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. ' :BROSIMUMALICASTHUM AS ASUBSISTENCE* ' - . *"*" . v .
ALTERNATIVE_FOR THSCIASSIC MAYAOFTHECENTRALV - ; - - : : , : .
SOUTHERN LOWLANDS
.DennisEdward Puleston
Presentedto theFacultyof theGraduate SchoolofArtsand
SciencesoftheUniversityofPennsylvaniainPartialFulfillmentof
theRequirementsfor theDegreeofMasterof.Arts. . .
(1968)
"Supel^risor ofThesis
Graduate Group Chairman
.ATHESIS / 'in.'
Anthropology
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Theramonsurveywascarried out atTikal,in Guatemala,in 196?
asoneaspect of the Tikal SustainingArea Project directedby Dr.
WilliamAVHavilandof theUniversity ofVermont.
Theauthorwasfielddirectorof this project. The necessary funds were
supplied byagenerous grant fromtheNational Science Foundation
Theramon survey wasbased onasettlement survey - ;.carried out by
theauthor under theauspicesof theTikalProject in1965. Inthis
settlement surveyastrip .500 meters wideextending12 kilometers
south from thecenterofTikalwas mapped. Further survey work in
1966producedstrip maps
extendingnorth,eastfandwest.Thisworkalsowassponsoredby
theTikalProject which.was under the direction of Dr. William R.
Coe, withGeorge Guillemin as field director.
il
PREFACE
(GS-1*M39).
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, . .Let it be said at the outset that this thesi srepresentsa
jointeffort, nosmall partofwhichisthe result ofwork carri ed out by
my brother, PeterPuleston, ofA de l phiSuffolk College. In196?,asa
participantin theTikal Sustaining AreaProject,hecarried out thebulk
of the fieldworkwith the assistanceofElias Contreras, who-was also
instrumental tomanyaspectsof thework. Dr.
WilliamA.Haviland,associateprofessor at theUniversity ofVermont,who
introducedme to Maya archaeology in 1961 through theTikal
."Housemound11 Projecthasbeen of primary assistance andgreat
influenceat all stagesof the present project,I also.wish
toacknowledgethedepthof myindebtednesstoDr . William R. Coe who
invarious roles as instructor,-advisor,and research director of
theTikal Project hasbeen a constant, source ofguidance and
stimulus.in dealingwiththe problems pertaining
directlytothisworkaswellas throughtheexamplehe has
providedbyhisownwork.
It iswi th great p leasure thatIacknowledgetheinestimable value
of the opinions, criticism,andinform-ationIhave recei ved
fromthefollowing personswho tookthe timetoread earlier draftsofthis
thesis: Dr.HansK. Gregersonof theSchoolof National Resourcesat
theUniversity ofMichi gan ; JohnS. Lea, editor,
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Smithsonian Institution;Dr.CyrusL.Lundell,Directorof theTexas
Research Foundation;Dr.RubenReina,ProfessorofAnthropology of the
University of Pennsylvania;Dr. * ;Llnton Satterthwalte, Professor
Emeritus of Anthropologyat
theUniversityofPennsylvania;andDr.J.EricS.Thompson. ^ ^ . . - ' * -
' . - . - . . ' . . - ' * . ' ' S Ialso would liketoacknowledge
theguidance,criticism,andoften vitalInformation Ihave receivedfrom
Dr. Moises Behar, Director of theInstitutedeNutricionde
CentroAmericay Panama inGuatemala;BennetBronson'ofthe Universityof
Pennsylvania; Dr.CarlW. Gambell, associate horticulturist
atthe'UniversityofFlorida Sub-TropicalExperiment
Station;Dr.MichaelD.Coe ofYale University;Dr.A .0.Dahl,Professor
ofBotanyattheUniversity ofPenna.; Dr.JohnM.Fought
.Assistant.'Professor ofLinguisticsat theUniversityof
Pennsylvania;Dr. Francis Johnston,Assistant Professor
ofAnthropology,University ofPennsylvania; D r . . - C . . .Glen
King,Presidentoft h e -InternationalUnionofNutritional
Sciences;Dr.JohnM.LongyearIII,Professor ofA nthropologyatColgate
University;Dr. George L. NcNew,ManagingDirector of
theBoyceThompsonInstituteofPlant
ResearchInc.;Dr.Robert.Netting,Assistant Professor of Anthropology
at the UniversityofPennsylvania;Dr.Gerald Olson, Assistant
Professor ofSoil Science in ResourceFevelopmentat Cornell
University;Dr.PaulB. Pearson,
PresidentoftheNutritionFoundationInc.;andDr.John Popenoe,
Directorof theFn^rchild
Iv
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Inkingthe surveymaps; Rafael
MoralesFernandez,DirectoroftheTikalNational Park,who
sogenerouslyplacedatout disposal mulesandother Tikal
NationalParkfacilitieswithout which manyof ourundertakings would
have beenimpossible; and the Institute deAntropologla
eHistoriadeGuatemala, through whichtheformer director,CarlosSamoyoa
Chinchilla andLie.LuisLujan'Munozmadethepresentproject
possible.
Finally,itiswith considerable gratitudetheauthor
wishestoacknowledge the supporthereceived fromtheother membersof
theTikal Sustaining Area Project,notonlyfortheir
suggestionsandassistance injobslikecounting ramon nuts, butalsofor
information fromtheirownprojects whichwerecarried out
inconjunctionwiththe survey. Theless well-definedbut even greater
debttotheTikalProjectasawhole cannotbeunderestimated.
It shouldbemade clear that though manyof theabovepersonshave
offered valuable assistanceto theauthor,andeven encouragement,
thepresent thesis doesnotnecessarilyreflectanyagreement ontheir
part withtheviewsandopinions expressed here. The author
takesfullresponsibi-lityforany omissions,misquotations,or other
errorswhichmayoccurhere.
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vi
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TABLEOF CONTENTS
vii
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The.limitations,di ffi culties and even
liabilitiesofslash-and-burnagriculture haveall
beenpointsof.contention in d iscussi ons of subsistencetheory.
Theyhave playedan importantandalso controversialroleindiscussions
of Classic Maya subsistence,for which slashand burn agriculture is
supposed to have been practiced ona large scale in the rainforests
of the southernLowlands.Toynbee'shypothesisof stimulusand
responseas abasisfor the development of civilizations has been
suggestedasanexplanation of the early blossoming of
Olmeccivilization in the face of the subsistence challengesofthe
lowlands(M.D.Coe1962:? ). Meggers(195*0 feltthat the challenge was
toogreat,and thatf once estab-lished, Maya civilization was doomed
to gradualdecline,at least in the MayaLowlands, Many have attri
butedamore dramatic collapse to some form ofagri
culturalfailure.Most ofthese hypotheses ascribe this failure to
theultimate liabilitiesof large scale
slash-and~burncultivationofmaizein therainforest environment
(O.F.Cook19091 1921; Cooke 1931; Morley 1935; Steggarda19
1)'.Lately,as we have become moreaware of the true dimen-sions of
the achievements of the Classic Maya in timeaswellas space, such
theories have become lesspopular.WilleyandSabloff(196?)nowp rovide
evidencefortherole of external factors in the collapse of Classic
Maya
INTRODUCTION
1
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civilization, though they still feel thesubsistencebalance was
ftprecarious. 11 As(W.R. Coe1957)hasintimated,however,it istimewe
recognized the massiveaccomplishments ofthe Maya for what they are
-~ theremainsofa civilization formula
thatworked,andworkedwell,rather than one thatfailed.
How thenare we todeal with the obviousli
mitationsofslash~and-burn cultivation? A new perspectiveon thefull
extent of the inconsistencies here has recently
beenpresentedbyReina(196?). Ap parently withoutthebenefitsof
irrigationand chinampahorticultureas practicedintheMexican
highlands(Palerm 1955)t seasonal flooding suchas occurs in the
Chontalpa region (Sanders1962),or the
s - . -exceptional,soils of the Olmec area(Druckerand
HeizerI960),the'Classic Maya of the southern Lowlands
stillproducedaviable civilizationofovera thousand yearsduration.
How did theydo It?
Though we have long recognized the architecturalachievements of
the "ceremonial centersff of theMayaasthe resultof a substantial
investmentoflabor,thishas been rationalized by assuming that the
Indicatedmanpower was broadly dispersed. A recent
surveybyBullard(I960)seemed to supportthispicture, indicating,as
Sanders(1962) points out,ff...a surprising lackofcorrespondence of
house clusters to majorceremonialcomplexes. ff It Is only recently
with the data frommoreintensive surveysatTikal(CarrandHazard
19^1;
2
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HavilandandPulestonn.d.KSeibal (unpublished
data)fandBartonRamie(Willey etal,1965)thatwehavereallybeen forced
torealize thedensityof thepopulation thatprobably once occupied
this wholearea, *The impossibilityof the situation intermsof the
productivenessofslash-and-burn techniques was recognizedby
Ricketson andRicketson(1937:15-2 ). On the basis of the
Uaxactunhousemound survey, they calculated a potential
populationdensity ofabout1000people/sq.mi.; in terms
oftheagricultural system attributed to the Maya, such a figurewas
consideredpreposterous. Accordingly,they reducedto25$the number
ofhouses they assumedto be occupied contemporane-ously.
Sanders(1962:99)performed similar operationsonthe.Dos-Aguadas and
BartonRamie data(1962:210)in anattempt tobring thedata into line
withthe ssumptionbysuggesting reductionsof up to75 in the number
ofmoundsassumed tobe occupiedat any one time. Withno feasible
pJltexnativetoslash~and~burn cultivationof maize,he had no
choice.Though thisdep endenceonmaize is one of theoldestandmost
hallowed building blocks for our
reconstructionsofClassicMayaculture and civilization,
itmustberecognized that it is still only an assumption based onvery
littleproof. To date this proofhasbeen
primarilyinferential,Inspiteof the fact thata fewcorn
cobfragmentshave be en found atTikaland Uaxactun;but ,
-halfadozencorn cob fragments hardly formthesubsis-tencebase of a
civilization. New data seems to be
3
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continually forcing usto revise population
estimatesupwards(Haviland etal.1968:93).. In the face
ofthistrendand theknownlimitations ofslash~and~burnagriculture, any
subsistencealternatives should receivefullattention* :
:Partof the problem, of course, hasbeenalack ofalternatives
(Sanders1962). Bronson(1966),however,;hasbrokentheinterpretive
logjam witha succinctandconvincing case for Classic
Mayautilization.of severalextraordinarily prod uctive rootcrops.
