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

Abstract

AbstractAnalysis 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 (Cucurbitasp.) were found as well as the wood of a number of tree species, for example, pine (Pinussp.), oak (Quercussp.), fig (Ficussp.), timber sweet (Licariasp.), andguanacaste (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 (Anacardiumcf.occidentale) was found in Middle Formative contexts. This, most likely an introduced domesticate from South America, appears to be the earliest record ofAnacardiumfor Honduras. Paleoethnobotanical data along with root-processing artifacts indicate a diversified subsistence pattern based on domesticates of Mesoamerican and South American origin.