Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: A Terminal Classic Maya Household at the Microscale: Social Organization and Foodways in the Puuc Hills, Yucatan, Mexico

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

Under the supervision of Dr. William A. Saturno, Stephanie Simms will analyze data garnered through archaeological investigations at the Maya site of Escalera al Cielo. Escalera al Cielo is located in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico, within a network of hills surrounding a nearby urban center. The rural hilltop residence of Escalera al Cielo was intensively occupied between A.D. 800 and A.D. 950, and then abruptly abandoned. Although the causes for this rapid departure remain unknown, rich artifact scatters in and around household buildings provide a snapshot of daily life. Excavations of sleeping structures, kitchens, food storage areas, and adjoining open patios were designed to identify patterns of activities that took place there. Analyses of food residues from ceramic cooking and storage vessels, grinding stones and other stone tools, and sediments will provide new information on food-related activities. There is little direct evidence for ancient Maya foodways (note: foodways refers to a holistic system of food conceptualization, procurement, distribution, preservation, preparation, and consumption shared by all members of a particular group). This results from poor preservation of organic materials in the humid tropics and a general lack of archaeological contexts appropriate for such studies (e.g., kitchen floors covered in artifacts). As a result, scholars tend to employ a direct historical approach to understanding foodways in the Maya area prior to European contact. Neither modern ethnographies nor ethnohistorical documents from the 16th century, however, take into account the effects of the introduction of foreign foodways and the complete disruption of traditional life that occurred during the Spanish conquest. This has been demonstrated to generate misleading assumptions about the cultural conservatism of indigenous societies throughout the Americas. Research at Escalera al Cielo will overcome the difficulties mentioned above through a multidisciplinary investigation of household production and consumption of food in order to illuminate aspects of ancient foodways and land management strategies within the Maya area. By integrating landscape, architecture, artifacts, and new methods for identifying microscopic botanical residues (such as phytoliths and starch grains), these data will be used to assess local as well as regional human-environment interactions and can contribute to models for future sustainability. Specific details about human-environment interactions that are documented during this study will inform the efforts of the non-profit Kaxil Kiuic Biocultural Reserve (kiuic.org), of which the archaeological project is only one component. The overarching mission is to create a living laboratory for local and international research and education purposes, sponsoring the conservation of both the natural and cultural landscape of Yucatán. Undergraduate and graduate students from Mexico and the U.S. will continue to receive training during the field and lab dimensions of the project. In addition, the results of this research will be disseminated to the local community of Yaxachen through regular tours given to schoolchildren, posters, and town meetings. Photomicrographs of all botanical remains will be incorporated into an online database (paleobot.org) that will serve as a reference tool for researchers anywhere in the world. The complete study will be distributed to the scientific community in the author's doctoral dissertation and journal articles.