Kitty F. Emery

Investigating the Global Dispersal of Chickens in Prehistory Using Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Signatures

Data from morphology, linguistics, history, and archaeology have all been used to trace the dispersal of chickens from Asian domestication centers to their current global distribution. Each provides a unique perspective which can aid in the reconstruction of prehistory. This study expands on previous investigations by adding a temporal component from ancient DNA and, in some cases, direct dating of bones of individual chickens from a variety of sites in Europe, the Pacific, and the Americas. The results from the ancient DNA analyses of forty-eight archaeologically derived chicken bones provide support for archaeological hypotheses about the prehistoric human transport of chickens. Haplogroup E mtDNA signatures have been amplified from directly dated samples originating in Europe at 1000 B.P. and in the Pacific at 3000 B.P. indicating multiple prehistoric dispersals from a single Asian centre. These two dispersal pathways converged in the Americas where chickens were introduced both by Polynesians and later by Europeans. The results of this study also highlight the inappropriate application of the small stretch of D-loop, traditionally amplified for use in phylogenetic studies, to understanding discrete episodes of chicken translocation in the past. The results of this study lead to the proposal of four hypotheses which will require further scrutiny and rigorous future testing.

The noble beast: status and differential access to animals in the Maya world

In the Maya world of Central America some animal species were used as luxury goods and foods, access to which was differentially available on the basis of social rank or authority. Zooarchaeological research in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala reveals complexity in the distribution of animal remains between hierarchically ranked residences. In a comparison of animal use between elite households at Aguateca, resource access reflects variations in social rank, not occupational differences between high-status families. Diachronic analyses of species used throughout the Petexbatún region also indicate changes in status-differentiated use of favoured animals during periods of political stress. Variability in both samples is explained as the effect of individual or household responses to locally specific social and historical conditions.

Earliest Mexican Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in the Maya Region: Implications for Pre-Hispanic Animal Trade and the Timing of Turkey Domestication

Late Preclassic (300 BC–AD 100) turkey remains identified at the archaeological site of El Mirador (Petén, Guatemala) represent the earliest evidence of the Mexican turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in the ancient Maya world. Archaeological, zooarchaeological, and ancient DNA evidence combine to confirm the identification and context. The natural pre-Hispanic range of the Mexican turkey does not extend south of central Mexico, making the species non-local to the Maya area where another species, the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata), is indigenous. Prior to this discovery, the earliest evidence of M. gallopavo in the Maya area dated to approximately one thousand years later. The El Mirador specimens therefore represent previously unrecorded Preclassic exchange of animals from northern Mesoamerica to the Maya cultural region. As the earliest evidence of M. gallopavo found outside its natural geographic range, the El Mirador turkeys also represent the earliest indirect evidence for Mesoamerican turkey rearing or domestication. The presence of male, female and sub-adult turkeys, and reduced flight morphology further suggests that the El Mirador turkeys were raised in captivity. This supports an argument for the origins of turkey husbandry or at least captive rearing in the Preclassic.

BONE, SHELL, AND LITHIC EVIDENCE FOR CRAFTING IN ELITE MAYA HOUSEHOLDS AT AGUATECA, GUATEMALA

Abstract The site of Aguateca, Guatemala, was rapidly abandoned at the beginning of the ninth century a.d. (approximately a.d. 830), leaving a Pompeii-style assemblage scattered on the floors of elite residences. Horizontal excavation of these residences has revealed ancient elite activity and household-level craft-production areas, including in situ evidence for the manufacture of bone and shell artifacts using stone tools. Here, bone/shell-production sequences that identify artifact-crafting stages are combined with lithic microwear analyses using high-power microscopy that identifies lithic manufacturing tools. A combined distributional analysis of lithic manufacturing tools, bone and shell debitage, and finished products reveals the location and nature of bone/shell-artifact manufacture in the households of the Classic Maya elite. The evidence indicates that Aguateca nobility carried out part-time animal-product crafting, the specific nature of which varied among households. Household room-use distributions also hint that both women and men were involved in crafting most animal products. RESUMEN El sitio arqueológico de Aguateca, Guatemala, fue rápidamente abandonado a finales del período clásico tardío, dejando conjuntos arqueológicos al estilo de Pompeya esparcidos sobre los pisos de residencias de la élite. Excavaciones horizontales de dichas residencias han revelado actividades antiguas de la élite y áreas de producción artesanal a nivel de grupos domésticos, incluyendo evidencia de manufactura in situ de artefactos de hueso y concha utilizando herramientas líticas. Aquí para identificar las etapas de producción artesanal se combinaron el análisis de las secuencias de producción de artefactos de hueso y concha con los análisis de microhuellas de uso sobre artefactos líticos utilizando un microscopio de alto alcance. El análisis distribucional de artefactos líticos usados para procesar concha, hueso y piel de animales combinado con los desechos y productos finales de hueso y concha revela la localización y naturaleza de manufactura de artefactos de hueso y concha en los grupos domésticos de la élite clásica maya. Las referidas líneas de evidencia indican que la nobleza de Aguateca llevaba a cabo producción artesanal de hueso y concha a tiempo parcial que varía entre diferentes grupos domésticos. La distribución en el uso de los cuartos en los grupos domésticos también nos ofrecen una clave que tanto las mujeres como los hombres estaban involucrados en la producción de artefactos artesanales de concha y hueso.

