Analysis of Paleoethnobotanical Remains Associated with the Ceremonial Sacbe at the Ancient Maya Village of Cerén.

Archaeological research conducted during the 2013 field season at Joya de Cerén in El Salvador focused on the analysis of paleoethnobotanical remains found on the surface and associated features of an ancient Maya sacbe (causeway) protected beneath five meters of tephra by the volcanic eruption of Loma Caldera around AD 600. Plant remains were retrieved from the sacbe surface, adjacent drainage canals, and agricultural fields on either side of the sacbe. Because the plant remains found in association with this sacbe were well preserved, a rare occurrence in Mesoamerica, the data recovered from Cerén are quite significant and unique to the study of Maya plant use activities. The project collected 61 macrobotanical samples and 160 flotation samples processed in a water flotation tank. Prominently represented in these samples are Spilanthes cf. acmella achenes, Zea mays cob fragments, Phaseolus sp. cotyledons and abundant charcoal remains.