Honey Production in Modern and Ancient Yucatán: Going from the Known to the Unknown

Author(s): Briana Bianco

Year: 2014

Summary

According to historic documents and scarce archaeological data, apiculture with the stingless bee, Melipona beecheii, was significant in the diet, economy, tribute, medicine, and ritual practices of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Current practices with stingless bees give us a frame of reference for interpreting archaeological data. This paper focuses on the ethnoarchaeological studies carried out in Yucatán, Mexico. Soil samples collected from underneath and near modern beehives, as well as samples of honey and wax, were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in order to identify possible chemical signatures. Soil samples taken from locations at Hacienda San Pedro Cholul suspected to be apiaries were also tested. The soil was tested for pH and nitrogen with the goal of developing new methods to identify beekeeping in the archaeological record. Results indicate that there are similarities in the chemical components of modern soils from apiaries, modern stingless bee honey, modern stingless bee wax, and soils from a hacienda that may have had an apiary located there in the past. Beekeeping practices have changed as a result of the introduction of other species of bees and taxation under the Spanish colonial regime. This and globalization have caused the intensification of honey and wax production. The global economy has linked

Yucatan’s beekeeping cooperatives with the rest of the world. However, ethnoarchaeological and soil chemical studies provide insight about the disappearance of traditional beekeeping practices and current traditional ecological knowledge, the disappearance of the variety of plants necessary to produce honey, and the disappearance of stingless bees themselves.

Cite this Record

Honey Production in Modern and Ancient Yucatán: Going from the Known to the Unknown. Briana Bianco. Masters Thesis. New Mexico State University (NMSU), Anthropology. 2014 ( tDAR id: 500219) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8500219

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Historic • Historic Native American • Maya • Spanish

Material
Building Materials • Ceramic • Fauna • Glass • Ground Stone • Metal • Soil Samples

Site Name
Ebtun, Cuncunul, Kaua, Tekom, Tixcacalcupul, Yucatan • Xcalacoop

Site Type
Agricultural Field or Field Feature • Agricultural or Herding • Apiary • Canal or Canal Feature • Cemetery • Cenote • Corral • Hacienda • Hamlet / Village • Historic Church / Religious Structure • Historic Communal / Public Structure • Historic Governmental Structure • Historic Structure • noria (waterwheel) • Ossuary • Plaza • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Road • Town / City • Trail • Water Control Feature • Water-Related

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Ethnographic Research • Ethnohistoric Research • Historic Background Research • Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis • Reconnaissance / Survey • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
'Historical Archaeology' • Archaeological site survey and testing • colonial and postcolonial transformations • Ethnohistory • Landscape • Yucatan, Mexico

Geographic Keywords
Yucatan, Mexico

Temporal Keywords
Historic Period 1545 - 2000

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1545 to 2024

Spatial Coverage

min long: -88.532; min lat: 20.532 ; max long: -88.167; max lat: 20.724 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Principal Investigator(s): Rani T Alexander

Record Identifiers

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Soil Permit, 2012(s): P330-12-00183

NMSU Institutional Review Board, Human Subjects Research, 2012(s): 7512 (Expedited)

Consejo de Arqueologia, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH)(s): Oficio Num. C.A. 401-36/1479

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