Method and Theory, edited by Emery, Kitty F., pp. 57–80. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles Press, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
McSwain, Rebecca, Johnson, Jay K., Kosakowsky, Laura J., and Hammond, Norman 1991 Craft Technology and Production. In Cuello: An Early Maya Community in Belize, edited by Hammond, Norman, pp. 192–203. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Melgar Tisoc, Emiliano Ricardo 2016 Shell Materials from Oxtankah, Quintana Roo. In Perspectives on the Ancient Maya of Chetumal Bay, edited by Walker, Debra S., pp. 217–232. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1963 Shells and Other Marine Material from Tikal. Estudios de Cultura Maya 3:65–83.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1985 The Social and Ceremonial Uses of Marine Molluscs at Tikal. In Prehistoric Lowland Maya Subsistence Economy, edited by Pohl, Mary D., pp. 147–158. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 77. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1989 Formed Shell Beads from Tikal, Guatemala. In Proceedings of the 1986 Shell Bead Conference: Selected Papers, edited by Haynes, Charles III, Ceci, Lynn, and Connie Cox Bodner, pp. 139–156. Rochester Museum and Science Center Research Records No. 20. Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester.Google Scholar
Munson, Jessica 2012 Temple Histories and Communities of Practice in Early Maya Society: Archaeological Investigations at Caobal, Petén, Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Munson, Jessica, and Pinzón, Flory 2017 Building an Early Maya Community: Archaeological Investigations at Caobal, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 28:265–278.Google Scholar
Munson, Jessica, and Inomata, Takeshi 2011 Temples in the Forest: The Discovery of an Early Maya Community at Caobal, Petén, Guatemala. Antiquity 85:1–4.Google Scholar
Ortíz, José Raúl, and Román, Otto Rodrigo 2010 Excavaciones al lado sur de escalinata de la Estructura A-20: Operación CB203D. In Informe del Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun: La temporada 2010, edited by Otto Román and Takeshi Inomata, pp. 103–112. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Osorio, José F. 2005 La Sub-estructura de los Estucos (5C-4-I): Un ejemplo de arquitectura temprana en Chichen Itza. In XVIII simposio de investigaciones arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2004, edited by Laporte, Juan P., Arroyo, Barbara, and Mejía, Hector, pp. 836–846. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Palomo, Juan Manuel 2014 Análisis de entierros. In Informe del Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun: La temporada 2014, edited by Pinzón, Flory María and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 162–169. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Palomo, Juan Manuel, and Jerez, María Reneé 2013 Excavaciones al centro de la Plaza Central del Grupo A: Operación CB203 K. In Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun segunda fase informe de la temporada de campo 2013, edited by Palomo, Juan Manuel, pp. 7–23. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Palomo, Juan Manuel, Inomata, Takeshi, and Triadan, Daniela 2017 Mortuary Rituals and Cranial Modifications at Ceibal: From the Early Middle Preclassic to the Terminal Classic Period. Ancient Mesoamerica 28:305–327.Google Scholar
Pinzón, Flory María 2012 Excavaciones en la parte este de la Plaza Central: Operación CB203B. In Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun, edited by Aguilar, Victor Castillo and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 7–31. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Pinzón, Flory María 2015 Excavaciones en la Plaza Central: Operación CB203K. In Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun informe de la temporada de campo 2015, edited by Pinzón, Flory María and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 7–29. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Pinzón, Flory María, and de Muylder, Sebastién 2014 Excavaciones en la Plaza Central: Operaciones CB203K y CB203L. In Informe del Proyecto Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun: La temporada 2014, pp. 7–28. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Powis, Terry G., Stanchly, Norbert, Healy, Paul F., White, Christine D., Awe, Jaime J., and Longstaffe, Fred J. 1999 A Reconstruction of Middle Preclassic Maya Subsistence Economy at Cahal Pech, Belize. Antiquity 73:364–376.Google Scholar
Powis, Terry G., Healy, Paul F., and Hohmann, Bobbi 2009 An Investigation of Middle Preclassic Structures at Pacbitun. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 6:169–177.Google Scholar
Rice, Don S. 1976 Middle Preclassic Maya Settlement in the Central Maya Lowlands. Journal of Field Archaeology 3:425–445.Google Scholar
