Fish consumption at the ancient market of Monterrey (18th-19th centuries), Mexico, based on archaeological remains

• Autores: Ana Fabiola Guzmán, Miriam Espino, Araceli Rivera Estrada
• Localización: Archaeofauna: International Journal of archaeozoology, ISSN 1132-6891, Nº. 25, 2016, págs. 7-14
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen
  • español

    Durante los trabajos de remozamiento del actual Museo Metropolitano de Monterrey, se rescataron diversos restos de fauna del antiguo mercado de la ciudad de Monterrey, entre ellos material de peces. Poco se sabe del antiguo consumo de peces en el noreste de México y estos materiales brindan la oportunidad de explorar ese aspecto. Se analizó un total de 1204 res-tos de peces, de los cuales el 27% fue identificado y representa a 8 taxa de peces dulceacuícolas (bagres y mojarras) y marinos/estuarinos (robalos, jureles, pargos y corvinas). Predominan los materiales de origen marino, particularmente de las corvinas (Sciaenops ocellata: 65 % de los restos identificados y el 35 % de los individuos). La tercera parte de las especies y de los individuos son bagres dulceacuícolas. Monterrey está ubicado en la cuenca del Río Bravo, a 300 km de distancia del Golfo de México, por lo que la presencia de ambos componentes pesqueros indica la existencia tanto de un comercio semilocal (ríos) como de uno a distancia (costera). La representatividad de las regiones corporales sugiere que los peces dulceacuícolas se transportaban completos, y posiblemente sea el mismo caso en los peces marinos

  • English

    During renovation works in 2008 at the Metropolitan Museum of Monterrey, fau-nal remains from the ancient market of Monterrey city, including fish, were collected. Little is known on the consumption of fishes in northeastern México during former times thus this materi-al offered an opportunity to explore the issue. A total of 1,204 fish remains were studied, of which 27% were identifiable. These represent eight taxa of freshwater (i.e. catfishes and mojarras) and marine/estuarine fishes including the snook, crevalle jack, snapper, and red drum. Marine taxa, in particular red drum (Sciaenops ocellata: 65% of the identifiable remains and 35 % of the in-dividuals) dominated the sample and fully one third of the specimens and taxa were freshwater catfishes. Monterrey City is located in the Rio Grande basin and lies 300 km away from the Gulf of Mexico. For such reason, the presence of these two fish groups revealed the coexistence of semi-local (fluvial) and long-distance (coastal) trade. The representation of body-fish parts sug-gests that freshwater fishes were transported whole and it is possible that the same applied in the case of those of marine origin.