The case fora second alternative"is to be presentedhere.
Morethan thirty yearsago,scienti sts began torecognize dense
concentrations of a fruit-producing'treeknownas therainon
(Brosimumal^agtrumSw. fig.1) aroundthe abandoned ruins of many
famous Lowland Mayasites.This striking di stri bution suggested
thatthetreesrepresented relic populationsofatree
actuallyculti-vatedby the Maya. Though it has beenknownthat
thefruit of this tree pr ovides a dense carbohydrate staplethat is
used by theMaya today when other food sources fail,this interesting
treehasnotreceived further attentionuntil the present projectwas
initi ated, under thesponsorship of the National
ScienceFoundation.
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DESCRIPTION O P THE R A MON
Inrespecttogeneralunfamiliaritywiththistreeand theImportance
ofcertain aspectspf.
itsmorphologyanddistribution,adescriptionisincluded hereasapreface
to thevbodyof the paper* 'The^ tFamlly;^Mpraceae ;
Brosimim gjj^ca^trum Sw. belongs to the family M o ra cea^e* . .
Asamemberofthis interesting family, it iscloselyrelated
tothebreadfruit of the Pacific,(Artocarpu^communisForst.)g the
mulberry trees;the famousjakfruit,-Artocarpus integra(Thunb.)M i r
rt t which producescmof the largest fruitsintheworld with
weights,ofup to 80 Tbs. reportedlyfor a single fruit(Chandler1958:3
3)s and the figsof thegenusFi cuswhich,according to Lemee(1929*
3)> compri seone of1 largestflowering plant genera in
theworld.-.-Humboldt1s .famous "cow tree;11
Br_osimuiautilef(H.B.K,)Pittier, whichproducesastonishingmilk-like
sap which is entirelypotable \ - ' : : ; : was formerly used in the
diet of plantationlabor (Humboldt 181911:106). A ttempts have been
madesince1836to introduce this tree into Indiaasanalternative to
cows asa source of nrailktf(Biswas 1950*19?)
Onlyrecently,however,have attempt stogrowthetreemetwithany success
(Chatterjee19502116).Controversy still surrotinds thenutritive
value ofthis"milk," (Pittier1918:10*0. / /
I
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Figure i: Illustrationofleavesand fruitof
theramonBrosimuinalicastrum Sw (Descourtilz1821-33:P^te536
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7Habitats :
The ramen (Brsiraim 11-a^rum)is alarge treerestricted to
thelowland forests ofMesoamericathoughunder.specialconditions it
does occurIndrier highlandareas and certain-partsof. theCaribbean,
As willbe
V
indicated in the survey data,itappears toflourish
onwell-drainedhabitats, though italso occursin
swampy-areas.Inareasofgreaterexposureitprefers
shady7'canyonsandbarrancas* The high.calcium content of
theleavesand fruit (INCA-P-ICNND1961:23,71)suggestthatit iswell
adap tedto the limestone-derivedlithosolsandcalcimorphicrendzina
soilswhichcharacterizethesouthern MayaLowlands(Stevens
Fully mature specimensofB.llastrmamaybe ashigh as 3 Q r a3 S
meters with the trunk more thanameteri ndiameter, The dense crown
spreads out well intothethird storyof thehig h forestcommunity.
Thebark whichIs basically gre y, varies considerably betw een
individuals,This appearsto be largelya functionofage. Oldtreestend
tohave adark-brownsealey bark which i s oftencoveredwithlichens.
Younger trees'aresmooth to thetouch with golden- yellow colors
around thebuttress esand lowertrunk. The buttre sses on larger
treesaretalland thick extendingout asmuchas twometers fromthe trunk
at ground level. During the rainy season,
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8 tfrom Kay to Decembert a out in. the side of the tree'
.produces a copious flow of milky,white,sap. The
woodIswhltlsh~yellow. The leavesa r ebright"green,-short- .
.petiolate, elliptical-oblong In shape andglabrous. Theirthickness
glves'acharacteristic-density to theappearance of . the
foliage,,
The single inconspicuous femaleflower and thenumerous
inconspicuous male flowers are all attached-tothe fleshy gl obose
recept acle which encloses thecoty-ledonous seed(fig/2) The
maleflowerywhichreduced to single steinanst produce thepollen.
Theyare separated from each other".by fleshy peltate bracts
"which cover the surface of the receptacle,, The
female';flower,immersed in the center.of the receptaclet exertsits
single-style with twocharacteristic stlginatosebranches. The lack
of.acorolla, suggests that theflowersare' pollinated entirely'
bywind, - -
, 'S ome confusion hassurrounded the monoecious statusof
"theflower.. Swartz (179? 1:18)set the
tonewithhisapparentlyfaultyobservationthat'female
flowersgrowondistinct trees, therebysuggesting that the
-trees were entirely dioecious/-Probablyhe hadbeenmisledby the
fact that the"female flower sometimesemergesfrom the
involucre-beforethe maleflowers.Thismechanism,called dichogamy
(Chandler195^*^6) I s -
-also employed'bytheavocadof and is ameans of assuming
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10somedegree ofcross-pollinationbetw een trees. Grisebach(186
:152),whonoted that both male female flowersoccur on the same
fruitof the tree, possibly wastaking hisobservations from fruits
onwhichthefemaleflowers'hadbecome senile whenhenoted thatthe
flowers'were monoecious or tdloeciousby abortion,,11 It is
nowgenerally conceded" that the"flowers (i.e."trees) aremonoecious
or rarely dioecious11 (Bailey191 *579)*
'Lundell(personalcommunication).reportsthat the sp ecimen s he
hasIn the Texas ResearchFoundationcollections are
allapparentlymonoecious. ;
The.ediblefruits, consistingof the fleshy recepta cleand the
enclosedeotyledo'nous seed* arise singly fromthe"axilsof the
leaves. They are characteristically yel-low incolorbut also can be
orange or red, .Thediameterof the globose fruit varies from 1,5
to2.5 cms* Indiameter. The small size is more typi cal of
specimensobservedatTikal. The fleshy receptacle Isabout0.2 cm.,in
thickness* In terms ofweightTIkalspecimensaveraged 1,5 6. for the
receptacleand 3 0g. for theseed,Fruitincr:
Twice-ayear,according to local InformationatTlkaltheramontrees
bear fruit. Thefirstfall,inthe dry season can."beginas early
asFebruaryor aslate
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as April. The second comesin the wet seasonIn August.We d i d .
not observe this secondfall,but Gonzalez - . ( 1 9 3 9 s221) notes
thatthetree fruits in.OctoberandNovemberInCampeche.
Anormalfalllasts five-or six weeks@Varietie/?:
Local woodsmenof thePetenclaim tobe'abletodistinguish three
varieties ofraraononthe.basisof'fruit size and color'and
differences in the 'shapesand si^es ofleaves. These varieties were
called rainonbianco^11f lr a i i i o n 'amarillo,ff and S lr a i n
o n rojo,f Though attempts weremade to distinguish these varieties
in oursurvey,theabsence of fruits and the obscurity of the leaf
distinctionsmade manyof the.identifications rather
arbitrary.Evidence in support of the reality of these
varietiesis'providedby Martinez (1959 )who reports that three
ivarieties known as f oxbianco,11 t r o x "Coloradof and f f e
ldehojaan.eha11 are found inTabasco^ He also suggeststhat
thesevarieties occur inQuintana Hoowhenhewritest1 1el ox Colorado
de Quintana Boo esmenosapreciado queel bianco.11
' . ' Though it isgenerally knownthatBros^imumfyj st;ris r .
fast-growing9 little in the way ofspecific data isavailable. For
lack of reliable data ontreesgrowingin Central Americaf
thefollowing fragmentshave'been
Growth Hate:
11
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12collected from data on plantings in.experimental gardensIn the
United States and Puerto Rico, ItIspossible-that -growth,rates for
tre es growing In the'.Maya.Lowlandswillbe found tobe qui te
different. Brltton and Wilson(1926:3 3)report that a
specimenplanted In1920 at .the Experimental Station atMayagueg*
PuertoRicohadreachedaheightof 3metersby1926,and "appearedvigorous f
l By 1929 this specimenhad reachedaheight- o f 5 meters (Brltton
andWilson1930:570) .Aftree planted in1939at theFairchild Tropical
Gardens"InFlorida Isnow(January 1968)
about12,5metershighasdetermined"from a photograph
takenbySallyPulestoruAnother treeplanted in 1913 at theUeS. Plant
Intro-duction S tation at Coconut Grove inFlorida was over15 mete
rs high in 19^5 These data are plotted on theaccompanying
graph(fig.3)* A -vertical growth rate ofa little
under-O.e5meters/year Is suggested* Presumablya treecould
reachamaximumof30"35detersin 65years. Hopefully,further
dataongrowth.ratescanbe collectedin Tlkal orUaxactunin thenear
future.Informationon how long the. trees live Isnotavailable,,
There perhaps twp'doEerivalid speciesfor
thegenusJBroimum,though48namesfor the genusare
listedinGray1sHerbarium Index, All of these species are
Related Species:
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13
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nativeto the NewWorld. Therangeof thegenus extendsfrom-Mexico
south through Central'America IntoSouthAmericawherevarious species
occur inVenezuelat the 'Guianas,'Brazil* Colombiat Peruf
Ecuador,and Paraguay,'In-the CCairlbbean,representatives of the
genus s e e i n ;to 'be limitedto JamaicafCuba, andTrinidad,
Threespecies>SSEJilA Standl., B.os r I
nmiiLiebm*,"andB.t^rrabamiiiiPlttier,are similarenough to'B0
,gll.iZ]l1Sw."topossiblybe con-specific* The lack of
distinctionbetweenBcis b mm and
B.alj.^as1^rujaIsindicatedbyRecordand Hess (19^3>:380)and
Standley(1937:3.80).Record andHess further suggest
thatB..SOBtaTlcarmmIsnomore thanavarietyofB
*2^S^JiI^JSeemos"trecent assessment of thegenus isthatofPittier
(1918)and it isbadly out ofdate, Standley(19 6s1 5 -)remarks,
howevert that f ^ ebecause of lack o f abundant
fertilespecimens^,..the speciesofBrosjlnium still are
imperfectlyknownandtheirclassification is
notaltogether^atisfactory6fl Inspiteof
thesedifficulties,anup-to-date reviewof thegenus
is'badlyneeded*
For ourpurposes here itis sufficient tonote that>
J^^l^-2-liSS^San(3-S cJig S SSHS produce edible fruitssimilar to
those - o fB.Sil struin. B ^on^zatt^iJ.e whichoccurs in alocalized
ofOaxaca (Standley 1919-20),can probably be included in t h i s
-category though informationon the'edibility-of the fruits is
lacking*
i - 4
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The map(fig. )Indicates t h e ' ; ,general dist ributionofthe
four speci es mentioned above InJamaicat where.onlyB0 alJ.ca^gtrum
occurs/- it is abundant in thecentralparishes. The -tree
issparingly represented in.Cuba (Record and Hess.IS&rj'K
Indrier areas as'on theNicoya Peninsula of Costa Ricat Incertain
parts of.Chiapas, and i n the drainage areas of the
PapaloapanandBalsas,the tree is most common
inbarrancaswhereit'possibly represents the remnants of a former
forestvegetationwhich-has since been removed by man as a-result of
hisagricultural activities*
Standleyand Steyermark(19 6:13)providethe followinginformationon
the di stribution of the tree in Guatemala;
1MoIst or wet forest,ascending toabout l e O O Ometers but
mostly at 300meters'or
less;Peten,AltaVerapaz;Izabal;Esculntla:Guatemala (valley ofRi
oHotagua);Retalhuleuj Quiche;Huehuetenango;BajaVerapaE,11
For many years botanistsandarchaeologistsworking in the Peten
have been aware of the fact-thatthe.ramon tree-tends todominate-the
high forest communityarounctlong-abandoned Mayaruins.
