Summary and Conclusions 



6i 



as Phase i of the Early period. Shells occur fre- 

 quently (but by no means always) in tombs, caches, 

 and other offerings. Here they are often (but again 

 not always) associated with other forms of life from 

 the sea, to the extent that we feel the shells have lost 

 specific symbolic identity as such and have become 

 part of a larger configuration of association with the 

 sea which was remarkably deep seated in Maya art 

 and ritual practice. This would be simple to explain 

 at sites as close to and possibly economically de- 

 pendent on the sea as Dzibilchaltun. It is more diffi- 

 cult at sites far inland such as Tikal and Uaxactun, 

 where the sea could have been of little practical 

 importance. It was noted that the many votive offer- 

 ings of marine life were probably not chosen for 

 either aesthetic or monetary considerations. The 

 commonest life forms were used, without apparent 

 eflort to choose tasteful specimens. 



A short examination of the use of shells as orna- 

 ments and as raw material in the manufacture of 

 jewelry and artifacts reveals the use of a large assort- 

 ment of species for these purposes. But the amount 

 of worked material recovered at Dzibilchaltun is so 

 small that such industry cannot be considered a sig- 

 nificant factor in the enormous total accumulations 

 of shell at the site. Detailed analysis and comparative 

 study of the worked material have been reserved for 



our separate publication on Dzibilchaltun artifacts. 

 Excavation of the briefly inhabited Late Forma- 

 tive kitchen midden on Isla Cancun, Q.R., has given 

 the first clear picture of Maya utilization of the 

 faunal environment. The midden consists mostly of 

 shell and pottery mixed with ash, and the bones of 

 turtle, fish, birds, and animals. We can be quite sure 

 that these remains were of animals actually eaten 

 by the ancients. Table 3 summarizes the moUuscan 

 remains, with surprising implications. Virtually all 

 collectible shellfish were eaten — very prominently 

 among them such carrion-eaters as the Melongenas, 

 which according to modern texts are quite inedible. 

 This probably clears up the mystery of large masses 

 of raw shell at Dzibilchaltun, which we were other- 

 wise unable to explain. After the Formative period 

 at the latter site, many molluscs such as Melongena 

 seem to have been eliminated from the diet. A de- 

 creasing number of Dinocardium valves and shells 

 of the larger conchs in Early period and Florescent 

 deposits may well indicate an increasing economic 

 practice of leaving the heavy shells on the beaches 

 where the animals were taken. Freshwater molluscs 

 of several species seem to have replaced marine mol- 

 luscs as food at the sites farther inland, as they do 

 today. 



