Animal domestication in Mesoamerica

The Book of Mormon refers to various Old World animals, most of which are believed to not be indigenous to the Americas. Evidence for their existence or even what animals are being referred to is a topic for another discussion. But all throughout Nephite history, there is a mention of their having 'flocks and herds,' although the actual animals they contain are not specified.

Domestication of animals in Ancient America is a murky subject. According to an article at the National Library of Medicine, "The nature of animal management in Mesoamerica is not as well understood compared with other state-level societies around the world." Recent studies show evidence for the use of animals at the Maya city of Ceibal, a site in central Guatemala that we visited. Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium isotopes show what kind of flocks and herds the Maya had, exercising some form of animal husbandry.

Using a multiisotope approach to examine faunal specimens, scientists have found the earliest evidence for captive-reared taxa in the Americas, showing that animal domestication and husbandry played a greater role in life at Ceibal than was previously believed. This city's central plaza is one of the earliest known in the region, with human habitation at the site going back as far as 1000 B.C. Live animal trade in the area is now known to go back as far as at least 700 B.C. Based on the evidence, the Maya had dogs (some used for hunting and some as food), deer, peccaries (a type of wild pig), tapirs, cats, and turkeys, among other animals. The more we learn the specifics of Maya and other cultures in Ancient America, the more we see that they had the same kinds of complex societies known in the Old World, including, urban areas, capitals, governments, markets, schools, agriculture, and even animal husbandry. These were not a primitive, Stone Age people as was first believed.

Many controversial aspects of the Book of Mormon have been shown to be plausible as we learn more about the history of the New World. While not a direct one-to-one comparison, strong evidence for large scale animal domestication among the Maya coincides with the Book of Mormon account.

Click here to read about the earliest isotopic evidence for animal management at Ceibal.

New cities discovered in South America

We think it's always interesting when previously-unknown cities are found in Central and South America. Geographically, this area is probably outside of Book of Mormon locations, but new technologies such as LiDAR are showing us just how much history is hidden under the jungles and remote areas in this hemisphere. It's interesting to not that as far as we know, there is nothing like this in North America. Of course, there's really no need to use LiDAR to search for them as the land has been cleared here and we don't really have rainforests anyway. But unknown ancient cities, structures, roads, and even agricultural sites where people dwelt in large numbers a long time ago.

In some cases, as with this site in Ecuador, mounds and roads were known, but the true extent of how it all fit together could not be known unless centuries of Amazonian growth could be removed, in this case, digitally. This ancient Ecuadorian city was inhabited by a people known today as the Upano as early as 500 B.C. In addition to buildings, farms, and drainage canals, they had roads, some of which stretched for 12 miles. As archaeologist Stéphen Rostain noted, "There's always been an incredible diversity of people and settlements in the Amazon..."

Our opinion is that modern Ecuador is far outside any map that would match Book of Mormon geography. However, similar discoveries are being made all over Mesoamerica. There is so much ancient history in these lands that we have yet to find.

Click here to read about the Kunguints site at the Upano Valley in Ecuador.