Lundell(1938:4.1)
Distribution:15
Introduction:
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Fge*:MaoCraAcanohCbnshwnhaome
dsrboohmnebespeo
f ran
Bromun
acrusBromumeamuanBromumcoacnm
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1 ?reported thathe had"...foundramongroves(ramonales)cohering
the-sites of eYeryOld Empire ruin(hehad)visited InPetenand
Campeche,11 Thompson .l930:185)observed, f l e * i t
Isremarkablewhat large numbers of(ramontrees)are to be found
growling in the immediatevicinity of every group ofruins.11
0.P. Cook(1935:615)states that'theabundanceofthis tree onMaya
ruins has been largely responsible formanyof" thearchaeological
discoveries made in the Mayaarea over the last half century,
presumably becausethe trees brought manwi th their mules to the
ruin areas'^X
Goingback intothe literature It isInterestingto"note
thatFatherAvendano,,oftenquotedaspossibly the
.first lfwhite~:manff to see Tikal8 notes unwittingly thegeneral
association of "the tree wit h.ruinareas In 1696(Means191?sl6?)
Avendanofs accountIs of further interestbecause it also
indicateshisawareness of it'asa - .source of food* saying nothing
of the value of a bit ofearthyphilosophy: : - , -
1 1...but It is wonderful that though theseforests in which we
traveled for two days:and thethree precedingones,consist of an
infinitenumberofJ19JL?.and- trees,wedid notfindinthemall a bit
toeatTTT.Seeing theirsterility,IsaidfThey appeared In every respect
like those ofGilboa. 1 ~ - f l W i t h soTew'-comforts and so
greataffliction?.our strength went on diminishing very
quiclclyfknowing for truth the proverb-,which theBiscayans,my
fellowcountrymen, says flt is theguts whichcarry and support the
legs and not the-legs,the
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Initially.the objective of this study was totestquantitatively
thereality ofthisrelationship
betweenramontreesandMayaruins,,Assuming thattherelationshipcould
bedemonstrated,we^of coursef intended-to go ontothequestionofwhy?
Morespecifically,whattheevidencefor theramonsbeing relic
populations oftreesactuallycultivatedby theMaya? Again*assumingthat
thiscould':bedemonstratedt we would-gainvaluable
Could these"apartments,tfwhichAvendanoexcludes fromhis.category
' l f o l d . buildi ngs,ff bereferences to evidence"he.found
forcontemporary occupation? Such aconclusionwould
not'beinconsistent with
thenatureof'"post-classicoccupationdebris?lfound atClassic
sitessuchasTikalandUaxactun
Purposes
BartonRamie,(1965:23) report that It Is one of. thedominants
atthe-area of SanJose (Thompson1939:3). Wllley e t -al.
Subsequentobservations onthis association havebeenscattered/
Ruppert andDenison(19^3*3)writeflmostarchaeological sitesare
coveredwith aheavystand of raraon* They specifically note
theoccurenceof thetreeat Rio Becfr Thompson-notes Its prevalence i
n -
guts;1 Among thesehighhills whichwe.passed overfithere is
a.variety of oldbuildings,exceptingsomeinwhichIrecognisedapartments
andthough theywere very highandmy'strength little, Iclimbed t i
pthem (though withtrouble)f l (Means1917:16?)
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Insightsinto Classic Maya ethnography aswellas
apowerfultool3br'dealingwith problems relating'toClassic
Maya,subsistence and theinterpretation ofSettlementpatterns. . .
.
Treating separately for'themomentthe ofarchaeology and
ecologytthevalueof the study can beconsideredto betwofold.
Firsttfor thearchaeologist,itrepresents anopportunity toclarify
thepictureofMayasubsistence andland-usein areas beyond
thereachofconventionaltechniques. Second*for theecologist,itoffers
a rare,chance tostudythepersistenceofecolo-gical changes brought
aboutby man.inanarea left all -buttotally undisturbed for almost a
thousand years.The significance"of.thiswasnotedby
Bartlett(1935:18):
fllfthis supposition regardingramonshould
besupportedbyfutureInvestigations,itwill affordadditionalsupport
for thesupposition thattheplant associations of thePetenforest
weredeterminedlargelybyhuman agency centuriesago^11
In early planning sessions we had intendedto compareseparate
plotsin 1)areas knowntohavebeeninhabited*2)areasbelieved
to-havebeenuninhabited,and 3)areastransitional between these two. -
Inview of themagnitudepf'Tikal and the complexity of
settlementpatterns aroundi t t it was decidedthat
these.separateplots mightbe
19
MethodsandMaterials
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Inadequate for"clear proof of the relationship^ ifit did exist^
ssumingthat.therelationship could'beproven,wewere concerned with
findinga ofdealingwith the-logicalcontingencies"whichwould
inevitably :follow, In.view of;the variety ofsettlement patternsat
Tikal .(Carrand 196l),we decide d that it .wouldbeimportant
toknow-with-what kinds ofsettlementrainons^are most numerously
associated; inwhat situationsmight there be excepti ons to the
associati on-of rainonsand settlementi and inwhat ways distri
bution might have.-been changed,by ecological develop ments
subsequent toMayaabandonment,
Inan effort todeal more comprehensively w i t h -thespecific
problem chosen,.we decided itwould be besttostudy theramon in one
continuous transect that wouldextend from one
extreme"ofMayasettlement density to.theother. By this means subtle
but significant changesmight become.evident whichwould otherwise b
e _missed^Clearly^ such a transectwould haveto be a long
one-and-in'fact itturned out to be 12kilometers long before it
was'completed* '
.Asto the problem of where exactly to run the transectfthe
decisionwas greatly slmplifledby the fact thatwe;Were. l i m i t e
d. . _ t o _ . areas_ijri_which_^s_ettlement densitywas .known*The
main sitemap ofCentralTikal,-covering anareaof16sqs
'km.wasinsufficientshowever,.for our purposes.
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With the excepti on of Inhospitablebajo of escoba( l9.P ll
Bartlett) the the published 'map covers must havesupp orted fairly
dense settlement',estimatedbyHaviland(1966:32)to
beminimally10,000*.11000peoplefor.themappedarea. This
densitycanbe'seen on are duced version of theTlkal siteKiap (fig*
5)The.apparentlyvacantareasbetween the i ndicated houseplatforms of
the peripheral areas were hardly largeenough to testvalidly
theramon-settlement- associat ionfor at least threereasonst
First,of allt''lowhouse-platformss .* invisible
without"excavations,had alreadybeen demonstrated to exist intested
vacantareas.Second, the dispersal rate oframons,slow as it mightbe,
couldwell have altered significant distributions oyorsuc-hsmall
"vacanttf areas and over such .a long periodoftime even if these'
areas really were uninhabited. On thebasis of therapidityof the
tree's growth a successionof at least 50 generations since
abandonment is calculated*We consider a generation to be thelength
of ti me betweenthefalling of the seed and the time atwhich
thetreereaches maxitoumbreadth and begins to p roduce
maximumamounts offruit0 a"period of time which isestimatedto be
about20years* The third reasonwas that,if infact the trees were
planted inkitchen gardens,'these.areas'mayhavebeen.used for that
purpose,therebyeliminating them-a s -controls'fortesting
thehypothesis.
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Figure 5* Map of thecentral 16
squarekilometersofTikal(FromCarrand Hazard1961)v22
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23Clearly, tie had tohave much larger,vacant-areas ongood.high
groundas far-fromthe centerofTIkalaspossible.
