Political Ecology of Postclassic Maya Plant Use at Lake Mensabak, Chiapas, México.

Summary

This presentation examines a case study of changes in Maya plant use at several closely located sites during the middle-to-late Postclassic Period (~1300-1525 CE) at Lake Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico. These sites were inhabited contemporaneously and exhibit substantive differences in size and political/economic importance, making the archaeobotanical assemblages recovered from them uniquely suited for a study focusing on how they were created by social processes. It specifically examines whether these sites exhibit differences in the range of plants that were brought to and processed at them, and whether/how that variation changed over time. These changes in the assemblages are interpreted not only as indicators of availability external to society, but as indicators of differential access to and incentives for the exploitation of specific resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage