Nutrition+and+Medicine

by Kelin Flanagan


Images of Daily Life on Murals in Calakmul

Mesoamerican Environment Overview
The Mesoamerican region was the most varied ecological settings for the vast Maya empire. The Maya region actually consists of 3 ecological zones – the Pacific Coastal Plain, the Highlands, and the Lowlands. Across these different environments, the Maya settled and grew in numbers, adapting to each zone’s unique demands by utilizing various methods of intensive and non-intensive subsistence methods. Knowledge of the Pre-Colombian landscape is essential to understanding how the Maya could support their incredibly large and dense populations. The Pacific Coastal Plain ranges from Chiapas in Mexico through southern Guatemala and into El Salvador. It is composed of relatively recent sediments with volcanic highlands to the North. Mangrove swamps, lagoons, and rivers fill this tropical climate location. Mean annual temperatures range from 77-95 F, the dry season is from January to April and the rainy season is from May to December. Rainforest is also a major environmental element here with trees reaching past 20m, palms, shrubs, ferns, small trees (like cacao!), and mixed pines and oaks.

The Highlands are above 800 m in elevation. They are ecologically diverse, characterized by various resources, and are geologically active. They range between temperate and cooler climates. They can be divided into northern and southern zones as well. The southern area is covered with volcanoes and experiences frequent earthquakes, eruptions, and other geological disasters. In the north, the ecology is less disturbed but enjoys rich alluvial soils as a result of its close proximity to the volcanic action. There are many valleys and basins in the north where there is a mixed evergreen – deciduous environment filled with oaks, laurels, sweet gum, dogwood, and many species of pine trees.

The Lowlands are the largest of the Maya ecological zones. They rise no higher than 800 m in elevation and consist of tropical forests filled with evergreens. This area is characterized by high rainfall patterns and rainforests. There is a multistory canopy pattern with Ceiba trees (the //axis mundi// and ‘world tree’ of the Maya) reaching heavenly heights followed closely by Mahogany, Sapodilla, Spanish Cedar and American Fig. The next canopy stage contains Ramon, Rubber, Allspice, Avocado, and Palms. Strangler vines, Spanish moss, bromeliads, orchids, ferns, and large-leafed plants also grow below the secondary canopy.

Diet and Subsistence of the Maya
**Strategies:** There are many debates in current archaeological theory about the subsistence patterns of the ancient Maya. Many recognize that maize was the primary staple of Maya paleodiets. At the same time, researchers are also finding slight inconsistencies regarding the carrying capacity of agricultural zones and claim maize agriculture alone could not support the massive populations Maya sites attained (Lange, 1971). The Maya used a number of different methods of subsistance and food-production systems to support their growing populations**.** There is **“** hard evidence that the ancient Maya utilized a complex and diverse range of agrotechnologies” (Santley, 1986: 128). Complexity of Maya ingenuity can be seen in all aspects of their recovered culture and this certainly would extend to nutritional options. "Irrigation and chinampa farming, terracing and several other forms of intensive cultivation were practiced..." (Wilken, 1971:433). Arboriculture and orchards are also included among these methods, as well as gardens, milpas, and wild food gathering. These were all employed simultaneously with inter-cropping methods, which involve different crop-mixes and fallow zones. These complex agrotechnologies would have provided botanical nutritional support for dense populations relatively reliably. The methods of food production are essential to understanding the nutritional options available to the ancient Maya.

Most likely, the earliest Maya were more mobile, concentrating on slash-and-burn types of shifting, or swidden, cultivation as some Maya and Amazon tribes are today, but intensification of agricultural methods would have been necessary to support the growing density of Maya populations. Intensive food production systems require stable organization on a large scale to function. Large-scale water and land management projects would have been directed by the elite classes. Therefore, shifting political situations, of which there were many especially in Classic and Terminal-Classic Maya times, affect food production systems and the foods available to the ancient Maya. (Wilken, 1971)

This can also work in reverse. It is believed that food and nutrition would have, and did, affect the stability of political situations (Santley, 1979, 1986). Because there is no aspect of ancient Maya culture yet found to have been separate from the spiritual world, while everyone is happy and well-fed and relatively disease-free, the elites were believed to have the blessing of the Gods. Once the Lowlands began to reach their carrying capacities, malnutrition and city-living sanitary conditions would bring disease and discontent among the lower classes. Deforestation for increased agriculture and fuel for lime plaster production would cause a depletion of nutrients within the over-used soils. The decreased productivity of the land would then cause many health problems. According to Gopalan and Srikantia (1973), “… malnutrition is believed to predispose to many infectious diseases like measles, chicken pox, small pox, and bacterial diseases such as rheumatic fever and tuberculosis” (in Santley, 1979: 191).

When we consider the evidence that poorer classed people within the Pre-Colombian Maya communities were most likely those subject to ‘marginal diets’ and malnutrition, it is easy to see how social unrest may have been a major factor of the ‘Maya Collapse’ (Santley, 1979, 1989). When the largest population demographic is suffering most of disease and malnutrition, that means the majority of the population is unhappy with urban life and priest-kings and most likely believed their leaders to have fallen out of favor with the Gods.

** Staples: **

**Flora** A general Mesoamerican diet would include crops such as Zea mays (corn), //Phaseolus vulgaris// (beans), and //Cucurbita moschata// (squash). Other species common in mesoamerican diets are //Sechium edule// (chayote), //Lagenaria sp//. (bottle gourd), fruit trees such as //Persea americana// (avocado), //Vitis tiliifolia// (wild grapes), //Theobroma cacao// (cacao), //Capsicum annuum// (peppers), //Manihot esculenta// (manioc), and //Acrocomia mexicana// and //Bactris sp//. (palms locally called coyol).

First Proof of Manioc in Ceren, El Salvador

Cultivated plants available in the Pre-Colobian Lowlands were amaranth and chia (//Salvia sp.//), tomatoes, maguey (A//gave sp.//), nopal/prickly pear, various chenopods, verdolaga (//Portulaca sp.//), and various edible fruits such as capulin (//Prunus capuli//), tejocote (//Crataegus mexicana//), and white zapote (//Casimiroa edulis//).

(Santley, 1979; Lentz, 1991; Wright, 1998)

Evidence of Cacao Use in Olmec Times **Fauna** A good way to look at the common elements of Maya diets is to examine the fauna available in each region and the evidence from archaeological sites spanning the Maya realm.

Pacific Coastal lagoons would have provided fish, shellfish, amphibians, seabirds, reptiles such as sea turtles, water moccasins and caimen. The sites further inland would coexist with Iguanas, small lizards and mammals, birds, pythons, mosquitoes, biting flies, and other insects. Silt deposits along rivers in the area would allow for successful agricultural endeavors. The Pacific Coastal Plain was a well known producer of Cacao and cotton for the Maya.

The Highlands are home to howler and spider monkeys, kinkajous, coatimundis, weasles, foxes, peccaries, oppossums, hawks, vultures, parrots, harpy eagles, and the quetzal.

Lowland fauna are even more diverse. Anteaters agoutis, pacas, tapirs, white-tailed deer, brocket deer, peccaries, rabbits, turkeys, primates (howler/spider monkeys), ocelot, jaguarundi and jaguars. Birds such as doves, parrots, macaws, woodpeckers, toucans, quail, curassows and chachalacas can also be found there. Toads, tree frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes as well as poisonous reptiles and amphibians also inhabit the Lowlands. Lowland rivers would have provided snais (//jute)//, crayfish, fish – //mojarra// and catfish, tarpon, robald, snook, snapper. Marine resources like corals, seafans, shellfish such as shrimp and lobster, crabs, conch, spiny oysters, sea turtles, and manatee would have been available. This is not to mention the numerous spider, scorpian and insect species.

Nutritional Consequences
 Food consumption patterns can be determined in the archaeological record through floral remains, faunal remains, hieroglyphic and iconographic evidence, historical records, and isotopic evidence. These patterns give clues to ancient ideology, resource availability, social status, and biological status (White, 2001). A problem when trying to identify dietary patterns is based in social theory. Different social groups – young. Old, poor, rich, men, women – eat differently for different reasons. Therefore, nutrition will vary in nearly all mentally conceived factions of a demographic.