Fortunatelyt the recently completedsettlement'survey strips
extending.12k m - ,northt south,-eastwest from the center ofTIkal.f
provided an opportunitytomeet these n eeds0 The
stripsgkm.wide,,begin inthe center ofTIkaland extend well beyond
the limitsofthe formerly heavily settled area
aroundTikal(fig,6)eThe strips were oriented to survey trails
orb^eclmslaidbyFYDEPin1964in thedelimitation
of.theTIkal-National-Park,
Of the four strips'the south onewas chosen,for a;number
ofreasons. The most important of these thatit'presented the largest
number of significant combinations,ofthe threevariables'we could
control: terrain elevation,settlementdensitytand distance
fromTikal. Thefirsttwoofthesevariables were less well controlled o
n - t h e "other strips* To the north wes t,
terrain-descendedrathercontinously,eliminating the possibility of
testingareas of low settlement density"onhigh'ground whichis
apparently favored by thetree in situations far fromTikal.. To the
east the strip descends into logwoodswampscharacterized by the
t^intoXHaematoxyMjica2SS5 iSSiSLe)where theramondoesnot occur, app
arently because of .the u.nfavorability ofthis habitat for it. T h
e - east strip,
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Figure6: Map of theTikal National Park showing"the~ locationsand
orientations of the sustainingarea survey strips (FromHaviland
andPuleston,h.d.)24
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25aswell as Including sectionsoflogwood, presented
anotherproblem relating to the secondvariablementionedabove.Near
the east - e n d * there Is a^sizeablesettlement, possiblylinked to
theunassessed apparently positiverelation-ship between settlement
and logwood .swamp. Thissituation eli minated the possibility of
testing areasof low settlement density on high ground,far
fromTikal@
Another reason for selecting the south strip-wasthat' a'n umber
of other studieswere being carried outon this strip* These other
surveys Included a ceramictest-pitting program whfchheovered
arandomly selectedsample of one-third of all theplaza groups on the
strip;a study of soil samples collected in19&7* presentlybeing
Investigated byDrv Gerald Olson at CornellUniversityi and the more
complete excavation of about adozenresidential sitesand the
"satellite11 site.Navajuelal,excavatedby Ernestine Greene(Ph.'D.
thesisfn.d.).
Before actual mapping of rainons could-begin,pointsof reference
to be used Inmapp ing , had to be laid down.For this purposewooden
stakes-were placed every 25metersalong the'centralsurveytrail or
echaof themapped strip, -On each stake,w as written with felt
pensits distance -inmeters from the center ofTikal* Thestakes were
laid witha 30"meterK& Ecloth tape"whichwas stretched
horizontally betw een the stations* Athreeman teamwas sufficient
for thisjob,twowere able to carry
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26 .out theactualstaking;measuring, marking9
leavingthe,otherfreeto go -clearing thetrailandcontinue cutting n e
w stakes* -
'.The techniques employed for mapping the treeswere similar to
those used on the5 0meter' - w i d e settlement.transect mappedIn
1965 (HavilandandPuleston,'n.d0).The rataon survey strip-was
trimmed to a.width of 100mete rs "for severalreasonss 1)because It
was felt that100meterswere'sufficient to provide
acomparatively,representative transectframonsbeing somewhat
moreabun-"dant-thanhouseplatforms; and 2) the extra time
necessaryto map a wider strip would have made
Itimpossibletocomplete the full 1 2 -kilomete rs in the
timeavailable.On theother hand a stripnarrower than 100meters
wouldprobably have been Insufficient for the following reasons:(1)
The hypothetical associations of ramons"and settlementmade
Itnecessary to include aminimally repre sentati vesample of house
platforms in the racion surveyf which aUna transectorothernarrow
transect wouldnothave.provided 9 and (2)sinceareas ofminimal rarnon
densitywere of special interest in this study* it would beimportant
to get represen tative samples where they mightbe very scarce-*
eventhough100meters might have beenmore thanwas necessary
whereramon densitjwas.high.
Materialsused for mapping Included a full set ofthe south strip
settlement surveymapsp mounted on a
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2?clipboard,a field,-notebook,a Brunt oncompass,redandblack
pencils,a felt tip marker* a small plasticruler. The actual
locationandmappingof the treescarried out with the assistance of
two experienced localwoodsmen^ Small were-searchedsystematically*
oneat a time'.- Once a tree discovered it located fromthe breejha
with the compass. Distances'were paced fromthe 25meter stakes to
points on thebi^echa perpendicularlyeast orwest of the
tree"and'thento thetree itself*orvice-versa. Whereanumberoftrees
occurredtogether,the. location of the first tree was used as a . "
b a s epointtomap In othersInthevicinity. The plotting of
therelationship of trees to houseplatforms,whentheyoccurred
together always recei ved special attenti on,When, as occasionally
hap pe ned , mound groups were foundto.beInaccurately,located by a
few rneters0the trees were'plotted to show theirrelationship-to the
mounds ratherthan theiractualpositions.
The position ofeachtree was marked on the maps witha red.pencil,
Each treewasgl^enanumber whichrecordedin the field notebook with
otherdata, as wellas on themap0 .Thenumberwas also placed on the
treeitselfbymakingasmall blazeandpaintingit onwiththe.felt.tip pen*
Thiswas done to prevent the p ossibilityofremappingandalsoto
facilitaterelocation Afternumbering,a roughshoulder-level diameter
of the tree was'
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takenand recorded, -Asuperficial search in.theforestlitter for
ramon nuts to determine whether ornot the tree producingfruit.
Thedeterminationofwhether the treewas of the "bianco,.11 f f r o j
o f l f orftamarillof ff variety,as judged by our
Informant/EllasContreras, made and.also recorded.A All trees with a
diameter of two or more inches were
thusmappedand recorded. Small treeswere,disregardedbecause of
the difficulty involved infindingandrecordingthemallfand because
most ofthem would probably neverreach maturity, .
A cursory glance at the radial stripmaps(fig.?)and the
accompanying graph (fig, 8) reveals a /Dikingcorrelation between
settlementand thedensityoframonElevation anddrainage-only
locallyaffect the overallpatterns. A closer examinationof
theevidence follows.J jO- jO Jr i Following the strip map,the
survey beginsat the center of the Great Plaza ofTikal. Per
the'first125 metersof the survey the number oframonsindicatedon
the.map and graph are probably somewhatbelow theactual figure. In
the process ofclearing, excavation,and reconstruction,,
manyramonswere cutdownin thearea of the Great;Plazaand
CentralAcropolis. Fortunately^inaojgood part ofthis area
stumpsstill remainedatthe time of the survey, which-couldbe
identifiedand counted.
Review of the SurveyData:
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koms
Figure8
Agraphicdemonstrationoftherelationetweennutabersofstructures/
r
trees,ndaltitudeonthesouthstrip.Altitudesdownthe
centerofthestrip,,eterminedbytransit,reIndicatedbythesolid
line;;structureswithinthe500meterwidestrip
bytherokenline;
andramontreeswithinthe100eterwidestrip*bythedottedline.
Thedropoffinstructuredensity,hichbeginsat5k
asactually
greaterinLateClassictimesthanindicated,ythegraph,fornotall
structuresbeyondthispointwereinseatthattime.Arelationship
betweenstructuredensityandramonsseemstoeclearlydemonstrated.
Thereislittlecorrelationetweenaltitudeandthedensityof
structuresoramonsbeyond6m.
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Where possible t this Information was supplementd.byinformation
taken fromearlier photographs^ The highdensity of here is equaled
only by the.peek at .5km. Inall probability thisconcentration
cannotbeattributed togroves which stood InMaya times,,
Archaeo-logical investigation indicates that theplazas
courts9andalleyways betweenthe many palacesand temples werepaved
wit h heavy plaster floors offering little opportunityfor any sort
ofvegetatio n^ It cannot be categoricallystated that single large
trees were not planted in thecenters of these courtyards
where.thefloorsare most'des-troyed * but at present there is only
evidence against-such a possibility. Host.of the ramons in this
areaare f orratherwere,growing up on thetopsand alongthe sides of
the collapsedbuildings* Evidently thisisbecause of the unique and
highlyfavorable conditions theyoffer thetree which to doquite well
inwell-drainedsituations.
For.thesereasons, it seems likely that the large.numbers
of-trees which occur inthis arearepresent an-incursionwhich has
taken place since the abandonmentof the.site by theMaya^ This
incursion probablymade possible by largereservoirs of theramon
insurrounding areas theadvanceof which mayhave beanimplemented by
the activit ies ofbats,as will be discussed
41
later.
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Continuing south on the s tri p, below the CentralAcropolis in
thePalaceReservoi r, comparatively-few -ramons'occur, Perhaps
this"Is due to-theinstabilityof the steepsides,of thereservoir
where few large treesof any kind.are able - t o maintain a hold*.
It seems unlikelythat ramons grewhere inMaya times either,
unless'conditions were verydifferent, * . '
U p - - - o n the other side of the reservoir,around Temple- V ,
and the SouthA cropolis to thewest,ramons becomemore numerousagain.
The dip In the graph atthis.pointissomewhat misleading since it is
due to therelatively.few ramons found on the long downhill
slopebehindTempleV* -Here again lack of stability for larger
treesmaybe responsible as there are many ramons in the general
area,
Beyond t h i s -hillslope, further south,thedensityoframons
increasesdramatically. We are now outsi de theceremoni al /nucleus
of publicarchitecture,but largeIJpalaces ff and
palace-complexesstill dominatethe settle-
B i e n t scene*. A s in the CentralAcropolis, great numbers- o
f the trees occupy the tops and sides of the largermounds though
manyalsogrow insurrounding areas-thatarequitelevel. The trees occur
less and less frequentlyon themounds as we move away from thelarger
collapsedpalaces so typi cal of the area right around
theceremonialnucleus* - .;:>;
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Beyond thisarea adrop.Inramondensity Isaccompani edbyadrop
In'the ofmounds if not Intheir frequency*Sincemostramonswithin
'thisarea are occupying positionson the collapse f thedifference
Innumber of ramons'
mayactuallybe a function of the available structure-,collapse
habitat rather than densities ofthe treu InMaya times.
1t jLzSL L nehalf kilometerfollowing1km.,there.is a real drop
inmound density matched by anaccompanying drop in ramon
density,which isclearlyvisible on thegraph(fig.8), Both have
probably-beeninfluencedbysemi-bajo(swamp).conditionsg apparently
almost asunfavorable forramons as it must have been for
Mayasettlement^ A littlefurthersouth,aslightknollwithsome mounds on
it has a. slightlyhigher density of the fruittree* Here,asbefore^
this may be due to adifferencein present conditionsaswellas adiff
erenceInMayatimes e At 2km.a large standoframonsunassociatedwith
any visible house remains isenigmatic. The possibilitythat it is
made up of thedescendantsof a grove thatexisted a thousand
years'ago is'suggestedf but wouldprobably be impossible to
demonstrate*tJlrfttX tJ, From thispoint on, the density of
ramons
decreases steadilywith settlement,as'one descends intothe swampy
bottom of the north branch of theHolmul (fig* 6).
