Health Care in the Marketplace: Exploring Maya Medicinal Plants and Practices at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

Abstract

Botanical residues recovered from excavations in the Southeast Marketplace of Piedras Negras provide information about the healing and medical activities of the site's Classic period (a.d. 350–900) inhabitants, and point towards the intersection between commerce and medicine for the ancient Maya. The plants were likely exchanged at the market then used on-site for the purposes of healing. The botanical remains are complemented by both architectural and bioarchaeological evidence for healing at this locus, including a high concentration of sweatbaths and evidence for palliative tooth extraction. With the aid of ethnohistory, we identify health care practices potentially associated with the plant remains. However, we expand on basic understandings of “healing” with a critical look at how some medicinal plants may have been ritually invoked, even when never directly ingested or applied topically.

In Search of the Ancient Maya Foods. A Paleoethnobotany Study From a Non-elite Context in Sihó, Yucatán

“…Archaeological evidence for various types of plant tissues has been recovered and analyzed using paleoethnobotanical methods. These include macroremains, charcoal, phytoliths (Watson et al 2022), pollen (León 2016), and more recently, the recovery of starch grain from floors and ceramics (Novelo-Pérez et al 2019;Zimmermann 2019). These different sources of data have demonstrated the presence of staple plants such as maize, beans, squash, and chile peppers, indicating their continuous utilization over time.…”

“…Despite the available information on a wide variety of plants and their potential use in Maya cuisine, our knowledge of the common daily practices associated with food in non-elite domestic groups is still limited. Recently, there has been a growing number of paleoethnobotanical investigations that examine food practices and ingredients utilized within domestic contexts (Fedick et al 2023;Novelo-Pérez et al 2019;Watson et al 2022;Zimmermann 2019). This paper aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the diverse spectrum of Maya food practices among nonelites.…”

Ethnobotanical Insights: Qualitative Analysis of Medicinal Plants in Colón Putumayo for Traditional Knowledge Preservation

“…Ethnopharmacological studies have been conducted to explore the diverse range of medicinal plants used in the region, unravelling their traditional uses and potential pharmacological properties [17]. These studies highlight the importance of documenting and preserving the valuable knowledge of traditional herbal remedies, with a focus on benefiting future generations [18,19].…”