Animals and Ritual in the Copán Acropolis: Zooarchaeology of Special Deposits

Preliminary Results

Modern Fishes of the Copán Region: The Comparative Sample

Market trip: A total of thirteen specimens were collected from the Jocotán market, including examples from several taxonomic osteichthyean groups (chiclids, porcelids, siluriformes, and clupeids) and one crustacean taxon (freshwater shrimp). Several taxa (mojarras and catfish) were estuarine and peripheral, reportedly brought in from Río Dulce, and the rest, small fishes sold fresh or fried, were reportedly from local rivers.

A similar range of taxa were acquired or observed during the fishing expedition near Copán Ruinas with Don Leonides and his family. Some species appear to be local variants of the Jocotán fishes–probably separated color and morph variations from different river populations. It is possible in some cases though that the species, while closely related and used for similar purposes, are in fact distinguished by folk taxonomists. These taxonomies differ only slightly from the Linnean distinctions used by the FLMNH ichthyologists (all modern fish were identified by Robert Robins, Collection Manager, FLMNH Ichthyology).

The fish species collected from the Jocotán market included the riverine species cf. Hyphessobrycon (local: Pepesca), one Peciliidae species (local: Bute), and the cichlid cf. Cichlasoma managuense (local: Guapote). The estuarine Río Dulce species included a large ictalurid catfish (local: Filine), and two mojarras Cichlasoma lentinginosum species group and cf. Cichlasoma maculicauda. The species caught near Copán Ruinas included the Astyanax aeneneus (local: Machaca), a small catfish Rhamdia sp. (local: Filine), two Poeciliidae species (local: Plateada and Pichira), and two cichlids, one of which was also locally called Guapote although it was identified at the FLMNH as cf. Cichlasoma octofasciatum, and the other cf. Cichlasoma spilurum (local: Sheta).

These fish species and the freshwater shrimp are excellent comparative osteological matches for the archaeological specimens recovered from the Margarita Tomb vessels.

Animal Taxa of the Copán Acropolis Ritual Deposits

A total of 257 archaeological artifacts/ecofacts from the Copán Acropolis structures were examined during the 2004 season. Additional samples (contents unquantified) were taken from several vessels for analysis at the FLMNH. Identifications are complete for approximately 75% of the collection although specialists continue to work with the invertebrate, fish, and bird remains. Here we present only the materials recovered from ritual or ceremonial deposits. These remains will eventually be compiled with previous identifications from the Hunal and Margarita Tombs and elsewhere (Emery 2000b), as well as with materials from non-ritual contexts (in progress), to complete the picture of Copán Acropolis ritual animal use.

Ante Offerings ² 

Offering 90-1: Three Spondylus princeps valves, complete or almost complete were recovered, each with the white inner valve matrix scraped away to reveal the brilliant color of the valve itself. This spondylus is Pacific in origin, and is predominantly the species found in the Copán ritual deposits despite the greater frequency of the Atlantic spondylus at other sites.

Offering 91-3 (cache in front of Ante stairway, robbed in antiquity): Three large mammal long bone artifacts were recovered in this cache, including one spatulate tool tip and one wide oval tool base (perhaps the base of the spatulate tool, but no join is obvious) and two fragments too eroded to classify. The inclusion of worked mammal bone implements in caches is fairly common at other sites, but seems quite uncommon among those assemblages reviewed here. A second cache reported in the Ante stairway (number unknown) included a single Spondylus princeps valve.

Offering 92-1: Here were found three pearls likely from a Pinctada imbricata, and each an unusual mammiform shape perhaps significant to the offering itself. As well there were two complete left Pinctada imbricata valves, one Dasyatid stingray spine, one Arca zebra valve, six Astraea sp. shells, eight Chama macerophylla shells, two Cittarium sp. shells, five cf. Nephronaias sp. valves, seven Oliva caribaeensis shells, seven Oliva reticularis shells, one marine pelecypod valve, one Pleuroploca gigantea shell, and four Prunum apicinum shells. Finally the assemblage included a variety of bird remains (still under identification but likely including both quails and quetzales, and interestingly including many examples of young or nest-bound birds).

Offering 92-7: This offering included twenty-six Tectarius muricatus shells, two complete Strombus alatus (conch, one with two perforations in the rear body whorl), one Pachychilus indiorum (river jute), and four spines from a Diodontidae (porcupine fish). The inclusion of river shells among the marine elements in both this offering and the 92-1 is intriguing since it suggests that the watery symbolism is the important image, rather than a symbolic reflection specifically of the marine or riverine environment.