43
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.At the lowest point near thesinkhole,Tarions speciesof-vino s,
Jsi|[iba (Giiadiia &p v)and'thepita (Aechmea magdalenaeAndre
)',this latter used formakingstring,becomethedominants* The is
completelyabsent. On the steepascent immediate ly south
of.thesinkhole, beginto appear"again,though not in large numbers
until.the"topof the hill Is reached. Prom a.littlebeyond3.5km.'to
.3 tauramondensity remainslow in spiteof scatteredsettlement.
Actually, - t h e raiaonsurvey strip,though-It
passes throughan"area of .settlementt Includes onlymound between
these pointsf missingall the maingroups*If
wesearched,perhaps"greater densitiesof the treewouldbe found off
the 100 met er strip in closer associationwith themound groups*-
-.However*"from *KOkm. to*K2km,the scarcity of
raiaontreesseems'tobe attributable. toanotherfactor. Here adense
grove o f - i i i a n a x -(^Gudcamediaj
urlaSw.)predominates-overall other-species. This-treebears_large .
.-nntities of a deliciouscherry-likefruitwhich has .afall'that
follows the first fall of"the-ramon. This fruit ishighly
appreciated by the localpeoplewhoha^e thedlsti^blng-propensity
tofellthetrees solely for the fruit. -The density of raamx
treesinthis.area Isunique In.our experience. Thegrove quitepossibly
represents another' relic of Mayaarboriculture,but further study
would benecessary'to bear thisoute
1 4
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significantly with settlement. At thispoint it isworth comparing
thedensity oframonandsettlement onthishigh ridge-top with their
densitieson the. .ridge-topat7.5 km.
The high density of on this ridge is parti-cularly important to
thehypothesist asheref in spiteof the small size of themounds^
thereare many morerarnons than inCentralTlkalwhere
thecollapsedplatforms,palaces,and temple s are much more massive.
Thiscomparisonis important evidence in support of
thesuppositionthat the distributionanddensity oframons 1000
yearsago hasmoreinfluence ontheir present distributionand density
than subsequent changes inecological' conditions.
Thisheavy concentration 'continues down to theedgeof
thebajowhichbegins at about 55 km Thegraph is somewhat.misleading
here as it indicatea drop'inramonswhich-isnot matched by settlement
density. Inactuality,as can be onthe-detailed map settlementdoes
not occur in thebajoatall. This discrepa ncy isan artifact in as
much as,on the graph werecalculated as "threes;- per I T k i n . 1
1 on the -100m. wide survey
k 5
* f . 3 ~ 5 . 5km,: Movingup thehill,'ramon'density
Increases
It is interesting to note the pr oximity of this groveof
delicate fruit trees to the minorceremonial centerofBobal. The
extent east and-west of thegrove isnotknown.
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used by the Maya today. From themeat of.the a fine:coot ins oil
isextracted^ thegreat JO^foot frondsueed extensively for thatching;
and the heart of thetreeproduces a delicious"salad though it is
rarely.eatenfortheobviousreasonthat thetree must be destroyed
tosecure it, It may well be that thiscommunity datesbackto Maya
timesand was usedby the Maya intheseways* Thepossibility that
thisstandoftreeswasintroducedmight bo suggested by the comparative
scarcity of thespecies in theTikal area0 Theoro_so is much
morecommonfurther eastinwestern BritishHondurasand onthe upper
drainage of the Usumaclntawhererainfallisheavier* At Seibalf
thetreeoccurs as a dominant onthe high groundof the ruinarea* For a
discussion ofmanfs role-inthedistribution of this species
Johansson
*
(195?).5 . * > * - 6 . 6 km.:' Continuing on the strip',a few
dooccur in the southern halfof theJ^oro^albut they,quicklybecome
evenmorenumerouson thehillslopebelow the house
46
a coronal. Variousproducts of'thisbeautiful-palm
strip while settlementwas' calculatedas ffmoundsperJ|kiaefi
on-thelarger500 w, widestrip. Thisbajo,moreover*
Isecologicallyunusualfor the Tikal area*It comprises a
community-dominatedbythe(OrbiernyacohuneMart.) islocally referred
to as
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groupsnearer the top at6C0km, ^Although mounds continueto
occur.off to'the sides'of the'strip beyond thispointytheydo
notoccuron the 100me wideramon surveystrip. Inlight
ofthis,-It/isoddthat their frequencycontinueshigh out toabout 65knu
' It isperhapsnote-worthy * t h o i i g h fthat they wereall
comparatively smalltree*and presumablyyoung Onthis basis
itmightbesuggested.thatthese ramons around theLaguna Verde
ReservoirrepresentarecentIncursion,
Anotherpossibility,however,isthatthe 'softness of the soilsimply
makes i t -an " a r e aunfavorable forlarger trees whichare
infrequentin theareae
I f f
6.6-10.0km.:From6,6km.on out. t o 10.0 km. ramonsare practically
non-existent. Prom6.6,kin.to7*0km.theLagunaVerdebajo continues,but
from7*0km* to1.0*0km. typical high forest situations, as found
near.CentralTikal, topredominates the one.major.difference being
thelackoframons. The surveystripdoes pass over a
few'mounds,however,betweenthesepoints*This leavesuswiththe problem
ofexplainingwhyramonsdo not occurwith greater frequency around
them; Twoexplanations can be offered, one ecological, the
otherarchaeological. From the ecological standpoint Itcan be
suggested-thattherewere-toofew ramons thereInMaya
timestoallowthespeciestoestablishdominance*Promthearchaeological
standpointIt IsInterestingto
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thatthe whichwere excavatedInthis allappear t o -have-beenbuilt
and occur-"A inEarlyClassictimes,'
Includes.StructuresSE^}-382,SW(S)-15?f SW(S
)-159SE(S)393,andSE(S)~39 tallofwhich
wereexcavatedfairlycompletely. Whore occurwith.somefrequencyin all
otherareason thesurveystrip XateClassicstructures predominate,'
Thiasthere appears to'havebeen
anabandonment 'of the.area i n -LateClassic times,
Thismaybepartof apostulatedmovetowardsamore-urbansituationat
thistimeinTikal. Itis
notinconceivablethatramontrees"which'mighthavestood around
thesestructures InEarlyClassic times were cutdown inLate.
i"Classic times tomake room,forexpanding inilpas,100km.,whore
Late Classicsettlementapparentlycontinuedf raiaondensity increases
withsettlement densityin amost dramatic fashion.
Thestructuresinthis are"apparentlyassociated withthesatellite
site,Navajuelal,on theedgeof t h e -Holmul(S cbranch)andasegmentof
thetintal orlogwood-bajo^
Ramon treeson the mainNavajuelalplatform werealsoplotted not
onlybecausethey werebeing cut'downtomakeway for
theexcavationsofErnestine Greene but'because they were so"numerous.
Themain platforms ofNavajuelal like' those inCentralTlkal,were
coveredwithhea^yplasterfloors,so it isassumedthat the
8
10.0-10.5 km.:
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' inoYed up
.enterthe-collapsedconstructionfrom.thesurroundingarea. Thelack - o
f treeson thesurvey;stripoppositeNavajuelalas compared
to.theirprevalencefin the of again'suggests though.doesnot.prove*
theirassociationwith structuresrather.thantheir cultivation
inplantations.
.Further south,ramondensity declinesas;the survey stripdrops
Into a logwoodbajo0 Heref thetrees completelydisappear. At thev y
end of thebrectea fewrainonsodourat the base of a large
hill.Informalreconnaissance Indicates that more structuresare
locatedfurther up the hill* off the map,,
Inordertoevaluate statisticallythevalidityofthe correlation ind
icat ed by the graph (fig. 8) thestandard prod uct
momentcorrelation formula(Snedecorand
.Cochran196?:180)wasusedtotestthe.relationship.This formula is
asfollows
'Thefollowing values taken from half kilometer"lengthsofthe
survey strips.t were"used:
The Correlation:
10.5-12,0km/::
* 9
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TABLE I: Values.used in the product momentcorrelation
formula.
PAIRSo .o - o .50.5 - 1.0i.o - 1.51.5 - 2 . 02 . 0 -, 2 ,52 .5-
3.03.0 - 3.53.5 - 4- .0 O - ty . 54.5 - 5.05.0 - 5.55 . 5 - 6 .06
.0 - 6,56.5 - 7 .07 .0 - 7 .57 .5 - 8.08.0 - 8.58.5- 9 .09.0 -
9.59.5 -10.010.0 -10.510.5 ~ i i . o11.0-11.5
11.5 -12.0
X y( N o , of No.ofrarnons on structures onl,QOm strip) 500ra
strip)
24pairs
315*"24.5 60m - 612820J i68657356135881 957683o0' i- 6 56o8
:19F5
13?333510035tf372626369956435002739
These data produce the following values for the formula;
^Though only2 * 1 - 8 'trees were actually counted here,6?were
added on thebasis ofphotographs and compara*t i v e . - e s t i m a
t e s - .
5 0
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With thesevaluesr~0,86f which .v*ith 24 pairs Is significantat
the 0,01 level (Fisherand Yates 19*1- 8 ,Table VI). Thusthe
chance& for theramon-settlement correlationbeingtheresultof
random chance are less than1.out of100*
This astonishingly high correlation between
settlementandramontrees Isremarkably Independent of.elevation-and
slope and is a statistical fact that"demandsexplanation*
Jones(19 2:65)offers threemainexplanationsfor.theassociation
ofdivergent vegetationwith archaeologicalsites: " '
1. lfEnrichment;of the soilby formeroccupation,resulting in
morevigorousvegetation on -the site,"2e flPhysicaland chemical
alteration of the soilresulting inquali tative floral
differences,11
3@ "I 1
A-concentration of economic plants during occupationand a
persistence oftheseto thepresent.ff
. The facts that the ramon Is "cultivated by the Mayatodayfgr
theleaffodder9 which isused to feed the'mules, andalso for Its
ediblefruit,which is.used-as.amaizesubstitute,suggest thatthe third
explanationIs the most likely. If the treehad littleor
noknowneconomicvalue,as in other site markers such.asjj ;:an
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Payum (Caton-Thompson193^1 0) Jones?thirdexplanationcouldbe
fairly-safely eliminated. As it beliminated,however* we must
investigate"the alternatives*Expanding somewhat onJones1 listtomeet
the special,situation at Tikal* theee alternatives
includeminimallythe following:
J U - The possibility that chemical changes in thesoil,
resulting from Maya occupation producednew conditions
especiallyfavorablefor'the raraon, .