Scherer, Andrew K. 2015 Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Sharpe, Ashley E. 2016a A Zooarchaeological Perspective on the Formation of Maya States. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Sharpe, Ashley E. 2016b Análisis de huesos faunísticos y conchas de los sitios San Bartolo y Xultun. In Proyecto Arqueológico Regional San Bartolo-Xultun: Informe de resultados de investigaciones, temporada de campo 2016, edited by Saturno, William A. and Beltrán, Boris, pp. 543–571. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Sharpe, Ashley E., and Emery, Kitty F. 2015 Differential Animal Use Within Three Late Classic Maya States: Implications for Politics and Trade. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 40:280–301.Google Scholar
Simmons, Scott E., and Graham, Elizabeth 2016 Maya Coastal Adaptations in Classic and Postclassic Times on Ambergris Caye, Belize. In Trading Spaces: The Archaeology of Interaction, Migration and Exchange. Proceedings of the 46th Annual Chacmool Archaeology Conference, edited by Patton, Margaret and Manion, Jessica, pp. 167–180. Chacmool Archaeology Association, University of Calgary, Calgary.Google Scholar
Spenard, Jon, Wagner, Teresa B., and Powis, Terry G. 2013 Of Shells, Soda Straws, Caves, and Kings: Crafting, Body Practices, and Identity Making among the Ancient Maya of Pacbitun, Belize. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 10:147–155.Google Scholar
Stanchly, Norbert 2016 The Blue Creek Faunal Assemblage. In The Ancient Maya City of Blue Creek, Belize: Wealth, Social Organization and Ritual, edited by Guderjan, Thomas H., pp. 199–210. BAR International Series, Vol. 2796. Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
Taschek, Jennifer T. 1994 Shell and Other Marine Materials. In The Artifacts of Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico: Shell, Polished Stone, Bone, Wood, and Ceramics, edited by Jennifer T. Taschek, pp. 11–66. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 50. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Taschek, Jennifer T., and Ball, Joseph W. 1999 Las Ruinas de Arenal: Preliminary Report on a Subregional Major Center in the Western Belize Valley (1991–1992 Excavations). Ancient Mesoamerica 10:215–235.Google Scholar
Tedlock, Dennis 1996 Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Thornton, Erin Kennedy 2012 Animal Resource Use and Exchange at an Inland Maya Port: Zooarchaeological Investigations at Trinidad de Nosotros. In Politics, History, and Economy in the Classic Maya Polity of Motul de San José, Guatemala, edited by Foias, Antonia E. and Emery, Kitty F., pp. 326–355. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Thornton, Erin Kennedy, and Emery, Kitty F. 2016 Patterns of Ancient Animal Use at El Mirador: Evidence for Subsistence, Ceremony and Exchange. Archaeofauna 25: 233–264.Google Scholar
Triadan, Daniela 2009 Excavaciones en la Estructura A-15: Operación CB201B. In Informe Arqueológico Ceibal-Petexbatun: La temporada 2009, edited by Román, Otto, Inomata, Takeshi, and Triadan, Daniela, pp. 17–30. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Triadan, Daniela 2015 Excavaciones en la Plataforma 97: CB222. In Proyecto Arqueologico Ceibal-Petexbatun informe de la temporada de campo 2015, edited by Pinzón, Flory María and Inomata, Takeshi, pp. 131–145. Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Triadan, Daniela, Castillo, Victor, Inomata, Takeshi, Palomo, Juan Manuel, Méndez, María Belén, Cortave, Mónica, MacLellan, Jessica, Burham, Melissa, and Ponciano, Erick 2017 Social Transformations in a Middle Preclassic Community: Elite Residential Complexes at Ceibal. Ancient Mesoamerica 28:233–264.Google Scholar
Tunnell, John W. Jr., Andrews, Jean, Barrera, Noe C., and Moretzsohn, Fabio 2010 Encyclopedia of Texas Seashells: Identification, Ecology, Distribution and History. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Varela, Eduardo Sousa, Beasley, Colin Robert, Schneider, Horacio, Sampaio, Iracilda, Marques-Silva, Nelane Do Socorro, and Tagliaro, Claudia Helena 2007 Molecular Phylogeny of Mangrove Oysters (Crassostrea) from Brazil. Journal of Molluscan Studies 73:229–234.Google Scholar
Velázquez Castro, Adrián, Maldonado, Norma Valentín, and Lowe, Lynneth S. 2015 El aprovechamiento de los moluscos durante el Formativo en Mesoamérica: El caso de dos entierros de Chiapa de Corzo. Arqueobios 9:117–136.Google Scholar
Wagner, Teresa, and Healy, Paul F. 2014 The Late Preclassic and Classic Period Shells of Pacbitun. In Zooarchaeology of the Ancient Maya Centre of Pacbitun (Belize), edited by Healy, Paul F. and Emery, Kitty F., pp. 79–96. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, No. 16. Trent University, Peterborough.Google Scholar
Wiewall, Darcy L., and Stanchly, Norbert 2006 Commoner Choice: New Insights into Household Production Strategies during the Late Postclassic to Early Colonial Transition at Lamanai, Belize. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 3:301–315.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R. 1978 Shell Artifacts. In Excavations at Seibal: Artifacts, edited by Willey, Gordon R., pp. 162–165. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 14, No. 1. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) 2018 World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Electronic database, http://www.marinespecies.org/, accessed January 26, 2018.Google Scholar