The zooarcheological remains from Juan Miguel Cave and Finca de Doña Rosa, Barrio Caguana, Puerto Rico. Ritual Edibles or Quotidian Meals?

Research in the karst zone around Caguana has yielded new data regarding animal hunting/procurement activities by pottery-bearing groups of the Ostiones period (AD 1050-1300). We compare the zooarchaeological remains recovered from a domestic midden at the habitation site Finca de Doña Rosa (Utu-44) with those found at the ritual-ceremonial funerary cave of Juan Miguel (Cag-3), located near Utu-44. The discussion focuses on the possible distinction between ritual edibles in contrast to domestic foods (staple dishes) that constitute the basic quotidian sustenance of the group. It is possible that the river crab (Epilobocera sinuatifrons) was one of these ritual edibles, intimately linked to rituals related to bruials, the cult to the ancestors and/or ceremonial activities involving petroglyph