2, The possibility that physicaldisturbance of .soilsbrought
about by theMayain settlementareas producedan:;.unusualadvantage
for the.tree,3, The possibility " t h a t the tree movedrapidly
orwas brought into the area after Mayaabandonment**h The
possibility that natural conditions 'of soil,drainage,elevation,
slopef andexposure,favored by theramontree werecoincMentallyalso
preferredby the. Maya for the location
'of their.settlements.Inregard to the first ofthese,itwoiild
that
theadditionof-phosphorus.to'the soil.isthemost signi-ficant
chemical change that might be brought about by -Maya occupation*
The possibility thatany significantamounts of phosphorus would have
remained long in soils
: ... . N
after abandonment unlikely. The rapid cyclingof.rainforest soils
theleaching effectofheavyrainfallfsuggestthat any divergencein
chemical content woi^ld soonbeequalised orremoved unless therewas
aconstant'
52
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source.ofreplacement. ^ The imparinanenee ofsoil
chemicalchanges'of thisnature is indicated evenin
wheretheywouldbevery slowas aresultofcold
lowrainfall,,suchasDiskoBaytGreenland. Under aretio.conditions
there the enrichment of soils produced byhuman'occupation
todisappear withineight ornine hundred_years(Mathiassen193^*39K It
should " b enoted, however,thatin theTikal areaCowgill(1965:23)has
found a larger amount ofavailablephosphorusin soilsnear former
settlementsonhigh-ground in her studyof
the Santa Pabajo' As only f ive samples were takenf andonlyone
ofthesewas fromanareaof settlementttheprobability of
thiscorrelation,however, is qui telow*It isqui te possible that the
difference isdue,infact,to local variation in soils or perhaps to
the inherent'differencesin thesoils of the logwood swamp and
the'forested uplands,rather than anyresidual effect of formerKaya
occupation* The samples fromTikal,presently understudyatCornell,
should shednewlightonthisproblem*
Inconsidering the second possibilityt it issuggestedthat few
physical changes wrought by the May in the areaof settlements,
suchasthose brought aboutbycultivationor compaction,.could
have.survivedthe vigorous activityofburrowing animals'including
theJ;usa_ (apocketgopher,Heterogeorriys
hispidus,LeConteTai%yucatanensls
53
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Nelson and Goldman) tr.eeroots. - T h i s Is at
least.partiallybornecut by theresounding,failureof magneto-"meter
tests carried out inhouseinound ofTikal ini96l The major exception
to this obliteration ofphysical changesc ofcourse is in
theremainsof t h e -buildings' and platforms themselvese The
largest of thesedo seemto provide'amicrohabitatthat isfavoredby
theramonas hasbeen indicated.It seemsquite probable
c * .'thatthis factor accountsfor the great density of thetree
on'theCentral Acropolis of Tikal and the heavy.concentrationsof it
onother largebuildingsbetween0 C0km. to l ' 9 : 0 - ' l a n - . ja
little further south. Oncetheelevationofthe platforms
goes-belowameterortwo*howevert this effect seems to beeliminated.
This lack ofconcentrationsof thetreeson building platforms canbes e
e n - on thestrip from 1,0km,'to 12,0 kmc*with the.striking
exceptionofNavajuelalat . 9 * 5 k ^ 1* where reallysubstantial
volumes of collapsed fill occur onceagain.Thus,it appears that only
really gross changes in thephysical-environment have anyeffect
onthe distribution'of the t r e e - .
In.respectto thethird possibility,thebestmeans' . ' V
o f -rapid transport of the seedsoftrees intorninareaswould be
by.birdsand.animals* The treeby itselfdoesn o t . appearto be
equippedforrapid spread. The seeds
54
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regularly carry food intheir paws or mouths. Thisincludes
parrots,possiblyotherbirds,rodents-.bats,andmonkeys.
Anydistributive affect brought bythese animals would tend.tobe
random,however, without
;any particular orientation to ruinareas. This iswiththe
exceptionof the bats which occupy-Inlarge-numbersthe vaults and
inner chaiobersof the larger palacesandtemples. Individuals ofa
fruit-eating germs ofTikal' .(MM1 B 'kept in capti vity in196?
were.observed topick-up-ramonfruits.froma table-top and fly v r i t
hthemto - a place t h e y -couldhang'from, where theyate the'fleshy
receptacle around the seed by rotating it in theirforelimbs. When
they had finished their meal, the seedwas dropped, Though noisy
flocks of unidentif iedfrugivorousbats were seenfeedingin a
Tsoltree(Cu^ania
Standl.)., the fruit is not always eaten on the spotand
apparently can be carried some distance if the batshave young. The
floor of the nest of the individualsmentioned abovewas found to be
littered with'wholeramonand zapote seeds*
56
Walker(1964:308)saysof thebats ofthisgenus:-
"Thesmall 'fruits are carried tofeeding sitesduringthe night t
but toward morning these bats carry their".fruit to their
regular-roosts*...Nuts,seeds,,and fruitcores accumulate
beneathroostingareas;Arfcibeusthus-aids,in the d l s s e i a
inationof seeds of^T;roplcalfruits,11
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least CHSspecies 01 another genus'is one 01 trie-mostAC* .
'common bats In the ruins"and.also afruit-eater(Walker. 196^1296)
Walker'saccount of thisgenus makes no merit-ion'*offruit-carrying
tendencies such as notedfor thegenus.ZMi Interestingly enough
depositsofseedsand..
nuts have-notbeen noticed inbuildings occupiedbythisbat. Even
iffruits were carried to theroost-bythisspecies,however/ thiswould
only occurInareas of thelarge ceremonial structures at the center
ofTikal,
.Inview of the f act that bats are occasionally
foundoccupyingchultunst the possibility'that the
ramonsettlamentcorrelation was relatedtothis factorwas also
considered,The possibilitywas rejected,however*for
tworeasons1)because of the relative scarcityofchultuns which
havebeen"observed.to be sooccupied^ and 2) because theyare so often
sealed with a limestone lid orfilled." The.fewnotablechultunbat
coloniesatTIkalhavemoved inonlyafter
thechultunswere'excavated.-Clearly.,dispersalcould be significant
only in those areaswhere long-standing stone-vaultedbuildings
werenumerous.Thus,it unlikely that the spread,of the raxacm
after
Thebatse which occupy thevaultsand chambersoftheruins,though
different,from thosealready-discussed,Include other.species.
Tadarl_da.l Mcaudata2HS S2i5Sa free-tailedbat,collected from
TempleI, is InsectI--vbrpusaccording toWalker,et a l c -(1964:387).
But at
5?
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abandonment eitherby the'tree Itselfor with theassis-tance
ofanimals'e cansatisfactorily.explain the overallcorrelationof
thetree with settlemente These
otherpossibilitieswerepowerfularguments,when heavy concentra*.tlons
appeared to:be -limited to the-mainruinarc-as. Itis only withthe
data froma really large.transect that
l 'the larger patternhas emerged,.The fourth
possibility,thatofcoincidental-associ-
ation* is judgedto be unlikely on thebasis"of'the strengthof the
correlation and the irregular distribution of:ramons inrelation to
terrain. The possibility thatthere is great difference in the
soils-of theuplandsbetween? and 10kilometers,ispresently being
checked,by'theanalysisof the soil samples takenat
halfkilometer:.Intervalsalongthecenterofthe'surveystripin19o7, The
general; simila rityof thevegetationon theuplands Tikalwi th
the.uplands between7and10 kilometers would seam to
precludemajor.differencesinthesoilsas a causal factor.
Insummation,the possibility that highcorrela-tion between
housemound settlementand is due tophysical or chemicaldifferences
in soils in associationwith former occupation highlyunlikely. It
is-further-judged.unlikely that-thiscorrelationwas broughtaboutby
selective.dispersionby animals or thetreesthemselves.
58
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Returning to Jones1explanations,'we are left withthe
possibilitythat thetreesfthrough
selectiveclearingorcultivationfwere
givenanoverwhelmingadvantage
over other species,duringMaya occupation
Presumablyf..afterabandonment,-they able
toestablishquicklydominance-andhold these positions in spite
ofcompetitionuntil thepresent day. .Limctell(1937210)says f l 6 we
mayassumethat the dominance is due to an Initial advantageaccruing
to thespecies through itspresence"inlargenumbers when the'places
wereabandoned1
' - . W ewould like toexplore now thehistorical andethnographic
evidence in_support of thepossibility'thattheMaya
were-actuallycultivating'these treesintheImmediatevicinities of
their homes inPre-Columbian.times.
Inthis section thesub-headingsare arranged inascendingorder
ofpertinenceto the hypothesis'that raiaontreeswere'grownin
Pre-Columbian kitchengardens.
Hereweattempt toestablish the'importance offruitin
thePre-Columbiandiet irregardlessof how it wascultivated.
EvidenceforPre-ColumbianImportanceofFruits:
MAYAARBORICULTURE
59
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Landa(Tozzer19 1:198-200),writingof_Yncatanereveals that
the'l6fch centuryMaya,inspite oftheirwell-developed
agriculture,madeg.ood-.useoffruits.
(L.)f mamey'Colorado"There Isavery large tree which bears a
large andsomewhat long and thickfruitt the fleshof whichis red
andvery goodto.e a t s e c 0 l fpapaya"...anothertree,wonderfully
beautif uland freshand it bears a fruit like large eggs. The
Indianspick Itgreenand ripen ItIn ashes...11
"There is a,tree, spongyand ugly although large,and.bears a-
certai n"kind of fruit,large, fullofyellow insidert
verysavory-andwith littleseedslike he mpseedsbut much largere
whichareveryhealthyfor urine, Froia this
fruittheymakeagoodpreserve*^11
"There Isanothervery beautiful and fresh tree-which"never loses
it leaves and bears smallsavory figs, whichthey call o x * t f
Carlea paDayaL B ,
CaloearpuiHmaminosum
60
JacartiamexlcanaD,C.
