Isotopic Evidence for Maya Patterns of Deer and Dog Use at Preclassic Colha

Based on our assessment of human exploitation of animals in the New World, we propose that one criterion for domestication should be dependence on humans for food, a trait that we test through isotopic analysis of faunal remains. Stable carbon- and nitrogen-isotope compositions of bone collagen have been analysed for 24 dogs and 16 deer found in well-dated contexts from the prehistoric Maya lithic manufacturing community of Colha, Belize. The …