Offering (number and location unknown): Three bryozoan accumulations and five complete Chamidae valves were found in this offering.

Margarita Deposits ³ 

Offering 93-16: The Margarita Mercury Cache, found northwest of the Margarita Tomb, included a rectangular, masonry, offering box sealed with a large stone slab and containing three ceramic vessels. The offering box contained a variety of organic materials including various faunal materials, squash seeds, and the remnants of a wasp nest (Bell n.d., Davis-Salazar and Bell 2000). The faunal materials included a single complete Dasyatid/Myliobatid stingray spine, 10 carapace and plastron elements from a single small Dermatemys mawii (river turtle), 23 elements from a single small Kinosternid (mud/musk turtle) including both carapace/plastron and limb elements, 10 elements from a medium-sized boney fish (further identification needed), and 28 elements from a single Meleagris ocellata (ocellated turkey).

The cache also held three ceramic vessels, one ceramic lid, and both jade and organic materials. Vessel 1 was inverted over Vessel 2, which contained a complete, articulated, charred female turkey (Emery 2000), an additional disarticulated cranium, and nine stones that may have been intentionally placed in the bird's body cavity (Bell n.d.) since they are too large to be gizzard stones. The second turkey cranium found inside the vessel was likely placed there intentionally but was clearly originally associated with the second disarticulated bird found in the offering box. A single white quartz stone may have been associated with the second disarticulated bird.

Vessel 3 contained a layered deposit symbolically representative of the layers of the Maya cosmos. The upper layer included 3 Spondylus princeps valves, three complete Dasyatid/Myliobatid spines, and reportedly bird bones and Oliva sp. shells (these were not seen in the 2004 analysis). The central layer included a variety of carved and shaped objects, many of which were made of shell including both Pinctada sp. and Spondylus sp. The lowest level included 300 cc of liquid mercury on which floated a hematite mosaic mirror.

Margarita Tomb: The 2004 season concentrated on the sampling and recovery of materials from the vessels found in the Margarita Tomb, the hypothesized final resting place of the first queen of Copán. The vessel contents are still under investigation, however, the preliminary work has revealed the following.

Vessels 15 and 10 and 4 contain the remains of estuarine/freshwater shrimp very similar to those sold today in the local markets of the lowland Maya world. Vessel 15 contains exclusively the articulated remains of Macrobrachium sp., a decapod crustacean of the family Palaemonidae (Chance and Bruce, 1993; Holthusis, 1952). ⁴   None of these bowls contain any other taxa (specifically, no crayfish were recovered or seen in any bowl), and several individuals of the single shrimp species are represented in each bowl. These shrimp are today considered a seasonal treat since they are available primarily in June and July when they move with the rising waters from the estuaries into the rivers to breed. It is possible that their discovery in the Margarita Tomb could tell us what time of year the tomb was filled and sealed. Interestingly, the presence of both mandibles and rostral fragments indicates that the shrimp were placed in the bowl without first removing the heads. We wonder as well whether they were placed into the bowl raw since cooking would have degraded the carapace and made it less likely to preserve.

Vessels 2, 3, 12, and 8 contain the remains of small, likely freshwater fishes. Preliminary identification (Quitmyer 2005) indicates these include cichlids, shads/herrings, and minnows, all of which are still fished today from the local waterways and are sold in the local markets. In all vessels, the presence of cranial and postcranial elements (including tail fins and scales) indicates that the fish were placed in the vessels whole and with their skins. Vessel 8 appears to contain the remains of two fish taxa, Cichlasoma sp. (cichlid fishes), and Poeciliidae (minnows), including the vertebrae, operculum, and frontal skeletal items. Vessel 12 contains the vertebrae and articular of a Clupeidae (shad/herring). Vessels 2 and 3 are still under investigation, although a brief review shows that Vessel 3 contains at least 11 individuals, all one species.

At the market of Jocotán, the fish are sold either raw or deep fried (complete with skins) as a tasty snack. The local fishermen informed us that they often gather these fish immediately before a family party since they're considered festive fare.

Endnotes

2. Note that contextual information on the Ante caches is found in Sharer et al. (1992).

3. Note that detailed contextual information on the Margarita tomb and caches are found in Ellen Bell's doctoral dissertation (Bell n.d.), and in Bell et al. 2004.

4. Identifications were made by Quitmyer (2005) based on comparison of mandibular fragments with materials collected at the Jocotán market in Guatemala, only a few kilometers from Copán Ruinas, and with drawings in Chance and Bruce (1993) and Holthuis (1952).

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