The Cozumel Bee People, Social Ecology, and Landscape Management during the Late Maya Postclassic

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Adventures in Beekeeping: Recent Studies in Ecology, Archaeology, History, and Ethnography in Yucatán" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Landscape management in Cozumel during the Late Postclassic resulted in a network of stone walls (albarradas) demarcating the entire island resembling the structure of a beehive. This paper presents a comparison of some features of the social ecology of Yucatec stingless bees and the structure of stonewalls demarcating Cozumel, looking at the social ecology of beekeeping and the agrarian production implemented by the Postclassic Maya in the island. The Postclassic Cozumel Maya population was referred to in the colonial books (known as the “Chilam Balam”) as the bee people.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Adventures in Beekeeping: Recent Studies in Ecology, Archaeology, History, and Ethnography in Yucatán   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40139.0