Hunting and the Ancient Maya

This is a vase from 600 AD to 900 AD that was made in what is now Guatemala.

As you can see, one of the things this vase shows is a deer that has been captured. From LACMA.

Hunting has been part of the history of Mesoamerica since the beginning of human history there. The ancient Maya, though they don't seem to have emphasized animals as food, hunted all kinds of animals, for different uses.

Animals
Examples of animals that the ancient Maya hunted that you may of heard of included manatees (where there were communities on the coast,) foxes, rabbits, turtles, white-tailed deer, possums, anteaters, iguanas and fish. Some animals that you may not of heard of included agoutis, coatis, kinkajous, tapirs, pacas, ocellated turkeys, brocket deer, and peccaries. (It's possible that there were some animals, like the ocellated turkey, that the ancient Maya kept.)

Uses
The ancient Maya ate animals for their meat, but animals weren't the Maya's main food. (Plant-based food was.) And they didn't just hunt animals for food. They also used them to make things like musical instruments and tools.

Weapons
Tools the ancient Maya used for hunting included blowguns, traps (including snares,) and spears. In the Late Postclassic, the Maya began to make use of bows and arrows. For hunting deer, the ancient Maya would also drive them along, using hunting dogs.

Shrines
There may have been a belief among the ancient Maya that there was a supernatural guardian of animals. Hunting shrines that have been found may have been connected to this being. That is, the Maya may have done hunting rituals that were for the guardian of the animals. For example, they may have put the bones of animals they hunted in a hunting shrine to show they haven't hunted too many animals.

Consideration: Rank
So far, at least in the Late Classic, it looks like the animals poor people got came from local rivers. (That is, shellfish and fish.) People who ranked as "middle-elite" enjoyed a lot more animal-based products than poor people or elites with the highest rank. Elites who were at the top of everything liked to have certain animal-based products that were considered very impressive, like jaguars.

References:
Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey; 2016

Mesoweb: "The PARI Journal" volume 16, issue 4: "The Ocellated Turkey in Maya Thought"; Anal Luisa Izquierdo y de la Cueva, María Elena Vega Villalobos; 2016

The Ethics of Anthropology and Amerindian Research: Reporting on Environmental Degradation and Warfare"; Richard J. Chacon, Rubén G. Mendoza (editors); 2012

Google Books: "Handbook To Life In The Ancient Maya World"; Lynn V. Foster; 2005

LACMA: Cylinder Vessel with Supernatural Crocodile and Captured Deer

Image Credit:
LACMA: Cylinder Vessel with Supernatural Crocodile and Captured Deer