Much more than meat alone: The role of cervids in Pre-Columbian subsistence strategies in Panama

Identifier:  TDX:3727

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX3727

Authors:  Martínez Polanco, María Fernanda

Abstract:
This research has the objective to understand the hunting activities of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and dwarf deer (Mazama sp.) as a subsistence strategy in Pre Columbian Panama. From pre-ceramic groups to complex politicized societies located in the area of Parita Bay (Cerro Mangote [7800-4600 cal yr BP], Sitio Sierra [2200 -500 cal yr. BP] and Cerro Juan Díaz [300 BCE - 1600 CE]) and Pearl Island archipelago (Playa don Bernardo [6200-5600 cal yr BP]). In order to better understand human and deer relation across time and space, it was proposed a multiproxy approach to study deer samples, that includes zooarchaeology, taphonomy, mesowear, microwear, stable isotopes analysis and geometric morphometrics. The white-tailed deer was dietarily and culturally by far the most important mammal at the Late Preceramic Cerro Mangote. By studying the deer sample from Sitio Sierra it can be concluded that ritual activities mediated the feasts where deer meat was the principal course. The refuse feature in Operation 1/1B at Cerro Juan Díaz clearly represents the waste of a deer bone and antler workshop. In the case of Playa don Bernardo, human intervention produced heavy impacts on terrestrial mammals including insular extirpation of the dwarf deer between 5700 and 2300 cal yr BP