Theoretically, elites would have been in control of the redistribution of food and goods paid as tribute and therefore would have had the most access to the most types of foods (Lentz, 1991). It is hypothesized by many Maya researchers that elite skeletons would show signs of more varied, and most likely healthier, nutrition. Stable isotope analysis of Maya bones give researchers an idea of what was actually eaten by an individual rather than just what was available to them – the “meal” rather than the “menu” – and so are more reliable tests when trying to conceive of paleo-nutrition. Common evidence from Maya bones tested for diet can indirectly display levels of macronutrients and evidence of protein deficiency – believed to be a common nutritional issue among the ancient Maya (Nations, 1979; Lange, 1971; Wright, 1998).

Limitation of protein and supplementary nutrients as a result of over-hunting of animals previously used to provide those macronutrients – such as white-tailed deer (which composed 80-95% of all meat consumed) and turkey– would be cause for serious instability of the elite class systems. Protein was a problem for dense inland populations, but perhaps not so much for more coastal sites as many Maya researchers suggest (Santley, 1986; Lange, 1971; Nations, 1979; Wright, 1998). Marine resources were essential to the extended ruling power of coastal lowland sites. This is reflected in the archaeological record in site occupation patterns. During the Terminal Classic and throughout the Post Classic, populations began to abandon inland sites and to occupy cities closer to the coasts of the Yucatan such as Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Edzna, Coba and Mayapan. While maize is rich in calories, there is a lack of other macro and micro-nutrients available from this staple crop. Maize “is deficient in certain essential amino acids, lysine, [tryptophan and niacin]” (Santley, 1979: 194). Other grains produced, such as amaranth, however, are high in protein, fats, riboflavin, calcium and phosphorous. Yet still, the Maya would not have been able to propagate their population on these grains alone.

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By recording the locations, quantities, and qualities of various ancient botanical data, Lentz found that elites did enjoy a higher diversity of species in their diets than other social classes and speculates this could have led to nutritional stress and social unrest (Lentz, 1991). Nutritional deficiencies are a reality now, and they were even more so in early Mesoamerican agriculturally supported societies as well. Lori E. Wright (1998) studied the effects of childhood anemia on crania found in rural Guatemala and highland Maya from Plan de Sanchez, Baja Verapaz dated to the Classic period. An interesting result from her study was that there is not much difference between childhood anemia rates in ancient and modern Maya, other than the fact that the ancient Maya would live longer. This is not suggesting that there is an absence of anemia in Pre-Colombian Maya. It seems to imply that modern Maya children live in a much less healthy environment than their ancestors despite anemia rates.=====

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Interesting ways of obtaining balanced nutrients in Maya paleodiets are found in their food production. Both Santley (1979) and Nations (1979) claim the processing method of maize using limestone manos and metates and the addition of snail shells adds lime, and therefore calcium, to their tortillas and diets. Lime combined with maize allows greater absorption of essential amino acids such as lysine and tryptophan, giving tortillas a greater nutritional value than if they weren’t processed in these ways. Maize does contain phytic acid, however, which “limits iron absorption and contributes to zinc deficiencies in maize-heavy diets” (Santley, 1979: 196). To make up for the iron and zinc deficiencies, beans and root vegetables would often supplement Maya paleodiets as well.======

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Beans are high in niacin, thiamin, iron, raw protein, and contain 2 – 5 x’s the amino acids in maize. Squash, peppers, and prickly pears may be low in protein and calories, however, their high vitamin A and C concentrations make them an essential dietary element for the Maya.======

**Skeletal Abnormalities due to nutritional stress**

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Here are examples of abnormalities found within the Maya realm resultant from nutritional stress: - Increase in bumber of transverse lines on long bones (Steinback, 1976)======

 Health and Disease in Ancient Cultural Context
 A simple way to attain an idea of the types of diseases afflicting the ancient Maya is to look to their creation myth in the //Popul Vuh//. There, //Xibalba//, the Maya Underworld, is described as the Hero Twins of their mythology traverse its topography. The leader of //Xibalba// are One Death and Seven Death, who may actually be the same person, with Seven Death being One Death’s shadow-self. There are lesser lords occupying the 9 layers of the Underworld that are similar to demons. They work in pairs and represent the ailments the Maya encountered: Xiquiripat (Flying Scab) and Cuchumaquic (Gathered Blood) who sicken people's blood,

