Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren
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| Language: | English |
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University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
2015
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439562500 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin14395625002021-08-03T06:33:01Z Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren Slotten, Venicia M. Archaeology Maya paleoethnobotany sacbe weeds El Salvador Paleoethnobotanical research conducted during the 2013 field season at the Classic Maya archaeological site Joya de Ceren 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 Ceren 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 Ceren 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 Ceren’s agricultural fields. 2015-10-15 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439562500 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439562500 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center. |
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NDLTD |
| language |
English |
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NDLTD |
| topic |
Archaeology Maya paleoethnobotany sacbe weeds El Salvador |
| spellingShingle |
Archaeology Maya paleoethnobotany sacbe weeds El Salvador Slotten, Venicia M. Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren |
| author |
Slotten, Venicia M. |
| author_facet |
Slotten, Venicia M. |
| author_sort |
Slotten, Venicia M. |
| title |
Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren |
| title_short |
Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren |
| title_full |
Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren |
| title_fullStr |
Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Land Use Associated With the Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Joya de Ceren |
| title_sort |
paleoethnobotanical remains and land use associated with the sacbe at the ancient maya village of joya de ceren |
| publisher |
University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1439562500 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT slottenveniciam paleoethnobotanicalremainsandlanduseassociatedwiththesacbeattheancientmayavillageofjoyadeceren |
| _version_ |
1719439139496001536 |