Jaguar and puma captivity and trade among the Maya: Stable isotope data from Copan, Honduras

A new article by Nawa Sugiyama (George Mason University and former Smithsonian NMNH Peter S. Buck Post-doctoral Fellow) and co-authors Christine France (Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute) and William Fash (Harvard University) provides evidence that ancient Mesoamericans routinely captured and traded wild animals for symbolic and ritual purposes.  Archaeological remains of puma, jaguar, deer, crocodile, and birds were recovered from five ritual sites in the Maya city of Copan, Honduras.  The remains were tested using stable isotope analyses at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute to gain insight into regional origins of these animals  and determine if humans provided food to potentially captive pumas and jaguars.  The results indicated human influences in the diet, as well as distant regional origins for some of these animals.  Ultimately the findings of this research suggest Mesoamerican cultures kept wild animals in captivity for ritual purposes and that animal trade networks may have been quite extensive.

Click Jaguar and puma captivity and trade among the Maya: Stable isotope data from Copan, Honduras to read the article in Plos One for more information about the project.