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 feeding sign made by the animal, had ascertained over several days the species and general behavior of 

 the prey. Game was tracked throughout the year, but was less frequently so during the height of the 

 dry season, according to hunters, when noise from dry leaves and ground litter could alert the game. 



Stands and platforms were used primarily as sites from which to kill animals at night while 

 they were feeding in gardens or on fallen fruit in the forest. Deer (during April-July) and pacas 

 (during December-March) were especially vulnerable to this technique. Usually stands and platforms 

 were constructed on an elevated location in Uie garden or at a location with a clear view of the game 

 trail and the fallen fruit. Stands and platforms also were constructed at waterholes and at the entrances 

 of caves used by pacas and agoutis. 



Traps were used primarily to capture pocket gophers, but pacas and agoutis also were taken. 

 Normally, traps were set in gardens where the hunter was working or along trails enroute to the work 

 site. Traps usually were checked twice a day while the hunter was in the area. According to hunters, 

 traps were inefficient as they often misfired, the prey often escaped, other hunters frequently stole the 

 game, or the hunter forgot the location of the trap. 



When compared with other subsistence hunters, the Maya should be considered as indigenous 

 peasants and not as indigenous hunters. Maya hunters at X-Hazil Sur were quite similar to Brazilian 

 settlers and colonists with respect to the techniques used in that both groups used dogs, tracked/stalked 

 game, hunted by day and by night, and constructed stands/platforms. The Maya at X-Hazil Sur were 

 unlike most of the more traditional indigenous people in the Neotropics, however, in that the Maya 

 usually did not hunt in village groups, undertake extended expeditions, or even use blowguns or bows 

 and arrows as we^ons. 



Kill site locations and vegetation types . The vegetation types of game kill sites can be 

 invaluable in interpreting human hunting patterns as well as patterns of habitat use by game (Redford 

 and Robinson, 1990). Hunters do not just randomly undertake a hunting. Rather, the timing and 

 location of hunting outings takes into account game behavior and feeding patterns on fruiting trees or 

 crops in gardens. 



