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Foodstuffs, Forests, Fields, and Shelter: A Paleoethnobotanical Analysis of Vessel Contents from the Ceren Site, El Salvador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David L. Lentz ,
Marilyn P. Beaudry-Corbett ,
Maria Luisa Reyna de Aguilar  and
Lawrence Kaplan
David L. Lentz
Affiliation:
The New York Botanical Garden, Harding Laboratory, Bronx, NY 10458
Marilyn P. Beaudry-Corbett
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Maria Luisa Reyna de Aguilar
Affiliation:
Jardín Botánico de La Laguna, San Salvador, El Salvador
Lawrence Kaplan
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125
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Abstract

Botanical remains found in ceramic vessels and other containers at the Cerén site, El Salvador, provide evidence for how plants were used by Classic-period inhabitants. Because of the rapid inundation of ash caused by the eruption of the Loma Caldera volcano sometime around A. D. 590, conditions for the preservation of plant parts at Cerén are superior to most other Mesoamerican sites. Carbonized plant remains, or impressions thereof, recovered from vessels include an assortment of domesticates, cultigens, and wild plants that describe an overall pattern of a highly diversified subsistence base. Although clear statistical associations among vessels, structure types, and plant remains are not evident, the contextual data reveal food storage and other plant-use practices of the site occupants. The apparent abundance of plant-derived products and Mayan trade goods at Cerén suggests the potential contribution made by small farmers as both suppliers to and trading partners with the larger cultural developments in Mesoamerica.

Los restos botánicos descubiertos en vasijas y otros recipientes del sitio Cerén en El Salvador proveen evidencia de los usos de plantas por los habitantes de la época clásica. Debido a la gran caída de ceniza de la erupción del volcán Loma Caldera, la cual ocurrió cerca del año 590 d. C., las condiciones de preservación en este lugar fueron mejores que en otros lugares de Mesoamérica. Los restos de plantas carbonizadas o las impresiones de plantas halladas incluyen una variedad de plantas domésticas, cultivadas, y silvestres, las cuales describen un patrón general de subsistencia muy diversificada. Aunque los análisis estadísticos no han demostrado una correlación entre el contenido de las plantas, la forma de las vasijas, o la función de los cuartos, los datos contextuales han revelado el almacenamiento de comida y otras prácticas de uso de plantas por los habitantes del sitio. La abundancia aparente de productos derivados de plantas y bienes de intercambio de los mayas del Cerén sugiere que los pequeños granjeros, en tanto que abastecedores y contrapartes del intercambio, hicieron una contribución potencial a los desarrollos mesoamericanos.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 1996 , pp. 247 - 262
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1996

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