Animal resource use in ecological and economic context at Formative Period Cuello, Belize

We present findings of our analysis of vertebrate faunal remains from the 1990–1993 excavations at Cuello, Belize. Field, fallow, and wetland areas in the immediate environs of Cuello provided a wide variety of animal resources and may together have formed a managed landscape. This landscape was variable both spatially and temporally, with marked rainy and dry seasons. We suggest here one possible way in which animal procurement and horticulture at Cuello may have been adapted to the highly seasonal nature of the environment. The use of animal resources at this Formative Period community is placed in a broader context by comparison with previously published data on vertebrate and molluscan remains from Cuello as well as from other similarly situated sites, including K’axob and Colha.