Early Maya Archaeological Exploration, Looting, and the Unintended Consequences of the Global Chewing Gum Economy

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The trajectory of Maya archaeology is inextricably linked to the chewing gum industry. Since the earliest archaeological expeditions to Maya sites in Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize, archaeologists have relied on workers extracting the gum of sapodilla trees to aid in their investigations—from hiring chicleros as forest guides and excavators, to offering them cash rewards for leads on undiscovered archaeological sites. The decline of the chicle industry beginning in the 1950s coincided with the growing interest of museums and collectors in Maya antiquities, leading to the severe looting of Maya sites. Ethnographic studies on looting in Guatemala and Belize indicate a close association between Maya site depredation and chicle extraction, demonstrating the unintended consequences of Maya archaeology’s historical relationship with the chicle industry. Given that the region’s economy still depends on the extraction of forest resources, understanding the economic relationship between chicle, archaeology, and looting can enlighten how global demand for both antiquities and forest products can impact local economic conditions and Maya archaeological site preservation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53527