Ahalpuh (Pus Demon) and Ahalgana (Jaundice Demon) who cause people's bodies to swell up,

Chamiabac (Bone Staff) and Chamiaholom (Skull Staff) who turn dead bodies into skeletons,

Ahalmez (Sweepings Demon) and Ahaltocob (Stabbing Demon) who hide in the unswept areas of people houses and stabbed them to death

Xic (Wing) and Patan (Packstrap) who caused people to die coughing up blood while out walking on a road

//*Popul Vuh// translation retrieved online at - http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Ancient_religions/Central_america/popol_vuh.htm Also see section on "Gods and the //Popul Vuh"// in Mayan Religion

It is now believed the ailment caused by Wing and Packstrap was actually due to lime poisoning. With the massive production of lime plaster, bits of lime would choke the air and fill the lungs of the urban inhabitants. Coughing up blood is a symptom of lime-damaged lungs.

Medicinal Interpretations
There is limited knowledge of the treatments of diseases among the ancient Maya. What we do know is gleaned from a few pages within the Dresden codex and the Madrid codex (Thompson, 1958) as well as modern Maya ethnographies and ethno-botany. Within the codices there is a goddess depicted associated with childbirth, sexual relations, disease, the earth and its crops, water and the art of weaving” (Thompson, 1958:297).

Kunow (2003) explains, “Sickness may result from natural causes (including germs), emotional upsets, witchcraft, neglect of the gods or other supernaturals, hot/cold imbalances, or from encounters with disease-causing agents such as evil winds, certain birds, and persons who have evil eye” (61). No doubt the modern medicinal beliefs are based in ancient cosmogonies, western biomedical explanations and the influence of initial European contact. What we notice with interviews of modern Maya shamans is that edible plants are the most versatile medicines. The Ramon tree ( //Brosimum alicastrum // ), for example, can be used to treat coughs as well as for a delicious pastry filling. Avocado ( //Persea Americana // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">) fruit is for skin beautification, the bark can be used for rheumatism, and the leaves used for diarrhea.

also see Mayan Religion

==<span style="color: #171769; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">C <span style="color: #171769; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">onclusion: == <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Maya enjoyed a rich variety of foods not just from their respective geographical zone, but also from the vast surrounding territory that encompasses the Maya realm. Although Maize agriculture seems to have been the main source of food for the dense Pre-Colombian populations, it is clear this was not the only method or source for nutrition. Because of the limited macro and micro-nutrient properties of maize, protein and vitamin supplementation was essential to preventing malnutrition. Protein support began to run low inland eventually causing malnutrition, disease, and possibly social unrest in all sites except the coastal ones. Where marine resources were adequate, Maya civilization continued to flourish even after the ‘collapse’. The Maya interpreted the illnesses present due to malnutrition, poor sanitary conditions, and lime poisoning as supernatural in origin and often turned to medicine men and spiritual leaders to explain and cure them. Not much is left of the medicinal knowledge of the ancient Maya. We must interpret modern Maya shamanic practices with ancient iconography and archaeological remains to gain an understanding of ancient Maya healing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Kunow, M.A. (2003) //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Maya Medicine: Traditional healing in the Yucatan //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque, NM. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Lange, F.W. (1971). “Marine Resources: A viable subsistence alternative for the Prehistoric Lowland Maya”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">American Anthropologist //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 73, n. 3, p. 619-639. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Lentz, D.L. (1991). “Maya Diets of the Rich and Poor: Paleoethnobotanical evidence from Copan”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">American Antiquity //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 2, n. 3, p. 269-287. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Nations, J.D. (1979). “Snail Shells and Maize Production: A Lacandon Maya analogy”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">American Antiquity //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 44, n. 3, p. 568-571. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Santley, R.S. and Rose, E.K. (1979). “Diet, Nutrition, and Population Dynamics in the Basin of Mexico”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">World Archaeology //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 11, n. 2, p. 185-207. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Santley, R.S., Killion, T.W. & Lycett, M.T. (1986). “The Maya Collapse”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Journal of Anthropological Research //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 42, n. 2, p. 123-159. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Sharer, R. J. & Traxler, L.P. (2006) //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">The Ancient Maya //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. 6 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">th <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> ed. Stanford University Press. Stanford, CA. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Thompson, J. E. S. (1958). “Symbols, Glyphs, and Divinatory Almanacs for Diseases in the Maya Dresden and Madrid Codices”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">American Antiquity //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 23, n. 3, p. 297-308. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- White, C.D., Pendergast, D.M., Longstaffe, F.J. & Law, K.R. (2001). “Social Complexity and Food Systems at Altun Ha, Belize: The isotopic evidence”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Latin American Antiquity //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 12, n. 4, p. 371-393. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Wilken, G.C. (1971). “Food-Producing Systems Available to the Ancient Maya”. //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">American Antiquity //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">, v. 36, n. 4, p. 432-448. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">- Wright, L.E. & Chew, F. (1998). “Porotic Hyperostosis and Paleoepidemiology: A forensic perspective on anemia among the ancient Maya”. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">American Anthropologist // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">, v. 100, n. 4, p. 924-939. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">
 * __Resources:__**

