Sweet, weedy and wild: macrobotanical remains from a Late Classic (8th century ad) feasting deposit discovered at La Corona, an ancient Maya settlement

Abstract

Ritual feasting was an integral part of ancient societies; the Maya were no exception. Archaeologists working in this region have used various lines of evidence, including the study of scenes depicted on painted polychrome drinking vases and ethnohistoric sources written by Spanish colonists, to attempt the reconstruction of ancient Maya feasts. However, while feasting deposits have been identified across sites in the Maya world, few have been studied from an archaeobotanical perspective. In this paper, macrobotanical results from a Late Classic (mid-to-late 8th century ad) feasting deposit from the site of La Corona, located in northwestern Peten, Guatemala, are presented. The archaeobotanical results suggest that the participants of these feasts were served dishes and beverages made from ingredients collected from wild and domestic landscapes, and that plants with specific medicinal properties may have also been part of the menu. These data suggest that ancient Maya feasts were events that cannot be simply recreated through painted ceramic vases or from reading historic records, and that if we are to appreciate the nuances of ancient Maya feasts, the archaeobotanical record needs to be considered and further evaluated.