ABSTRACT
Zooarchaeology lies at the intersection of the biological and cultural sciences, and its practitioners respond to the development of new trends and paradigms in both fields. As culture historians, Maya zooarchaeologists provided species lists of animals used by the ancient Maya. As processualists, they attempted to define a Maya diet and patterns of Maya animal use. Today, zooarchaeologists in other parts of the world are examining ritual, economics, and politics within the context of a new “social zooarchaeology,” describing local effects of environmental and anthropogenic change on the human-animal relationship and applying lessons learned from these studies to modern global sustainable development initiatives. Maya zooarchaeology is following suit and has made excellent progress in the study of social zooarchaeology. However, it remains hindered by a lack of either the detailed coverage or comparable samples from Maya archaeological sites that would be sufficient to fully describe patterns of ancient animal distribution and use across the region, or completely understand variability among households, community groups, or sites.
