Food, Fire and Fragrance: A Paleoethnobotanical Perspective on Classic Maya Cave Rituals

With few exceptions, virtually no other paleoethnobotanist has studied how the ancient Maya interacted with their spiritual universe via ritual practice. Archaeobotanical studies are still rare in the Maya region, though this has been changing. In terms of caves, this situation remains perplexing. There are few kinds of archaeological contexts in this region that permit good preservation. These caves are not the arid caves of Peru, of the Southwest United States, or even of Puebla, Mexico. ...