Abstract
Lowland Maya culture can be traced back to around 1200–1000 BC in the lowlands of Belize. Their subsequent expansion and settlement in the northern portion of the Yucatan Peninsula was possible, thanks to the integration of three agricultural systems that originated in other dry tropical forests but were also adapted to the lithosol–cambisol physiographic and edaphic sequences of Yucatan: the Mesoamerican milpa (Zea mays—Phaseolus spp.—Cucurbita spp. complex), the South American conuco (Manihot esculenta—Xanthosoma sagittifolium—Maranta arundinacea—Ipomoea batatas complex), and the family garden based on native tree species but also on species introduced from other areas of Mesoamerica or from Central and South America. Hunting, gathering, and fishing complemented Mayan food production since their arrival in Yucatan. Various studies have enumerated Mayan foods and dietary patterns based on the milpa production system that has persisted since Pre-Columbian times. Nevertheless, we lack comparable reports on how the contemporary Maya structure their food system and the relative contribution of each of its various components. In order to address this need, we studied a traditional Maya community in northern Yucatan by making inventories of food dishes and drinks elaborated in the community and the origin of their ingredients. We found 74 food dishes and drinks primarily produced with ingredients produced locally in the milpa. 91.9 % of them included Zea mays, 29.7 % included Cucurbita spp., 12.1 % included Phaseolus spp., 12.5 % included Capsicum spp., 6.7 % included Spondias, and 5.4 % included Cnidoscolus. Although they have economic and nutritional importance, other production systems, such as the family garden, are clearly secondary to the milpa in contributing to Xocén’s food supply. The culinary characteristics of different varieties of the cultivated species appear to have served as selective pressures for the generation and conservation of intraspecific diversity. Efforts to augment productivity of the milpa system through transforming it to a maize monoculture can yield significant changes to the food system with negative consequences to local nutrition, ecology, and culture.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Piperno DR, Ranere AJ, Holst I, Dickau R, Iriarte J. Starch grain and phytolith evidence for early ninth millennium B.P. maize from the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009;13(106):5019–24.
Ranere AJ, Piperno DR, Holst I, Dickau R, Iriarte J. The cultural and chronological context of early Holocene maize and squash domestication in the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009;13(106):5014–8.
Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Colunga-GarcíaMarín P. Origin of agriculture and plant domestication in West Mesoamerica. Genet Resour Crop Evol. 2010;57:813–25.
Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Flores-Silva A, Colunga-GarcíaMarín P. The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: incentive for milpa development and species domestication. Econ Bot. 2012;66:328–42.
Pohl MD, Pope KO, Jones JG, Jacob JS, Piperno DR, de France S, Lenz DL, Gifford JA, Valdez F, Danfoth ME, Josserand JK. Early agriculture in the Maya Lowlands. Lat Am Antiq. 1996;7:355–72.
Lentz DL. Plant resources of the ancient Maya: the paleo-ethnobotanical evidence. In: White CD, editor. Reconstructing ancient Maya diet. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press; 1999. p. 3–18.
Clark JE, Hansen RD, Pérez-Suárez T. La zona maya en el Preclásico. In: Manzanilla L, López-Luján L, editors. Historia Antigua de México. Vol. I. México: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Porrúa; 2000. p. 435–510.
Colunga-GarcíaMarín P, Zizumbo-Villarreal D. Domestication of plants in Maya Lowlands. Econ Bot. 2004;58:101–10.
Toledo VM, Barrera-Bassols N, García Frapolli E, Alarcón-Chaires P. Uso múltiple y biodiversidad entre los mayas yucatecos (México). Interciencia. 2008;33:345–52.
Gómez-Pompa A, Allen MF, Fedick SL, Jiménez-Osornio JJ. The Lowland Maya area. three Millennia at human-wildland interface. New York: The Haworth Press; 2003.
Fedick SL. The managed mosaic. Ancient Maya agriculture and resource use. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press; 1996.
Rico-Gray V, Gómez-Pompa A, Chan C. Las selvas manejadas por los mayas de Yohaltún, Campeche, México. Biotica. 1985;10:321–8.
Flannery KV. Maya subsistence. Studies in memory of Dennis E. Puleston. Austin: Academic Press, University of Texas; 1982.
