The Origins of Early Colonial Cows at San Bernabé, Guatemala: Strontium Isotope Values at an Early Spanish Mission in the Petén Lakes Region of Northern Guatemala

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

“…Nonlocal animals have 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values that differ from the local area. Migration studies in Mesoamerica have focused on human remains ( 29 ), although a handful have assessed the movement of animals across the landscape as well ( 30 , 31 ). Thornton ( 31 ) found evidence of occasional nonlocal deer and peccaries at Maya sites in Guatemala and Belize, indicating that such animals were exchanged during the Classic and Postclassic periods, perhaps as part of the market economy that existed by that time ( 32 , 33 ).…”

Early Colonialism and Population Movement at the Mission San Bernabé, Guatemala

“…From the view of the colonial world, the Peten represented a frontier situated between the provincial capitals Merida and Santiago de Guatemala. Frontier communities served as buffers for exchange of both traditional goods such as cotton and cacao, as well as metal and European-introduced crops and animals (Caso Barrera 2002:162, 228; Freiwald and Pugh 2018; Shiratori 2019). There was no clear physical border or territorial marker (Parker 2006; see Halperin et al 2020), however, and political boundaries moved as Maya groups rebelled and pushed the Spanish out of their territories (Jones 1998).…”

“…Material culture from the 2010–2012 excavations supports a mainly Itza occupation based on offerings and ceramic types, with indigenous individuals who were likely related buried under the floor of the mission church (Miller 2015b; Pugh et al 2012). Markedly different patterns emerged in food use and burial practices, however, along with more nuanced changes in ceramic styles and the presence of objects like coins that may signal new types of economic transactions (Freiwald and Pugh 2018; Pugh et al 2016). Isotopic assays can show whether the movement of people into the region was also one of the consequential changes marking the Peten's early Colonial period.…”

“…The lack of evidence for large movements of people across a boundary, however, does not negate the impact of Colonial period changes. The boundary itself moved, and with it brought distinct foods and foraging patterns, fealties, and even faith to the Maya populations in the region (Freiwald and Pugh 2018; Pugh et al 2012, 2016).…”

ZACPETEN STRUCTURE 719: ACTIVITIES AT A CONTACT PERIODPOPOL NAHBEFORE RAPID ABANDONMENT

“…Effigy incensarios were found only in the front room of Structure 719; composite censers were recovered in both front and back. In the front room, a reconstructible Kulut Modeled (UCP ware) effigy censer, with traces of red, black, and blue pigment and a small cup in its receptacle, was recovered on the west side of the medial shrine along with part of a cow mandible (Figure 6e; Freiwald and Pugh 2018; Pugh 2001:435; Pugh et al 2009:195, Figure 9.2). Kulut censers have been identified only at Kowoj sites and the effigy figure is thought to represent either the Maya creator god Itzamna or an ancestor.…”