Paleoethnobotanical Remains from an Early Classic Maya Tomb at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the tropics, paleoethnobotanists often face challenging preservation environments, making most of the macrobotanical specimens that we analyze those that are preserved through processes of carbonization. This preservation issue is often framed as limiting the questions we can ask and the interpretations we can make about ancient Maya relationships with the environment. Occasionally, unusual preservation contexts reveal new and exciting possibilities for understanding ancient human-plant relationships. In 2018, the excavation of an Early Classic Maya tomb at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize, recovered a variety of uniquely preserved, uncarbonized macrobotanical remains, including hundreds of maize kernels that were likely originally part of whole ears buried with the individual. The paleoethnobotanical analysis of the remarkably preserved contents of this tomb allow us to contribute new ideas about the use of plant materials in Maya royal burials. Additionally, the plant remains found with this individual have the potential to shed new light on ancient landraces as well as trade and migration throughout Mesoamerica.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24424