Hernández-Xolocotzi E. La agricultura en la península de Yucatán. In: Beltrán E, editor. Los Recursos Naturales del Sureste. México: Instituto Mexicano de Recursos Naturales Renovables; 1959. p. 3–37.
Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Simá P. Las prácticas de roza-tumba-quema en la silvicultura maya-yucateca y la regeneración de la selva. In: Uribe R, editor. Medio Ambiente y comunidades indígenas del Sureste: prácticas tradicionales de producción, rituales y manejo de recursos. SECUR-IV Comité Regional Villahermosa: UNESCO; 1988. p. 84–104.
Steggerda M. Maya Indians of Yucatan. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington Publications; 1941.
Hernández-Xolocotzi E, Levy T, Bello B. La roza-tumba-quema en Yucatán. In: Hernández-Xolocotzi E, Bello B, Levy T. Comps. La milpa en Yucatán; un sistema de producción agrícola tradicional. Tomo 2. Montecillos: Colegio de Postgraduados; 1995.
Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Terán S. Las semillas de la cultura. Los agrosistemas tradicionales una alternativa de desarrollo. Boletín de la Escuela de Ciencias Antropológicas de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. 1985;72:3–18.
Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Colunga-GarcíaMarín P, May-Pat F, Martínez-Castillo J, Mijangos-Cortés JO, Recursos fito-genéticos para la alimentación y la agricultura. In: Durán-García R, Méndez-González M, editors. Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Humano en Yucatán. Mérida, Yucatán: CICY, PPD-FMAM, CONABIO, SEDUMA; 2010.
Wandsnider L. The roasted and the boiled: food composition and heat treatment with special emphasis on pit-hearth cooking. J Anthropol Archaeol. 1997;16:1–48.
Dering P. Earth-oven plant processing in Archaic period economies: an example from a semi-arid savannah in South-Central North America. Am Antiq. 1999;64:659–74.
Thoms AV. Rock of ages: propagation of hot-rock cookery in Western North America. J Archaeol Sci. 2009;36:573–91.
Benedict FG, Steggerda M. The food of the present day Maya indians of Yucatan. Contrib Am Archaeol. 1936;18:157–88.
Peraza López ME. Patrones alimenticios en Ichmul, Yucatán: sus determinantes socioeconómicas ecológicas y culturales. [Bachelor thesis]. Facultad de Antropología. Mérida: Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán; 1986.
Luna Reyes I. Alimentación y consumo en una comunidad maya de Yucatán: Xocén. [Bachelor thesis]. Mérida: Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán; 1994.
Terán S, Rasmussen C, Pat O. Las plantas de la milpa de los mayas. Mérida: Danida; 1998.
Cázares-Sánchez E, Duch Gary J. La diversidad genética de variedades locales de maíz, frijol calabaza y chile, y su relación con características culinarias. In: Chávez-Servia JL, Tuxill J, Jarvis DI, editors. Manejo de la diversidad de los cultivos en los agroecosistemas tradicionales. Cali: Instituto Internacional de Recursos Filogenéticos; 2004. p. 250–5.
García E. Modificaciones al sistema de clasificación climática de Köppen para adaptarlos a las condiciones de la República mexicana. Segunda edición. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; 2004.
DETENAL. (Dirección de Estadística del Territorio Nacional.). Modificaciones al Sistema de Clasificación de Suelos FAO/ UNESCO. México: Secretaría de Programación y Presupuesto; 1974.
INEGI. (2005). (On line) Available in http://www.microrregiones.gob.mx/catloc/contenido.aspx?refnac=311020174.
Katz SH, Heidiger ML, Valleroy LA. Traditional maize processing techniques in the New world. Science. 1974;184(4138):765–73.
Paredes O, Guevara F, Bello LA. La nixtamalización y el valor nutritivo del maíz. Ciencias. 2007;3:60–70.
Paredes O, Guevara F, Bello LA. Los alimentos mágicos de las culturas indígenas mesoamericanas. México: Fondo de cultura económica; 2006.
Gallegos S, Pacheco J, Betancur D, Chel L. Extraction and characterization of soluble protein fractions from Phaseolus lunatus L. seeds. Arch Latinoam Nutr. 2004;54(1):81–8.
Kuti JO, Kuti HO. Proximate composition and mineral content of two edible species of Cnidoscolus (tree spinach). Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 1999;53:275–83.
Jacks TJ. Cucurbit seed protein and oil. ACS Symp Ser. 1986;312:249–60.
