Analysis of Plant Remains from Aventura, an Ancient Maya Site in Northern Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Households at Aventura: Life and Community Longevity at an Ancient Maya City" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents an analysis of botanical remains recovered from archaeological contexts at the Aventura site, located in what is now northern Belize. A total of 478 large carbonized plant fragments, 167 flotation samples, and 10 eDNA samples were included in this analysis. Samples were recovered from a range of commoner to elite households across the site and are representative of Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic contexts. By employing a breadth of techniques to obtain botanical data and analyzing status groups and temporal contexts, we were able to construct a detailed image of the botanical landscape at Aventura. Our results allow a nuanced understanding of the complex relationships between the city’s inhabitants and the natural world. Identifications from this study illustrate the active management and utilization of natural resources, patterns of plant use that span time and status distinctions, and contribute to our understanding of how landscapes in this region changed over time and were impacted by ancient Maya occupants.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Households at Aventura: Life and Community Longevity at an Ancient Maya City   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35876.0