Maya Hunting Sustainability: Perspectives from Past and Present

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.

Molecular phylogeny of the Nearctic and Mesoamerican freshwater mussel genus Megalonaias

Megalonaias is the most geographically widespread genus of the subfamily Ambleminae and is distributed across much of the eastern half of North America, from Minnesota to Nicaragua. Despite the large geographic distribution, the species-level diversity of Megalonaias is quite depauperate (2 spp.), suggesting the genus may not be constrained by the same physical, ecological, or physiological barriers that limit dispersal in many other amblemines. However, this hypothesis is contingent on the assumption that the current taxonomy of Megalonaias accurately reflects its evolutionary history, which remains incompletely understood due to the marginalization of Mesoamerican populations in systematic research. Using one mitochondrial (COI) and one nuclear marker (ITS1) sequenced from 41 individuals distributed across both the Nearctic and Mesoamerican ecoregions, we set out to better understand the species boundaries and genetic diversity within Megalonaias. The reconstructed molecular phylogeny and the observed genetic diversity suggests that Megalonaias is a monotypic genus and that Megalonaias nickliniana, currently considered a federally endangered species, is not a valid species. These results are discussed in the context of their systematic and conservation implications, as well as how the unusual life history strategy of Megalonaias may be influencing its molecular diversity.

Earliest isotopic evidence in the Maya region for animal management and long-distance trade at the site of Ceibal, Guatemala

Significance The nature of animal management in Mesoamerica is not as well understood compared with other state-level societies around the world. In this study, isotope analysis of animal remains from Ceibal, Guatemala, provides the earliest direct evidence of live animal trade and possible captive animal rearing in the Maya region. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes show that domesticated and possibly even wild animals were raised in or around Ceibal and were deposited in the ceremonial core. Strontium isotope analysis reveals the Maya brought dogs to Ceibal from the distant Guatemalan highlands. The possible ceremonial contexts of these captive-reared and imported taxa suggests animal management played an important role in the symbolic development of political power. This study uses a multiisotope (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium) approach to examine early animal management in the Maya region. An analysis of faunal specimens across almost 2,000 years (1000 BC to AD 950) at the site of Ceibal, Guatemala, reveals the earliest evidence for live-traded dogs and possible captive-reared taxa in the Americas. These animals may have been procured for ceremonial functions based on their location in the monumental site core, suggesting that animal management and trade began in the Maya area to promote special events, activities that were critical in the development of state society. Isotopic evidence for animal captivity at Ceibal reveals that animal management played a greater role in Maya communities than previously believed.

Lead (Pb) isotope baselines for studies of ancient human migration and trade in the maya region

We examined the potential use of lead (Pb) isotopes to source archaeological materials from the Maya region of Mesoamerica. The main objectives were to determine if: 1) geologic terrains throughout the Maya area exhibit distinct lead isotope ratios (206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, and 208Pb/204Pb), and 2) a combination of lead and strontium ratios can enhance sourcing procedures in the Mesoamerica region. We analyzed 60 rock samples for lead isotope ratios and a representative subset of samples for lead, uranium, and thorium concentrations across the Maya region, including the Northern Lowlands of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, the Southern Lowlands of Guatemala and Belize, the Volcanic Highlands, the Belizean Maya Mountains, and the Metamorphic Province/Motagua Valley. Although there is some overlap within certain sub-regions, particularly the geologically diverse Metamorphic Province, lead isotopes can be used to distinguish between the Northern Lowlands, the Southern Lowlands, and the Volcanic Highlands. The distinct lead isotope ratios in the sub-regions are related to the geology of the Maya area, exhibiting a general trend in the lowlands of geologically younger rocks in the north to older rocks in the south, and Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the southern highlands. Combined with other sourcing techniques such as strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and oxygen (δ18O), a regional baseline for lead isotope ratios can contribute to the development of lead isoscapes in the Maya area, and may help to distinguish among geographic sub-regions at a finer scale than has been previously possible. These isotope baselines will provide archaeologists with an additional tool to track the origin and movement of ancient humans and artifacts across this important region.