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Formative-Period Subsistence and Forest-Product Extraction at the Yarumela Site, Honduras

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

David L. Lentz ,
Carlos R. Ramírez  and
Bronson W. Griscom
David L. Lentz
Affiliation:
The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458, USA
Carlos R. Ramírez
Affiliation:
Lehman College, Department of Plant Sciences, City University of New York, Bronx, NY 10468, USA
Bronson W. Griscom
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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Abstract

Analysis of paleoethnobotanical remains from the Yaramela site in central Honduras has provided insights into subsistence activities, resource-extraction preferences from surrounding ecological zones, and the transfer of plant materials through interregional exchange networks during the Formative and Late Classic periods. Remains of maize (Zea mays) and squash (Cucurbita sp.) were found as well as the wood of a number of tree species, for example, pine (Pinus sp.), oak (Quercus sp.), fig (Ficus sp.), timber sweet (Licaria sp.), and guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum). These woods were obtained from the upland pine-oak savanna, the tropical deciduous forest of the Comayagua Valley, and the circum-riverine community along the Humuya River. In an unusual discovery, the wood of cashew (Anacardium cf. occidentale) was found in Middle Formative contexts. This, most likely an introduced domesticate from South America, appears to be the earliest record of Anacardium for Honduras. Paleoethnobotanical data along with root-processing artifacts indicate a diversified subsistence pattern based on domesticates of Mesoamerican and South American origin.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997 , pp. 63 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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