The Book of Mormon uses some variant of the term "flocks and herds" 23 times e.g.
2 Nephi 5:11,
Mosiah 21:16,
Helaman 6:12,
Ether 10:12. Up to this point, evidence of ancient domesticated animal husbandry besides the dogs and rabbits that were commonly kept for meat has been sparse. That may be changing. The
Mirador Basin LiDAR mapping project has produced images of what Richard Hansen calls a network of roads, canals, and corrals or animal pens.
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| Mirador LiDAR Image Showing Likely Animal Pens |
Hansen said that the "sophisticated system of corrals is evidence that meat production in the Mirador Basin may have existed on an industrial level." This intriguing possibility will almost certainly be the topic of some graduate student's dissertation. Dozens of universities from around the world collaborate on the massive Mirador Basin Project investigating the cradle of Maya civilization.
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| Widely-circulated Artist's Rendering of El Mirador ca. 100 BC |
More information about Hansen and El Mirador can be found in the articles "
Roads and Highways" and "
Hansen and Coe."
