Evaluating the Food Values of Alternative Crops and Implications for Drought Effects on the Ancient Maya

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Far from being limited to maize, beans, and squash, the ethnographic Maya are known to make use of 497 species of food plants indigenous to the Maya Lowlands. This study presents initial results of determining “food values” based on nutritional content for these plant species, and the methods used to determine the values. The results have significant implications for expanding our understanding of ancient Maya foodways, and alerting paleoethnobotanists to consider the archaeological visibility of alternative crops that may have contributed to ancient subsistence. A specific goal of the study is to identify drought tolerant species of high food value that could have mitigated the effects of ancient droughts on food supply, and which may find growing importance to modern farmers under conditions of ongoing climate change.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32008