The fossil fishes of the archaeological site of Palenque, Chiapas, southeastern Mexico

Abstract

Since the end of the nineteenth century, different remains of fossilized fishes had been observed or recovered from the Mayan City of Palenque. Although some efforts had been made to identify these objects, their taxonomical nature and possible origin within the geological environment of this archaeological site are poorly understood. In this work, we review these fossils recovered in Palenque and other two Mayan cities, Agua Clara and the El Lacandón, which are deposited into the collections of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (Mexico); we describe the morphological characteristics that allow us to identify them taxonomically. This research also reports the results of a paleontological exploration through the different Paleocene-Miocene sedimentary geological units in the surroundings of Palenque; the fossils thus collected belong to the same groups of those found within the archaeological Maya context. These results suggest that such geological units are the sources of all these fossils. In this exercise, three types of anthropogenic features produced by the Maya people were discovered on the fossils. Paint stains and plaster spots suggest that these fossils were painted. The pronounced differential wearing marks in some regions along the cutting edges of shark teeth and ray tail spines show that these fossils were used as cutting tools. Besides, the surfaces excavated around fossils preserved in slabs demonstrate that some Maya people intended on discovering and recognizing these objects, as modern paleontologists do.