Abstract
This discussion will present evidence from two research projects, one zooarchaeological and the other ethnozoological, to address questions of sustainability in past and present Maya hunting practices. Zooarchaeological studies of animal remains from archaeological sites across the Maya region reveal some evidence of unsustainable hunting practices, primarily associated with larger and more politically complex settlements. However, these studies do not point to regional overhunting, biodiversity reduction, or extinctions, indicating that ancient Maya hunting was sustainable over 2,000 years. A second study investigates modern highland Maya hunting ceremonialism and reveals complex attitudes to wild animal harvesting. Belief in an “Animal Guardian” who determines hunting quotas and appropriate hunting behavior may link to an embedded conservation ethic. However, zoological harvest information gathered from the remains of hunted animals deposited at hunting shrines suggests that modern hunting practices may not reflect that ethic. Together, the two datasets are used to explore issues of complexity in past and present hunting activities. In each study, potentially sustainable practices become less-so under certain circumstances, particularly those causing stress on previously stable animal management systems. Some thoughts are offered on the difficulties and benefits of disseminating these complex results to different audiences. The value of understanding the factors that drive both sustainable and unsustainable practices far outweighs the disadvantages of presenting potentially unpalatable information about indigenous environmental resource management. The difficulty lies in presenting the research to each stakeholder in terms and contexts that are appropriate to understanding the implications of the data.
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Notes
- 1.
We mapped and defined activity areas at each of three active communal shrines with the assistance of hunters and ritual practitioners. We recorded zooarchaeological data such as species, element, age, sex, side, and modifications on all remains, and linked these to the specific activity areas at each shrine. More recently we have been using these data to search for hunting shrines in the archaeological record which might indicate a continuity of these beliefs and practices into the ancient history of the Maya (Emery et al. 2009).
- 2.
In Santiago Atitlán, the Tz’utujil Maya make pre-hunt offerings and hunting permission requests to the animal guardian in the Cofradía San Juan where they have transformed a colonial-period statue of Saint John the Baptist into the Guardian of the Animals (Carlsen 1997:98).
- 3.
As the caretaker of wild fauna, specifically land mammals, the dueño protects the creatures of the forest making sure hunters do not abuse them or take more creatures then needed. If hunters do not maintain all ceremonial protocol, the animal guardian exacts revenge that can result in illness or even death of the person (Brown and Emery 2008).
- 4.
In her extensive review, Brown notes ethnographic accounts of an animal guardian among the Yukatek, Mopan, Huastec, K’iche’, Tzeltal, and the Tz’utujil Maya (all examples are from Brown 2005:138). The Chortí of Guatemala receive instructions from the guardian of the deer in a dream before their hunt (Wisdom 1940:72–73). The Yukatek Maya provide maize offerings to the forest spirit known as T’zip, the supernatural protector of deer, to ensure hunting success (Redfield and Villa Rojas 1934:140). The Mopán Maya of Belize burn copal offerings to the morning star as the owner of animals (Thompson 1930:142). Among the Huastec Maya of Veracruz, pre-hunt rituals include the ceremonial opening of a corral with an enclosed deer skull which signifies the release of a deer from the “master of the animals” (Alcorn 1984:88). The Huichol of northern Mexico offer rites to the divine owner of deer (Myerhoff 1974:201). Brown offers many more examples.
Brown and Emery (2008) also report that in the Guatemalan highlands, Archbishop Pedro Cortes y Larraz (1958 [1768–1770]:119–120) referred to hunting rituals where burned offerings were made around a deer carcass to a deer lord named Xaqui Coxol and he noted that the deer bones were carefully guarded to avoid the anger of Xaqui Coxol. Sapper (1897:268) recorded a deer-hunting ritual and offering of the head to Tzultakah (lord of the forest and guardian of animals) by Tzeltal Maya of Chiapas. Colonial period indigenous texts such as the sixteenth-century K’iche’ Popol Vuh also document an animal guardian (Tedlock 1985:51, 76–77).
Several researchers have linked the modern and historic descriptions of the animal guardian to depictions of God Y in the codices, a god associated by many researchers with hunting and wild animals, particularly deer. God Y is evident in the Madrid Maya codex (Tozzer 1941:155, n. 780; Vail 1997:75; Zimmermann 1956), in various hunting almanacs, using deer accessories such as a deer headdress, antlers, and deer-ear ornaments (Bill 1997:114; Vail 1997), or with a deer, in both the Madrid (Taack 1973; Vail 1997) and the Maya Dresden codex (Colas 2006:83; Taube 2003:473, 475, Figures 7b-c). God Y’s name is read as Uuc Zip or 7 Zip in Yucatec orthography (Davoust 1997; Taube 2003:473), and the deer is sometimes described as yatan or “wife“ of Uuc Zip. Gabrielle Vail (1997, 2005) and others (Bill et al. 2000; Bricker 1991; Colas 2006; Taube 1988) link God Y with the hunting god Suhui Dzip described by Diego de Landa (Tozzer 1941).
