Discovery of a Late Preclassic Ceremonial Bundle at the Ancient Maya Center of Yaxnohcah Using Environmental DNA Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A dark-stained feature near the base of a 1 m thick platform in the Helena complex of the Ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah was found to contain remains of medicinal plants, a plant containing hallucinogens (likely used for divination), and a plant used in the manufacture of weaponry (spears and bows). The feature was located beneath floor #4 of the platform and was associated with sherds from the Chay tradition (Sierra, Escobal, and Sapote types), chert and obsidian fragments, and a piece of a figurine. A calibrated AMS radiocarbon date of 158 BCE–26 CE was recorded from the same lot and corresponds well with the associated Late Preclassic ceramics. During a subsequent development, a ballcourt was constructed on top of the platform along with several other cut-stone structures. This unusual combination of plants from one context indicates that they were deliberately placed there by the Maya occupants in some kind of ceremony, perhaps as an ensouling ritual for the construction that ensued.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)   •
• 2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36305.0