Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated with the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya De Cerén
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Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Cerén A thesis submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Anthropology of the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences 2015 Venicia M. Slotten B.A., Miami University 2012 Committee: Vernon L. Scarborough, Chair Sarah E. Jackson David L. Lentz ! ABSTRACT Paleoethnobotanical research conducted during the 2013 field season at the Classic Maya archaeological site Joya de Cerén in El Salvador focused on the analysis of plant remains found on the surface and associated features of a Late Classic period sacbe (causeway) that were well protected beneath tephra deposited by the volcanic eruption of Loma Caldera around AD 650. Plant remains were retrieved from the sacbe surface, adjacent drainage canals, and agricultural fields on either side of the sacbe. Because the plant remains found in association with this sacbe were well preserved, a rare occurrence in Mesoamerica, the data recovered from Cerén are quite significant to the study of Maya plant use activities as well as Maya causeways. The project systematically collected 62 macrobotanical samples and 160 flotation samples processed in a water flotation tank. Through careful paleoethnobotanical analysis, more than 140,000 carbonized seeds, achenes, charcoal specimens, and other plant parts that were present on the cultural activity surfaces at Cerén when Loma Caldera erupted were recovered. Three main categories of plant remains emerged from the data: annual crops, weedy species, and tree species. Prominently represented in these samples are Spilanthes cf. acmella achenes, Zea mays cob fragments, Phaseolus sp. cotyledons, Amaranthaceae seeds, Fimbristylis dichotoma achenes, Mollugo verticillata seeds, Portulaca oleracea seeds, Crotalaria cf. sagittalis seeds, Physalis angulata seeds, and abundant charcoal remains. Recovered plant remains reveal trends associated with each cultural context as well as distance from the site center, and offer an essentially economic perspective of Maya sacbeob. The study reveals that the ancient sacbe supplied an easy, dry, and efficient mode of transportation of goods among Cerén’s agricultural fields. ii iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to my advisor, David Lentz. I am extremely thankful to him for sharing his expertise and valuable guidance and encouragement. Your advice on both research as well as on my career have been priceless. I would also like to thank my committee members, Vernon Scarborough and Sarah Jackson, for serving as my committee members and for your thought-provoking comments and suggestions both in courses and with this research. I am very grateful to the National Science Foundation for their grant funding the 2013 field season at Cerén and to the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center and the Graduate Student Government Association at the University of Cincinnati for providing generous funding for travel to multiple conferences to support me in presenting my research. I would like to thank my research colleagues at Cerén - Payson Sheets, Nancy Gonlin, Christine Dixon, Rachel Egan, Alexandria Halmbacher, and Rocio Herrara - who supported me with sample collection and for teaching me so much about archaeological methods, Cerén, the Maya, and the Zapotitan region of El Salvador all while surviving the multiple stresses presented to us while working in the field. This study wouldn’t have been possible without the fine efforts of the field workers as well. A special thank you to Julio Eleazar Garcia for effortlessly constructing the flotation device used this season. My deepest gratitude for the hard work and friendship from Mercedes Haydeé Ramírez de Garcia and Carla Renee Coca Muñoz, who assisted in the flotation and sorting process of the paleoethnobotanical samples while in Joya de Cerén. I wish to express my sincere thanks for the help and guidance of Susan Allen, whose archaeobotany class taught me much of what I know of the subject today. I am very grateful for iv of the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope and other imaging devices at the University of Cincinnati. Many thanks to the other Maya paleoethnobotanical students that I have met along the way who have created an insightful and supportive community both in the lab and while at conferences, including Kim Thompson, Lauren Santini, Maia Deidrick, Clarissa Cagnato, and Nicole Hansel. I also greatly appreciate the supportive and intellectual community of the graduate students in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cincinnati. Words cannot express how thankful I am to my friends and family for supporting me in this pursuit throughout my years at UC and encouraged me to strive towards my goal. I am entirely grateful to Eric Stetz, who has kept me sane throughout this adventure. I truly appreciate the encouragement and support that my parents, Carolyn Slotten, and Daniel Pritikin, and my siblings, Marcus Pritikin and Jennifer Pritikin, have given me while I pursued this degree. Without them I would not be where I am today. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 Environmental Setting .....................................................................................................................3 Climate ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Volcanic History .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 Plant Preservation in Mesoamerica ........................................................................................................................ 7 History of Archaeological Research at Cerén ..................................................................................9 Plant Species Previously Recovered .................................................................................................................... 15 Agricultural Practices ................................................................................................................................................. 20 Cultural Context .....................................................................................................................23 Maya Sacbeob ................................................................................................................................25 Theoretical Context ........................................................................................................................34 Summary ........................................................................................................................................38 Chapter 2: Research Methodology .............................................................................................40 Field Methods ................................................................................................................................40 Sample Collection ........................................................................................................................................................ 40 Water Flotation .......................................................................................................................42 Testing the Recovery Rate .................................................................................................46 Laboratory Methods .......................................................................................................................47 vi Sorting Plant Remains ............................................................................................................................................... 47 Seeds .......................................................................................................................................50 Wood Charcoal .......................................................................................................................51 Fruits, Leaves, and Stems .......................................................................................................54 Maize ......................................................................................................................................54 Summary ........................................................................................................................................55 Chapter 3: Results and