Bros imuia alicastrira Sw. 9 ramon
Other fruit treesspecificallydescribed in similarfashioninclude
the-chico zapote,Manilkara zapota(L.);thep uaya, Talisia
olivaeformis(H.B.K.)2 the avocado,PerseaaraericanaMill,i
CereusundatusHawj Parmentiera
edulis D.C;-:Bixa orellanaL. and others. This Interest- i n
fruits ishard3.y confined to the ^ Maya. The16thTotonacRelaclonde
Pat>lanta reports native fruits ftinquantity,"suggesting their
extensive use in.the central .Veracruzarea"(Kellyand Palerm1952:1
1).
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The purpose here is to present evidence for the factthat Maya
did still do actively cultivatetrees.
.Landatunfortunately,does not give us any definiteevidence as
towhether-or not the just-cited fruits werecultivated. However,we
be fairly-sure that
theMayawereskilledarboriculturalistson'thebasisofothe?eviden.ee. As
Montejo1s soldiers approached Sirisimato .in northern Yucatanf they
passed through two -leaguesofwell-tended groves of incense trees
'Protiuinoml(Schlecht and Cham) outside the town {Oviedo.yValdes1 8
5 3 Hi t 230).
Landat in describing preconquest towns, suggestivelyinforms us
that "They kept the land well cleared and free'fromweeds9 and
planted very good trees11(To^er19 1:62).Landa does not say
specifically that these were fruittreesf although they-aredescribed
as such in theTozzer.translation ofHerrera (Tozzer 19^1:21?). "They
foundthem living together inpueblos invery civilized fashionand
they kept themclean,theweeds clearedawayandfruittrees planted,"
IntheR^laci.onofCasparAntonioChi,. a s translatedby Roys (Tozzer
1 9 * 1 - 1 : 2 3 0 ) ,we find mention offruit trees'in owned
plantations,.
f l T h e lands w e r e -in commonand.(sobetweenthe
townstherewerenoboundaries orlandmarkstodivide them)
61Evidence forPre-ColumbianA rboricultures
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It Is interesting to note here that though landsgenerallywere
held in.common,fruit tree plantations a s -well as cacao treeswere
not,.This would appear to
The Kaya cultivation"oftrees seemsto involve a-sophisticated
technology which is probablytraditional.To Hayes.(19 5:90)0
a1horticulturi st with considerableexperience infruitgrowing
inIndia,the high degree.ofdevelopment found in
the-avocado,guavaf.papayaf and'custard apple all f?indicatea fairly
high type ofhorticulture11 of-someantiquity.
Evidence of asop histicatedarboricultural technologyis indicated
in several modern ethnographic studies.Redfield(193 : ?)reports
theuse ofgrafting at ChanKoia, Indians ofQuintanaRoo0 though theydo
not practice
62
maizefieldsEvidence for airArboricultnralTechnology
Chamberlain(1953OO)'mentions that"Cacao from finecarefully
cultivated groves11 .were a principle product ofthe Rio Ulua area
In Honduras at'the timeof theConquest.
-.Roys(1957*161)mention s a town in southeastYucatanwhich
contained2000houses'. Around it were orchards ofmamey
(Calocarpurainaimnosum)and cacao treesand prosperous
emphasise theirvalueand importance.
exceptbetw een province (and anotherbecause ofwars)and In.the
case ofcertainhollowsand caves,(Plantations of fruit'treesand)cacao
trees* 6 f t
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grafting are familiar with the techniques o f -pruning
andtransplanting (Villa Rojas19^5*5?)*.Grafting amongthe Totonae*in
the ecologically.similar central VeraerUEarea,ispracticedby sp
eciali sts (Kelly and Paleria1952:1 1).
TheChorti.aresophisticatedarboriculturists,practicing irrigation in
their ownorchards. Amongthem,transplanting apparently goes on all
thetime,men often
Nreturning from hunting and tradingtteipswith interestingand
useful plants which are replanted in the courtyardorgarden. The
average orchard contains at leasta
:dozenvarieties of fruit.tree,the most important todaybeing
the"bananaand the plantain (Wisdom19^0^58)*v
.The practically instantaneous acceptanceandwild-firespread of
bananas and p lantain up on their i ntroduction bythe Spaniards
(ToE2er19^1*199)are suggestive of asimilar interest inarboriculture
of.the Maya at the timeof contact* The impli cation that such i
nterestsandattitudesexisted in Classic timesis ofcourseriskyt butit
doe s provide us with a proYoeatiYe alternative to
63
explaintheTikal ramondata^Finally,inconsiderationof ..-.the
rainon,the facility
with which itcanbe transplanted should be noted.Deseourtilz (
.821-33slO)repealsthat the treecanbepropagated by cuttingswhich,is
one of themostconvenientmeans of propagat ion if not the
easiest.
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The fruit the Mayagrew" appears..to.-.havethana luxury^ The
importance oftheirorchardsand grovesto;the subsistence.Is
exemplified inScholesand Roys1study'of ancient documents
relating'to the Maya ChontalIndians where welearnthat Spanish were
apparentlyable to increase greatly the
effectiveness,offorcedpopulation movementsby cutting down thetrees
ofTillage
l There is also evidence that Pesquerahad the.cacao and copal
trees cut down atAca3sn*Itzanlcanacin order to compel the
abandonment of the oldcapital and to discourage disertions from
Tixchelfl(ScholesandRoys19 8:171-172}fflnaccordance with.Governor
Pegueroafs instructionsthe fruit trees atTzuctokand Ichbalchewere
cutdown and thehousesburned todiscourage the Indians'from
returning.to their old locations,t:' (ScholesandRoys19 8:288)The
use -of the same,technique.Is described in the
Relacion"ofDzonottfAnd this ToBias Lopez responsible for
themoving and'for thedeath of so.great .anumber ofpeople
ashavediedf because theIndians that
since'they ordered themto moveby.force and burnedtheir'-houses
cut down their fruit trees which theyowned,. . l s
Turning n o w t o rarnon,Thompson-,working i n -
.BritishHondurass had opportunities toobserve theimportance ofthis
tree in subsistence andite significance as a seiiii-o.mltlvated
tree.
64
orchards.
Evidencefor.the 'Importance ofPre-ColumbianArboricultures
(Tozzer 19iH':?2)..
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65
Hefurther notes-(ibid),"Thereis noinformationas towhether
itwas-cultivated inPre-Spanish times^11"
-Inspite of-these references which appear
todemonstrateratherconclusivelyatraditionoffruit
treecultivation,which goes back to thetimeof the
conquestftherearevery fewreferences which actually describe,fruit
treesbeinggrown inkitchen gardens or
incloseassociationwithresidentialareae. Since thisis
thepatternindicated by theTikaldatap it is-mportant
toexplorethispoint. .Archaeological evidence is
scarce^though.suggestive evidence"is"provided by the.famousmuralsin
the-Temple of theWarriors and theTemple of theTigersat Chichen
ltEatwhere treesareshownInassociationwith
dwellings.(Morris193U.
Turningtohistorical evidencefChamberlain(1953-66)-published
aletter fromMontejoto theKing ofSpaininwhich it isstated
thatIJ...all thetownsare(veritable)fruit -gardens.11 Though
thesecolonial panegyrics must
t Thebread-nuttree(Brosimumalieastrum)is not inthe .true
acultivatedplant asthereis nodifference betweenthecultivated
treesandthosegrowing wi ld'i n theforest. Neverthelesstheplantis
ofsuch economic'importance that it seemsbesttoclass it as one - o f
thecultivatedg r o u p,0cthemodern Mayato acertainextent purposely
plantsbread-nut trees"Inandaround hisTillages or atleast abstains
from cutting down those thatarealreadygrowing,f
'.(Thompson1930:185).
Evidence forPre-ColumbianKitchenGardenA rboriculture:
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66betakenwith a grain'ofsalt, It Mould appear to
implythe.growing of'fruit within the residential nucleus
ofthetown,
.L&'nda'says f in describingthegrowingofI ncho
argi^longlstylusP Itt ef the roots of which were used to
make)kiMVfMwMCnMkWMa WMaBMW ' *theIntoxicating drinkb lgh "..
willspeak of winea thing whichtheIndiansesteemed 'highlyand
soalmostall ofthem planted It in their yards or spaces around
.theirhouses, 11 (Tozzer19 1:198).. Here at.last wehave a specific
reference to contact time arboriculturein-kitchengardens, though it
is not a fruit tree* .Moreconclusive Is a quote from the t
Relacionde los PueblosdeChuaca y deCheehtmula"(Colleccicnde
DoeumentosInedltos1900:69),sent to the King of Spain about1577* i f
. .likewise he ordered them to set fire to all the'fruittrees which
they had behind their housesInthe said town. 11 (trans,by Wauchope
'193.8:133). For"thePeten we have at least O^B"fairlycertain
reference tokitchen gardening in the I?**1century*
FatherAvendano(Means1917*156)provides this Important datum
inthedescription of hisdeparture fromYalain0 a.town/apparently west
of LakePeten,",..,anIndian,.* guidedus to theother f a ri i i s f
half a league from there* which'from the abundance offruitt
appeared an orchard, 11 -ItIsfairlyclear fromearliermaterialin the
text that'these"farms"are Individuallyassociated with houses.
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. - Turning. ROW tomorerecent ethnographicdata* we.find numerous
referencestokitchen garden arboriculture9thoughto'besure,these data
are'ofdiminishing reliability;whenIt comestodrawing inferencesfor
Classict l i n e s As already been mentioned t the ChertI
areconstantlytransplantingusefuland ornamental trees
intokitchengardens around theirhouses, Wauehope f in hisbooklisAES
53EJSl (1938:129)* Includesa sketch planofatypicalMaya backyard in
whichthe presenceoffruittrees isIndicated,, He comments onthe
Yueateean 1sloveoftheir fruit treesand thefact that awealthy
'Indianmayhavemany treeson ,'hisproperty. , Guatemalanhouses,
especiallyIn the AltaVeraPas are sometimesalmost hidden by
surrounding (fruit). trees(Includingcoffee)orcornstaeks*
11'(Wauchope1938:199)*
The'Tajin Totonac8though they plant trees i n . b o t h
-the-milpaand in houseclearings, preferto plantthemin thelatterto
better protectthefruits from birdsandtheravages of thearrlera ant
(Kelly and Palerm '1952s1*H).
