!!!!

101!

!

Figure!9.!Field!season!2014!faunal!skeletal!portions.!

Very! few! specimens!with! ageLrelated! data!were! recovered! during! field! season!

2014! (NISP! =! 15)! (Table! 4),! which! suggests! meat! foods! were! not! being! culled! at! a!

particular! age25.! To! date,! no! animal! pens! or! enclosures! have! been! recovered,! which!

supports!the!idea!that!animals!were!being!hunted!and!not!cared!for!domestically!within!

the!plantation!household.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!25 !Age! related! faunal! data! (e.g.,! bone! fusion)! may! elucidate! behavioral! information! about! hunting!practices!(e.g.,!size!of!deer!or!antler!growth/season)!or!domestic!animal!culling!(e.g.,!age!at!which!pigs!are!slaughtered).!

39.13%&

3.23%&

56.40%&

0.31%& 0.19%& 0.74%&

Uniden2fied&Elements&

Head/Neck& Vertebra/Rib& ForeEquarter& HindEquarter& Foot&0.00%&

10.00%&

20.00%&

30.00%&

40.00%&

50.00%&

60.00%&

!!!!

102!

!

Table!4:!Field!Season!2014!Faunal!Demographics!

$Barrel$Stays$

Pig/peccary! (Sus$ scrofa$ or! Pecari$ tajacu)! made! up! 18.27%! of! the! site! faunal!

assemblage! biomass.! However,! it! is! very! possible! that! pig! made! up! a! much! higher!

percentage!of!the!meat!foods!consumed!at!the!site!then!the!bones!suggest.!The!groups!

living!at!Lamanai!during! the!eighteenth!and!nineteenth!centuries! likely!also!ate!salted!

pork,!a!common!preserved!food!packed!and!distributed!in!wooden!barrels.!Barrel!stays!

were! recovered! from! all! parts! of! the! 2014! field! season! excavation! site! (Figure! 10),!

although! large! barrels! were! a! common! packing! medium! for! basically! anythingLthatL

couldLfitLintoLaLbarrel,! including! the!dry! cement!mix!used! to!make!concrete!known! to!

have!been!utilized!at!the!site.!!

Taxon Common(Name Element Age(at(Fusion FUSED UNFUSED TOOTH WEAR

Osteichtyes Fishunknown fusing vertebrae unknown 3

Siluriformes Catfishunknown fusing vertebrae unknown 1

Testudines Turtleunknown fusing humerus, distal unknown 1

humerus, proximal unknown 1Crocodylus sp. Crocodile

unknown fusing vertebrae unknown 1Accipitridae Osprey/Hawks/Eagles

unknown fusing phalanx, proximal and distal (complete specimen) unknown 1Gallus gallus Chicken

unknown fusing humerus, proximal unknown 1Felididae Cat/Ocelot/Margar/Jaguarundi/Jaguar

unknown fusing phalanx, proximal and distal (complete specimen) unknown 1Cingulata Armadillo

unknown fusing vertebrae unknown 2Sus scrofa or Pecari tajacu Pig or Peccary

pre-birth fusing metatarsal, proximal* pre-birth 1early fusing phalanx, proximal and distal (complete specimens) 12-24 weeks 3

middle fusing tibia, distal 24 weeks 1metatarsal, distal* 26-29 weeks 1

little to no tooth wear molar juvenile 1heavy tooth wear cheek teeth adult 2

Odocoileus sp. Mule Deer/White-tailed Deerulna, proximal 26-42 weeks 1

Bos taurus Cowpre-birth fusing metatarsal, proximal* pre-birth 1

middle fusing metatarsal, distal* 26-29 weeks 1Total NISP 15 6 3

*same specimen (complete)

!!!!

103!

!

Figure!10.!Example!of!a!recovered!barrel!stay.!

'Charcoal''

Charcoal! was! recovered! throughout! the! site,! but! Concentration! 2! had! the!

highest! percentage! of! coal! within! the! discrete! assemblage:! Concentration! 1=2.05%;!

Concentration!2=9.39%,!and!Concentration!3=.72%.!

Construction'Materials'

Iron$Cut$Nails$

Iron! cut! nails! were! recovered! from! throughout! the! excavation! site,! but!

Concentration! 2! had! the! highest! percentage! of! nails! within! the! discrete! assemblage:!

Concentration!1=3.19%;!Concentration!2=7.65%,!and!Concentration!3=1.32%.!

!!!!

104!

Concrete$

Thin! pieces! of! concrete!were! recovered! from! Concentrations! 1! (N=4/0.46%! of!

the! total! assemblage)! and! 2! (N=347/8.87%! of! the! total! assemblage).! The! concrete!

materials! likely! represent! a! poured! concrete! floor,! which! will! be! discussed! in! the!

“Features”! subsection! below.! Concrete! was! recovered! from! all! Concentration! 2! lots!

except!for!LA!3211,!LA!3212,!and!LA!3203!(Figure!11).!

!

Figure!11.!Concrete!fragment!examples.!

$Window$Glass$

Window!glass!was!recovered!from!lots!LA!3202,!LA!3215,!and!LA!3224.!

$$

!!!!

105!

Mortar/Stucco$

Lime!mortar/stucco!was!recovered!from!Concentration!1!(N=10)!and!2!(N=287).!

This! material! may! have! been! used! to! weatherproof! a! stone! wall! or! hearth! within!

