The Ancient Shell Collectors

Two Millennia of Marine Shell Exchange at Ceibal, Guatemala

Bibliographic Data

ID6033650
AuthorsAndrew Sharpe (0000-0003-3568-1734, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume30
Issue3
Pages493-516
Publication date2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAncient Mesoamerica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-5361 • E-ISSN: 1469-1787
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0956536118000366
OpenAlexW2946051572
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited48

This study examines 2,000 years of marine trade to the ancient Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Located almost 150 kilometers from the nearest coast in Belize, Ceibal was a large community spanning the Middle Preclassic through early Postclassic periods (1000b.c.–a.d.1200). It therefore provides an excellent opportunity to assess the marine resources imported through the southern Maya lowlands over many centuries, offering insight into trade networks, uses of shell ornaments, religious beliefs and rituals, and other activities involving marine species. The study compares marine invertebrate data from Ceibal to a neighboring subordinate community, Caobal, as well as data previously reported from sites in the southern Mesoamerican lowlands, in order to understand regional sociocultural and trade connections over time. The majority of Ceibal's marine taxa are Atlantic species and reflect shell trends observed elsewhere in Guatemala and Belize, suggesting strong ties to trade networks eastward to the coast that lasted many centuries

Archaeology · Biology · Geography · Marine conservation · Maya · Ornaments · Taxon · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Ecology · Geology · Paleontology

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