__Module #7:__ I would love to research more about ancient (and possibly modern) Maya diets and medicinal practices. This kind of work will focus heavily on ethnobotanical resources. I want to study the relationships between humans and their environment through the cultural filter of medical and nutritional anthropology.

-Phytoliths and Archaeobotany - Evidence: 1. ceramic vessels 2. archaeological 3. types of species found

-depictions of food and medicine in artwork - Evidence: 1. stelae 2. murals 3. ceramics 4. codices

-religious connections with healing - etiology: their beliefs on origins of disease - consciousness and divination: mind altering substances used to divine cause of illness

-common ailments among ancient maya - compare to common ailments among modern maya (Ethno-medicine)

Common ethnobotanical and nutritional anthropological themes for research 1. Nosology: classification of diseases 2. Etiology: study of origins of diseases 3. Plant species used 4. Food as Medicine 5. Linguistics: how the healing floral were named (hieroglyphs?) and labeled and what that tells us about the way the Maya viewed the natural world, the concept of health, and their relationship with their food and medicinal plants.

- Kelin Flanagan

//possible resources//:
 * Anderson, E.N. (2005) Political Ecology in a Yucatec Maya Community. University of Arizona Press.
 * Benjamin, Patricia. (2006) Massage and Sweat baths Among the Ancient Maya. Massage Therapy Journal. Spring 2004:144-148.
 * Colby, Benjamin N. (2004) Calendrical Divination by the Ixil Maya of Guatemala. In Divination and Healing: University of Arizona Press.
 * Houston, Stephen, David Stuart, and Karl Taube. (2006) The Memory of Bones. University of Texas Press.
 * Kunow, Marianna. (2003) Maya Medicine. University of New Mexico Press.
 * Roys, Ralph L. (1931) The Ethno-Botany of the Maya. Tulane University.
 * Sharer, Robert. (2006) The Ancient Maya. Stanford

__**Module #8**__: Kerma: The Rise of an African Civilization The floodplains along the Nile constitute an important but as yet little utilized series of laboratories for the comparative study of the origins and interaction of ancient civilizations.

__**Module #9**__:
 * **Mesoamerican Archaeology**
 * Author(s): Richard S. MacNeish
 * Source: Biennial Review of Anthropology, Vol. 5, (1967), pp. 306-331
 * Published by: Stanford University Press
 * Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/294921

__**Module #10 + #11**__

A general Mesoamerican diet would include crops such as //Zea mays// (corn), //Phaseolus vulgaris// (beans), and //Cucurbita moschata// (squash). Other species common in mesoamerican diets are //Sechium edule// (chayote), //Lagenaria sp.// (bottle gourd), fruit trees such as //Persea americana// (avocado), //Vitis tiliifolia// (wild grapes), //Theobroma cacao// (cacao), //Capsicum annuum// (peppers), //Manihot esculenta// (manioc), and //Acrocomia mexicana// and //Bactris sp.// (palms locally called //coyol//). David L. Lentz conducted a survey of residential urban and rural areas in Copan and discovered paleoethnobotanical data that supports Copan’s occupation from the Gordon/Uir phase (900-400bc) to the Coner phase (ad 700-900+). By recording the locations, quantities, and qualities of various ancient botanical data, Lentz found that elites enjoyed a higher diversity of species in their diets than other social classes and speculates this could have led to nutritional stress and social unrest (Lentz, 1991). Nutritional deficiencies are a reality now, and they were even more so in early Mesoamerican agriculturally supported societies as well. Lori E. Wright studied the effects of childhood anemia on crania found in rural Guatemala and highland Maya from Plan de Sanchez, Baja Verapaz dated to the Classic period. An interesting result from her study was that there is not much difference between childhood anemia rates in ancient and modern Maya, other than the fact that the ancient Maya would live longer. It seems to imply that modern Maya children live in a much less healthy environment than their ancestors.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Lentz, David L. (1991). “Maya Diets of the Rich and Poor: Paleoethnobotanical Evidence from Copan”. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Latin American Antiquity // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;"> v2, n3, pp. 269-287.

