Foodstuffs, Forests, Fields, and Shelter: A Paleoethnobotanical Analysis of Vessel Contents from the Ceren Site, El Salvador

Abstract

Botanical remains found in ceramic vessels and other containers at the Cerén site, El Salvador, provide evidence for how plants were used by Classic-period inhabitants. Because of the rapid inundation of ash caused by the eruption of the Loma Caldera volcano sometime around A. D. 590, conditions for the preservation of plant parts at Cerén are superior to most other Mesoamerican sites. Carbonized plant remains, or impressions thereof, recovered from vessels include an assortment of domesticates, cultigens, and wild plants that describe an overall pattern of a highly diversified subsistence base. Although clear statistical associations among vessels, structure types, and plant remains are not evident, the contextual data reveal food storage and other plant-use practices of the site occupants. The apparent abundance of plant-derived products and Mayan trade goods at Cerén suggests the potential contribution made by small farmers as both suppliers to and trading partners with the larger cultural developments in Mesoamerica.