Cajon Project Archaeobotany and the Era of New Possibilities

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Crafting a Legacy in Archaeology: Papers Celebrating the Career of Ken Hirth" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Cajon Project, which began in the early 1980’s under the direction of Ken Hirth, initiated a new concept in Mesoamerican archaeology in the wet-and-dry Neotropics. The project sponsored a team of archaeobotanists with all of the necessary equipment to develop and conduct a systematic sampling strategy designed to recover plant remains from excavations carried out by project archaeologists. This strategy was implemented early in the project at excavations from archaeological sites spread out along the Sulaco River Valley. In addition to the recovery of plant remains from archaeological sediments, the project also sponsored the collection of modern plants from throughout the lower Sulaco and Humuya River Valleys. Over 2,000 sets of plant specimens were collected, preserved, identified and distributed to herbaria in the region and the US. The purpose of this research initiative was to recover data from which the paleoenvironment of the region and the human impact upon it could be ascertained. Moreover, an understanding of the subsistence activities of the ancient inhabitants, both in terms of sustenance and trade possibilities, was a major research objective of the project. Results of those studies and the implications for other research efforts will be discussed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Crafting a Legacy in Archaeology: Papers Celebrating the Career of Ken Hirth

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50842