In Classic Period iconography, Taube (Taube 1997, 2003) has described the deer guardian T’zip depicted as a wrinkled old man with deer-like attributes including deer ears, antlers, and lips, as well as hunting clothing and accoutrement such as a grass skirt, broad-brimmed hat, or a conch shell trumpet (Brown 2005:139). Known depictions of T’zip are found on Classic Period ceramic vessels (Taube 2003:Fig. 26.7e,g) and in the painted murals of Bonampak (Taube 1997). Epigraphic references to T’zip are found in stone inscriptions at Copan (Taube 2003:Fig. 26.7c) and Dos Pilas (Taube 2003:Fig. 26.7b).
- 5.
Formal interviews by Brown and informal discussions with Emery in 2007
- 6.
Clear prey age and sex preferences are made by both the specialized hunters and the farmer/hunters. None of the hunters preferentially will hunt an immature animal of any game class except when hunting crias to take as pets (Emery personal experience and Jorge). All the hunters agree that males are preferred over females when hunting large game either because the males are bigger (Gabriel) or because the females might have young (Gabriel, Guadeloupe, Jorge) and may continue producing (Cornelio). Less emphasis is put on sex of small game and although males are still preferred (Guadeloupe, Cornelio), “they don’t stop to check” (Guadeloupe). Interestingly, one informant (Cornelio) commented that only males are taken when hunting sereques and micos because “the female menstruates and they’re too much like little women”. (All from Emery 2005 Interview Notes)
- 7.
We cannot provide a direct quantification of the actual number of animals that contributed to our samples because the processes of use, deposition, and preservation are so variable that it is impossible to accurately predict the correlations between the animals used and the animal bones recovered. The NISP provides a count of all specimens analyzed but this measure over-represents animals that have very numerous skeletal elements as well as those with very well preserved elements (e.g. between robust bivalve shells and the fragile and delicate cranial bones of a fish). However, our comparisons are based on taxa from a single class, mammals, that are relatively similar in terms of preservation and recovery. Therefore, the NISP provides an accurate assessment of relative frequency in this study.
- 8.
- 9.
Dog is likely to have been managed differently at the various sites. It is one of the most frequently encountered species at Preclassic Kaminaljuyu as it is at many Preclassic sites across Mesoamerica (Clutton-Brock and Hammond 1994; Wing 1978). At Kaminaljuyu dogs are generally found in association with elite and ritual deposits, several times accompanying burials (Emery et al. in press; Kidder et al. 1946). Again, this seems to be a Preclassic trend (Rosenswig 2006; Teeter 2001). Dogs are less often found in ritual deposits in the later lowland sites.
- 10.
This analysis is based on NISP which over-represents taxa with higher numbers of bony elements such as the turtle. The turtle has been conservatively estimated in all cases, but these values should be considered high. In all comparative analyses, the use of only mammals will render most taxonomic differences due to NISP irrelevant. However, the numerous scutes of the armadillo have been eliminated from the analysis as well since these also affect the comparisons when using NISP.
- 11.
Because these two sites contain only mammals, artiodactyls represent a significantly higher proportion than at other sites. In all comparative analyses, the use of only mammals will counteract this difference
- 12.
No remains of vulnerable species were found in the Kaminaljuyu samples examined here (Emery et al. in press). However, burials and caches at the site examined in earlier studies by other researchers did contain vulnerable species such as cats (including jaguars, pumas, ocelots, jaguarundi, and margay cats) and monkeys (both howler and spider monkeys) (Kidder et al. 1946). These were not quantified in the publications, so we are not able to include Kaminaljuyu in this analysis.
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Acknowledgments
The research discussed in this paper was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Wenner Gren Foundation. Our thanks also to our friends and collaborators of the Maya highlands and lowlands – our research and lives have been enriched by the time we have spent with them. Finally, thanks to Richard Chacon for his enthusiasm, suggestions, and support during the writing of this paper!
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Emery, K.F., Brown, L.A. (2012). Maya Hunting Sustainability: Perspectives from Past and Present. In: Chacon, R., Mendoza, R. (eds) The Ethics of Anthropology and Amerindian Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1065-2_6
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