Shedding light on the nightshades (Solanaceae family) used by the ancient Maya: New archaeobotanical evidence from archaeological sites in northwestern Petén, Guatemala.

Today, plants in the Solanaceae family are economically important to a large number of people around the world. However, in places such as Central America where the diversity of nightshades is especially high, the ancient use of species within this family is not well documented. Particularly, nightshade plant use by the ancient Maya is poorly understood. In this paper, I present new archaeobotanical data in the form of macrobotanical remains and starch grains recovered from Classic period (AD 250-900) ancient Maya archaeological sites in northwestern Petén, Guatemala. These data indicate that the ancient Maya used a variety of nightshades in both domestic and ritual contexts. Insights garnered from this research may provide botanists with new insights regarding the distribution and diversity of the Solanaceae family within this specific geographical area.