The Use of Plants in Ancient Rituals: New Perspectives from Paleoethnobotany

It is only recently that systematic palaeoethnobotanical studies have begun to be adopted as key components in the study of ancient ritual practices. This approach represents an important innovation for highlighting the role of the "natural world" in ceremonies of the past, as well as providing an additional perspective for understanding the ancient worldviews that were embodied in such practices. Palaeoethnobotanical approaches also constitute a key tool for reconstructing the chaine opératoire of the deposits that result from ritual practices, particularly when compared with other associated artifacts and ecofacts. Fine-scale analysis of archaeobotanical remains from ritual contexts has already proved essential for reconstructing the behaviors and often meticulous actions involved in the construction of ritual sequences. This analytic approach thus represents an essential stage for achieving a broader understanding of the socio-cultural, political and ecological aspects of ritual practices. Our symposium aims to present and discuss new theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of ancient ritual practices in the Americas that are symbolically or materially related to the vegetal world.