Raghavan S. Handbook of spices, seasonings and flavorings. Pennsylvania: Co. Technomic; 2000.
Salazar C, Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Brush S, Colunga-GarcíaMarín P. Earth Ovens (Píib) in the Maya Lowlands: ethnobotanical data supporting early use. Econ Bot. 2012;66(3):285–97.
Perales HR, Benz BF, Brush SB. Maize diversity and ethno linguistic diversity in Chiapas, Mexico. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005;102(3):949–54.
Aguirre JA, Bellon MR, Smale M. A regional analysis of maize biological diversity in Southeastern Guanajuato, Mexico. Econ Bot. 2000;54(1):60–72.
Hernández-Xolocotzi E. Consumo humano de maíz y el aprovechamiento de tipos con alto valor nutritivo. Memoria del Simposio sobre desarrollo y utilización de maíces de alto valor nutritivo. Chapingo: Colegio de Posgraduados. ENA; 1972.
Tuz Chi LH. Así es nuestro pensamiento. Cosmovisión e identidad en los rituales agrícolas de los mayas peninsulares. [PhD thesis]. Programa de Doctorado Interuniversitario Antropología de Iberoamérica. Salamanca, España: Universidad de Salamanca; 2009.
Gabriel M. Las ceremonias agrícolas de los campesinos mayas- representaciones de su cosmovisión. In: Barrera A, Gubler R, editors. Los mayas de ayer y hoy. Memorias del Congreso Internacional de Cultura Maya. México: Consejo Nacional para las Culturas y las Artes, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia; 2012. p. 1145–68.
Valdés JA, Vidal C. Orígenes míticos, símbolos y rituales en Chocholá y las tierras mayas del sur. In: Decimoctavo Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala. Guatemala: Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Instituto de Antropología e Historia; 2005. p. 41–55.
Salinas MY, Soto MH, Martínez-Bustos F, González VH, Ortega RP. Análisis de antocianinas en maíces de grano azul y rojo provenientes de cuatro razas. Revista Fitotecnia Mexicana. 1999;22:161–74.
Ruvalcaba J. Vida cotidiana y consumo de maíz en la huasteca veracruzana. México: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social; 1987.
Martínez Castillo J, Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Perales-Rivera H, Colunga-García Marín P. Intraspecific diversity and morphophenological variation in Phaseolus lunatus L. from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Econ Bot. 2004;58:354–80.
Latournier L, Chávez JL, Pérez M, Hernández CF, Martínez R, Arias LM, Castañón G. Exploración de la diversidad morfológica de chiles regionales en Yaxcabá, Yucatán. México. Agronomía Mesoamericana. 2002;12(1):41–7.
Cázares-Sánchez E, Ramírez-Vallejo P, Castillo-González F, Soto-Hernández M, Rodríguez-González MT, Chávez-Servia JL. Capsaicinoids and preference of use in different morphotypes of chili peppers (Capsicum annum L.) of east central Yucatan. Agrociencia. 2005;39(6):627–38.
Aguilar Meléndez A, Morell PL, Roose ML, Seung CK. Genetic diversity and structure in semiwild and domesticated chiles (Capsicum annuum; Solanaceae) from Mexico. Am J Bot. 2009;96(6):1190–202.
Ruenes MR, Casas A, Jiménez Osornio JJ, Caballero J. Etnobotánica de Spondias purpurea. Interciencia. 2010;35(4):247–54.
Sherman PW, Billing J. Darwinian gastronomy: why we use spices. BioScience. 1999;49(6):453–63.
Acknowledgments
We are very appreciative of the financial support of the Red Latinoamericana de Botánica—Andrew Mellon Foundation and the Programa del Mejoramiento del Profesorado PROMEP/103.5/09/4348 in providing scholarships for the doctoral studies and research of Carmen Salazar. Thanks to Maura Dzib Canul y Fátimo Canul Noh for their services in Maya to Spanish translation. We are most grateful to the families of Xocén, and especially, for their hospitality and help during fieldwork.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Salazar, C., Zizumbo-Villarreal, D., Colunga-GarcíaMarín, P., Brush, S. (2016). Contemporary Maya Food System in the Lowlands of Northern Yucatan. In: Lira, R., Casas, A., Blancas, J. (eds) Ethnobotany of Mexico. Ethnobiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6669-7_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6669-7_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6668-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6669-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)