Concentration!2,!but!no!such!features!have!been!identified!at!this!time.!Mortar/stucco!

was!recovered!from!all!lots!within!Concentration!2!(Figure!12).!!

!

Figure!12.!Mortar/stucco!examples.!

$Brick$

Whole!imported!bricks!and!brick!fragments!were!recovered!from!all!areas!of!the!

2014!field!season!excavations.!The!highest!concentration!of!brick!was!observed! in! the!

northeast!sector!of!Concentration!2!(Figure!13).!

!!!!

106!

!

Figure!13.!Imported!brick!examples.!

'Features'!Platform$

The!bulk!of!the!2014!field!season!excavations!took!place!atop!a!large!earth!and!

rubble!filled!platform!(~1m!x!~25m!x!~10m)26.!The!feature!includes!a!3.5m!“extension”!

located!within!the!southeast!quadrant!of!the!platform!boundaries.!Seven!lots!(LA!3203,!

LA!3207,!LA!3209,!LA!3210,!LA!3214,!LA!3215,!and!LA!3219)!were!excavated!all!the!way!

through! the! platform! fill! to! the! natural,! limestone! floor.! All! of! the! lots! excavated! to!

natural! floor27!contained! both!Maya! and! imported,! colonialLera!materials.! Both!Maya!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!26!The!full!footprint!of!the!platform!structure!is!currently!unknown.!The!2014!excavations!did!not!entirely!expose!the!feature.!27!Because!it!was!originally!posited!that!the!platform!was!a!preLcontact!feature,!the!structure’s!core!was!avoided!until!the!final!week!of!excavations!when!the!decision!was!made!to!expose!the!entire!brick!wall!located!in!the!northeast!end!of!the!feature.!At!that!time,!it!was!discovered!that!the!core!fill!included!both!local!and!imported!objects!and!materials!down!to!the!natural,!limestone!floor.!

!!!!

107!

and! colonialLera! materials! were! recovered! from! surface! to! natural,! limestone! floor,!

which! suggests! the! feature! was! constructed! postLcontact;! although! a! second!

explanation!is!that!the!core!could!have!been!dug!through!during!the!construction!of!the!

wall! and! refilled,! depositing! the! lateLcolonial! materials.! The! lack! of! Spanish! colonial!

objects!present!in!the!fill,!along!with!the!relative!dates!of!the!recovered!artifacts,!likely!

places! the! construction! sometime! between! the! late! eighteenth! and! midLnineteenth!

centuries,! although! more! research! is! needed! to! test! this! hypothesis.! The! undulating!

surface!of! the!platform! (as! a!whole)! suggests! that!multiple! structures! (or! rooms!with!

dividing!walls)!were!present!at!some!point! in! time,!however! the!2014!excavations!did!

not!find!any!clear!signs!of!walls!or!room!separators.!A!greater!portion!of!the!platform!

surface! needs! to! be! excavated! in! order! to! assess! the! whole! of! the! feature’s! spatial!

layout!and!function!

Although!the!platform!fill!showed!few!signs!of!water!turbation!and!mixing!(note:!

natural!processes!will!be!discussed!in!further!detail!below),!both!land!and!water!snails!

were! recovered! from!all!areas!of! the!site,!which!may!suggest! that!at! some!point(s)! in!

time! the!water! reached!high!enough! to!deposit!water! snails! atop! the!most!westward!

boundaries!of!the!2014!field!season!excavation!site.!But,!pomacea!and!jute!snails!were!

popular! food! items,! so! the!presence!of! these! fauna! throughout! the! excavation! site! is!

just!as!likely!a!result!of!consumption!and!disposal,!over!time.!!

$$

!!!!

108!

Previously$Excavated$Trench$$

A!discovery!trench!(~7.5m!x!~4m),!previously!excavated!by!David!Pendergast!and!

Claude! Bélanger! during! the! 1980s! (see! Figure! 14),! was! observed! in! the! far! southeast!

quadrant! of! the! site! during! excavations.! The! trench! lies! directly! east! of! a! rockLlined!

circular!pit!feature/lot!LA!3207]!and!was!excavated!down!to!the!natural!limestone!floor.!

Previously$Excavated$Trench$$

A!discovery!trench!(~7.5m!x!~4m),!previously!excavated!by!David!Pendergast!and!

Claude! Bélanger! during! the! 1980s! (see! Figure! 14),! was! observed! in! the! far! southeast!

quadrant! of! the! site! during! excavations.! The! trench! lies! directly! east! of! a! rockLlined!

circular!pit!feature/lot!LA!3207]!and!was!excavated!down!to!the!natural!limestone!floor.!

!

Figure!14.!Exploratory!trench!excavated!by!Pendergast!and!Claude!Bélanger!into!platform.!

'$$

!!!!

109!

Ash$Concentrations$

Two!ash!concentrations!(lots!LA!3219!and!LA!3215/3217)!were!observed!during!

excavations!(Figure!15!and!Figure!16).!

!

Figure!15.!Ash!concentration!(Lot!LA!3219).!

!!!!

110!

!

Figure!16.!Ash!concentration!(Lots!LA!3215/3127).!

$Brick$Wall$

Concentration!2!contained!a!30cm!x!6.4m!x!75cm!(h/l/w)!brick!wall!within!lots!LA!

3209,!LA!3210,!and!LA!3227.!Concrete!mortar!with!brick!molds!on!the!top!layer!of!the!

wall!suggests!that!the!feature!originally!had!more!courses!then!what!is!currently!present!

(Figure!17).!