Wright, Lori E. and Francisco Chew (1998). “Porotic Hyperostosis and Paleoepidemiology: A Forensic Perspective on Anemia among the Ancient Maya”. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">American Anthropologist // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">, v100, n4, pp. 924-939.

__**Module # 12 **__


 * __Module #13__**

The Maya used a number of different methods of subsistance and food-production systems to support their growing populations. Most likely, the earliest Maya were more mobile, concentrating more on slash-and-burn types of shifting, or milpa, cultivation, but intensification of agricultural methods would have been necessary to support the growing population as a result of an increased reliability of food resources. Intensive food production systems require organization on a large scale to function large-scale water and land management projects. Therefore, shifting political situations, of which there were many especially in Classic and Post-Classic Maya realms, affect food production systems and foods available to the ancient Maya. This article is very useful for individuals interested in the ancient Maya realm. It can provide a clear idea of how the Maya used to feed themselves and it clarifies that there is no reason to assume the Maya only used a single food production system. It describes the complexity of Maya ingenuity and nutritional options. "Irrigation and chinampa farming, terracing and several other forms of intensive cultivation were practiced..." (Wilken, 1971:433). Arboriculture is also included among these methods, as well as gardens, milpas, and wild food gathering. This article focuses very heavily on agriculture, but the methods of food production are essential to understanding the nutritional options available to the ancient Maya.


 * Wilken, G.C. (1971). "Food-Producing Systems Available to the Ancient Maya". //American Antiquity,// vol. 36, n. 4, p. 432-448. **


 * __Module #14__**

Other resources: - <span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS',Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;">Kunow, M. A. (2003). //Maya medicine: Traditional healing in Yucatan//. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. - Houston, S. D., Stuart, D., & Taube, K. A. (2006). //The memory of bones: Body, being, and experience among the classic Maya//. Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long series in Latin American and Latino art and culture. Austin: University of Texas Press. - International Congress of Ethnobiology, Stepp, J. R., Wyndham, F. S., & Zarger, R. K. (2002). //Ethnobiology and biocultural diversity: Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Ethnobiology//. Athens, GA: International Society of Ethnobiology. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> -

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091112-maya-pictures-murals-pyramid-food.html <span style="color: #3c3d46; font-family: Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
 * __[|Medical Ethnobotany of the Yucatec Maya: Healers' Consensus as a Quantitative Criterion]__
 * Anita Ankli, Otto Sticher, Michael Heinrich
 * __[|Economic Botany]__, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1999), pp. 144-160
 * Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press
 * Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256174
 * [|Maya Diets of the Rich and Poor: Paleoethnobotanical Evidence from Copan]
 * David L. Lentz
 * __[|Latin American Antiquity]__, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Sep., 1991), pp. 269-287
 * Published by: Society for American Archaeology
 * Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/972172
 * [|Diet, Nutrition and Population Dynamics in the Basin of Mexico]
 * Robert S. Santley, Eric K. Rose
 * __[|World Archaeology]__, Vol. 11, No. 2, Food and Nutrition (Oct., 1979), pp. 185-207
 * Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
 * Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/124359
 * __[|Stature Change in Prehistoric Maya of the Southern Lowlands]__
 * Marie Elaine Danforth
 * __[|Latin American Antiquity]__, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Sep., 1994), pp. 206-211
 * Published by: Society for American Archaeology
 * Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/971880
 * __[|Latin American Antiquity]__, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Sep., 1994), pp. 206-211
 * Published by: Society for American Archaeology
 * Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/971880