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Title: | Maya Food Strategies at Macabilero: A Paleoethnobotanical Study of Ancient Maya Agriculture and Ethnoecology During the Formative and Classic Periods |
Authors: | Watson, Sarah |
Advisor: | Morell-Hart, Shanti |
Department: | Anthropology |
Publication Date: | 2022 |
Abstract: | Current hypotheses argue that shifts in ethnoecological practice resulted in the abandonment of many Formative Period (1000 BCE – CE 250) sites in the Maya area (Inomata et al. 2017; Douglas et al. 2015; Webster et al. 2007; Dunning et al. 2012). By utilizing paleoethnobotanical methods to recover actual botanical remains, I address understandings of agriculture and consumption practices of Formative Period Maya people, the impact of these practices on the landscape, and abandonment of Formative sites in the Usumacinta River region. This study is focused on the site of Macabilero, an ancient Maya community with residential, defensive, and ritual features, abandoned during the Early Classic Period (ca 400 CE). Using paleoethnobotanical methodology, I consider arguments targeting the abandonment of Formative Maya sites. Studying transitionary periods, such as that between the Formative and Classic Periods, greatly contributes to our understanding of social and political change and how it is reflected archaeologically as well as related to the broader landscape. My research questions focus on plant staples at Formative Period sites as compared to staples at Classic Period sites, how these differences may reflect changes in ethnoecology and the abandonment of Formative sites, and what the implications may be for hypotheses about the Formative Maya “collapse” that relate abandonment to ecological stress and potential crop failures. This study establishes that the people at Macabilero consistently chose to grow more reliable root crops, perhaps especially in times of unrest, alongside crops such as maize, beans, and squash. People at Macabilero made use of a wide array of resources in the landscape, and grew a diverse portfolio of crops, without relying overly on any one food resource. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/27889 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Watson_Sarah_E_20229_MA.pdf | 27.37 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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