As anIndicationof thebroaddistribution"of this.practlcetit'may
beadded^ thatsplendidkitchenorchards"aremaintained'in Nlooya p
CostaRica (Wagner1958). In.reference to the r a i n o n *Lund ell
(1938 : * K L )notes that ." irlnevery"villageof themodern" Kaya"
In ~th8:Tucatan.Peninsula I t ' (theramon) Is.one 'of the
mostconspicuoustreestbeing plantedin dooryardsf along fences*t inth
e streets,11 .
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lii - /;^ 68 / ' ; , ' . ; . ' . ' ' * ;In so far
asreferencesfor the southern MayaLowlands
are concerned,Thompson(1930)doesnot
specificallynotethecultivation of theramon in houseyards or
kitchengardens of 'southern British Honduras* but a
photographoframon treesin a Peten kitchen garden* taken
in196?,isshown in fig. 9* The house is located in therelatively
remote village of Dolores in the southeastPeten, Questioning
revealed thattheowner* a man ofKayadescent* got
thetreesstarted,withthe intentionofutilizing then for
.fodderand*food. Whether theywere transplanted or planted is
notknown. - T h i sinformationissupported by thefact that raraonsdo
notappeartogrowin the immediate vicinity of the village. It
isperhaps for this very reason that the photographed treesstand
alone in defianceof a local ordinance which requiredalllarger trees
in the village to be cut down some yearsago. It is doubted
thatthey"will.standmuchlonger*
USEOF THERAMON, A S Ajr,STAPLE
HistoricalEvidence^Turning now to specific historicalevidencefor
theuse of the ramon in subsistence* we have already noted
Landa'sreference to the fruit as lfsavoryfigs11
(Tozzer19^1:199)tand FatherAvendano's wistful reference tothe
fruitless trees (itwas early February)heencounteredinhis harrowing
exodus fromTayasal (Means191?:16?).
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Figure9: Ramon trees growing Inakitchen garden,Dolores,ElPeten.
(Photobythe author)
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In theBook/; of Chllam Balaiaof Chumayel, thefruitof theramon
8along with tworoot crops c u p ( C a l o^ -j^ c/ i m i i )
;ceruleumBenth. ) and; the batun (Aiithurium t^tiragcnaiii^Var^
j u c a t e i i f ; l :_s Engl ) is significantly associated
withfamine/ In oneparticularly dire prophecy whereit.
is'foretoldthat"vultures will enterthehouses f t it i s'recorded
that ri..*thebread-nut (ramon)shall be theirbread11 (Roys1933:122)v
Tozzer (19^1:199),in- footnote108^f writes."Withthe eu|> two
plantsappear almost asa symbolof famine in theProphecieSe 11
Thisis'clearly. i n reference to use of the seedto makemeal
whereinalso liesthe origin of the Creole name ffbreadnutft
(Bartlott1935:18). . ; , . . -
These"references clearly indicate the remarkablereliabilityof
the ramon and certain root cropsas foodsourcesin northern Yucatan
when all .theregular crops,failed.ThlSisa most important point in
.spiteofthefamineassociation which might betaken to indicatethat
these foods virtuallyinedible, H'-h. - t : = .^2
Thereis no evidencewhatsoever to indicate thattheramon as
afoodis inedibleor that Ithas anydebilitatingeffect.on those.who
eatit f in fact theevidenceis quiteto the contrary as"shallbe seen.
Muchas thetipperclasses of Guatemala Mexicotodaywouldbe forced
togiveup their bolilios (white wheat breadrolls)'andeat tortillas
in the evertof afamine,the.YuoatecanMayamay have been forcedto cat
the ramon.
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7 1 ;J'kxler Evi^onoe:.
. . - Reminiscent of the role of theramon,in the Book-of C h i l
a i i i Balam t Is the statement of aTaj In Totonao -Informant that
in former times of famine,,the Totonaosubsisted,on the
ojdtje(ramon)-"collected^ shelled^boiledwith, salti or they are
stewed with brown orwhitesugar,11 (Kelly and
Paleria1952:163).'Roys(1931:272}recordsthat among the Yucatecan
Maya e "the.boiledfruit is eaten alone or with honey and cornmeal
efKartineE(1959S)says that thevjfrl&ui'sprepared as
a"conserva"(sweetmeat), Garni(1918:2 3)reports that Slhendriedthey
are ground into ameal^ from which r x k i n dof breadIsmade,and
they are also boiled and made into sweetmeat,11Ifappears
possible.in this case that the seedsare notcookedin. he preparation
of the meal.
In regard to the other species* Calderon(1941:8?) says that the
fruit of the Br^sjjaugiterjSSSHH s atenafter.cooking,inSalvador.
Allen(1956:142)furtherreports t h a t -thefruit of the BrosJjMii
terrabajrom is usedin parts of Nicaragua to.make tortillas. In
thearea"ofTula* Guatemala f the seedsof B^osjjQmmt rabajium_ a r e
boiled eaten or made into a sort of tortilla(Standley-19^6*16). A
specimen ofB^psliaiim'j staricanumI - - h a v e seen .inthe
collections of the Philadelphia Academy& . : Nat\3.ra2fSciences
hasfruits virtually identical tothose of.Bro^jjiiil "l^eastriii]i
(fig. 1Q) 9 Use of theramon
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Figure 10: Specimen ofBrosimunicostar_i_canumfromthe collection
of the Philadelphia Academyof Natural Sciences. ;?2
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- 7 3in these areas appears to be limited r. perhapsbecauseof
the reliabilityof themllpa t or as
theTotonac,because.ofthereliabilityof the'bananasand
plantains.Inthis light,Thompson'sreport(1930:185)of the
systematiccollection ofthe fruit in large quantities by theMayaof
southern andcentralBritish Honduras isparticularlyinterestingi
".^inthe months of April and M ay P O e l tisgathered in large
quantities. The outer covering iseatenraw, The kernels are either
boiled'or t afterbeing steeped In water or lime @ are ground and
mixedwith MaiEeto maketortillas*11
Today,theramoncontinues to be of Importance to.subsistence
Invariousparts of the Peten in Guatemala cIn 196? T7hcnthere was
a'shortage of corn early Intheyear/villagersof Dolores went several
miles Intothe jungleto collect the fruit of this
tree(personalinformation).
After thefall,when the fruit Is still fresh ontheground,the
rather tasty' fleshmaybe peeled off theseedand eaten as mentioned
byThompson* .Though thisIs'notpreserved today t It is
notinconceivablethatthisportion of 'thefruit might have been
preserved bythefamiliarprocesses of drying or smoking in
formertimes, Note the'reference to fruit' preservationalready
quotedin .Landa*s description of JacarfctamexieanaD.C. (TozzeT19
1:200}. The seeds which'remain
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afterthe fleshIB either r e m o v e d t - eaten off by i n s - a
c t s or d f r t e dup* can be collectedin large quantities
withrelativeease,
Thefollowing recipefor ramon tortillas
collectedinTikal-fromEliasContreras alocalworkman fromDoloresand
of,Mayadescent,who wasgiven'5Ibs. of'theseed t oprepare, . -
l c Placethe fleshed seeds in a large-cooking potandcoverthem
with water*Z. m Add a handful of ashes from the fire p and
bollfor.abouthalfanhour. (Thisboilingandaddition of ash is
apparently .toremove t h e -slight bitterness of theseed which is
probablyattributable to a certain amount of "tanninInthe fruit.3*
After removal of the pot from the fire* the waterIsallowed to cool
a bit g then it Is poured offand theseeds are washed with clean
water.*K The seeds Biaynow be eaten but generally they - a r e
ground Into paste. This grinding Is
donetodaywithlittlehandmi11s.though formerlythe familiarSgjnoan(
Eii.wouldha ebeenusede5* Ellasadded theapparently modern
ingredients 0manteca {hydrogenated eottenseed oil of
Guatemalanmanufacture),aground-up stickofcinnamon^- and sugar. In
former times and probablyoccasionally today thoney would be
substitutedforsugar,
. 6 * The paste is kneaded- into tortillas which
1are.cooked'onbananaleaves becauseoftheir fragility- in comparison
to cornsiealtortillas* Inview ofthe supposedly latearrivalof
tortillas in theMayaarea,it is Interesting thatEllasreportedthatthe
paste is sometimes kneaded into littleloaveswhichareactually baked
Insidethetypicaltable-hearthoven* (Thetortillaswereeatenand found
to be tasty with a flavor 'ratherlike.thatof
unleavenedbranmuffins*)
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75The seeds9 - s i m p l y -boiled g taste like potatoes,
accordingto Gann(1918:2 3). Standley(1920-26)they
tastelikechestnuts. We, however would compare themtosomething a
little more tasteless5" perhaps they arebestdescribedas
acombinationofsomethingwith the.consistency.of soggy chestnuts
withaflavorofbrazilnuts. Theopinion of Descourtllz(1821-33 10) as
aFrenchmanmay be ofassistance here: * . - : . ;
l Ces fruits sonttres-bons,soltgrilles,soitbouillisjon ne pent
irdeux les comparer qufauxehatalgnes (chestnuts)d fSuropeileur
substenceest.farineuseet d fungout,tres-saTCureuxi ellenfapasl
fInconvenient cle surcharger l festomaeetd
foccaslonerdesflatuosites. l
Lego,calEvidence:- 'As an Introduction to this section,
the'following
list of forBroslmumg i -- gis -presented. This-list
isprobablyincomplete. References'for each and.localityof occurence
are given. Apparently ruminativetermsare asterisked,
liSM ^ l ^JLB5^^S^I^,^^^^S^S^aja Chiapas (Martinez19S9a)ajah
Chiapas (Martinez1959b)ajash -Chiapas
(Souza^Novela1950)ajocosochitl-'; Oaxaca (Martinez "1959b)
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Alternativ