Interpreting middens, feasting events, ritual, or terminal deposits in the Maya world requires an evaluation of faunal remains. Maya archaeologists consistently evaluate other artifact classes, but often offer simply number of identified specimens values for skeletal elements recovered from these deposits. To further understand their archaeological significance, we analyzed faunal materials from deposits at the sites of Baking Pot and Xunantunich in the Upper Belize River Valley. We identified the species, bone elements, bone or shell artifacts, taphonomic signatures, and quantitative ratios recovered to test whether a deposit can be identified as a midden, part of a feasting ritual, terminal ritual, or other rituals significant to the Maya. Our analyses allow us to begin building a system for using faunal remains as a proxy for interpreting the significance of these deposits. In this paper, we present our results and hope to open the conversation for future evaluations of faunal remains in similar deposits.

中文翻译：

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进食、丢弃或崇敬：在低地玛雅周边遗弃沉积物中，动物仍然是人类行为的代表

解释玛雅世界中的middens、盛宴事件、仪式或终端沉积物需要对动物遗骸进行评估。玛雅考古学家一直在评估其他文物类别，但通常只提供从这些沉积物中回收的骨骼元素的已识别标本数量。为了进一步了解它们的考古意义，我们分析了上伯利兹河谷 Baking Pot 和 Xunantunich 遗址的动物材料。我们确定了恢复的物种、骨骼元素、骨骼或贝壳文物、墓葬特征和数量比率，以测试是否可以将沉积物识别为中场、盛宴仪式的一部分、终端仪式或其他对玛雅人具有重要意义的仪式。我们的分析使我们能够开始建立一个系统，使用动物遗骸作为解释这些沉积物重要性的代理。在本文中，我们展示了我们的结果，并希望为未来评估类似矿床中的动物群遗骸开启对话。