Digital Companion to 'Preliminary Analysis of the Zooarchaeology of the San Cristóbal Site, Nicaragua: The Bounty of Mohammed’s Paradise'

Project Note

This content pertains to the chapter 'Preliminary Analysis of the Zooarchaeology of the San Cristóbal Site, Nicaragua: The Bounty of Mohammed’s Paradise' in The Archaeology of Mesoamerican Animals (Christopher Götz and Kitty F. Emery, eds.), published by Lockwood Press. The Archaeology of Mesoamerican Animals is an edited volume that links many of its chapters to rich digital content published open access with Open Context. The authors have chosen to link their chapters to related online content (including primary data, maps, and additional images) in order to provide additional research resources in their subject area. The Archaeology of Mesoamerican Animals is available for purchase from ISD.

Overview

The San Cristóbal site is located on the south shore of Lake Managua, in Pacific Nicaragua, Central America. It was inhabited intermittently for more than 2,000 years before the sixteenth-century arrival of the Spanish. Ethnohistoric accounts at the time of Spanish contact describe Pacific Nicaragua as one of the most heavily populated areas of the Indies and among the most abundant in terrestrial game and fish. Archaeological excavations at San Cristóbal recovered a large, well-preserved faunal collection of over 17,000 specimens, with more than 50 identified taxa, which include shellfish, bony fish (marine and freshwater), turtle, iguana, and mammals (deer, peccary, armadillo, and others). These identifications are presented in the digital archives with contextual, taxonomic and skeletal element information. Images of specific taxa and elements of interest are also provided. This study is the first detailed analysis of a large, diverse, and well-preserved faunal assemblage from this part of Lower Central America. It invites interregional comparisons and provides new insights into ancient economic and subsistence practices of the pre-Columbian Native population of Pacific Nicaragua.

Site Name

San Cristóbal

Period

ca. 500 BC – AD 1535

Creators

Healy, Paul F., Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, CANADA, phealy@trentu.ca

Rewniak, David N. Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, CANADA, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, CANADA, davidrewniak@gmail.com

Tamplin, Morgan, Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, CANADA, mtamplin@trentu.ca