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The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication

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Abstract

The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication. One of the central questions in the development of Mesoamerican civilization is how the alimentary, agronomic, and ecological complementarities were achieved within the milpa agroecosystem, which is one of its more important and distinctive cultural elements. In the Mesoamerican center of origin of agriculture and domestication of plants, located in western Mexico, we inquired among Náhuatl communities about the ancient dishes prepared with wild plants that are part of their ancient foodways, and the tools and technology used to prepare them. We found that the wild progenitors of Agave spp., Zea mays L, Cucurbita argyrosperma Hort. Ex L.H. Bayley, Phaseolus spp., Capsicum annum L., Solanum lycopersicum L., Physalis phyladelphica Lam, Spondias purpurea L., Persea americana Mill., and Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit are consumed in dishes that remain in the present food culture of the poor peasants, and are prepared with techniques and tools that were available in the Archaic period: Sun drying, roasting, toasting, baking, cracking, grinding, crushing, fermenting, and soaking in plain water or in water with ash, using three–stone fireplaces, stone toasters, crushers, grinders, rock pits, and three types of earth ovens. A remarkable finding was that beans could be incorporated into the diet without boiling, but just by toasting, stone grinding, and baking in corn dough tamales. Results obtained suggest that the basic Mesoamerican diet could have been shaped before the species involved were domesticated. Its nutritional complementarity since the Archaic period could have been one of the incentives for the development of the milpa system and the domestication of its species, achieving in this way also their ecological and agronomical complementarity.

Resumen

La Dieta Arcaica en Mesoamérica: Incentivo para el Desarrollo de la Milpa en Mesoamérica y para la Domesticación de Especies. Una de las preguntas centrales acerca del desarrollo de la civilización Mesoamericana es cómo se logró la complementariedad alimentaria y agroecológica dentro del agroecosistema milpa, el cual es uno de sus elementos culturales más importantes y característicos. En el centro Mesoamericano de origen de agricultura y domesticación de plantas que se encuentra en el occidente de México, investigamos entre comunidades Náhuatls los platillos basados en plantas silvestres que forman parte de su cultura alimentaria antigua, y las técnicas e instrumentos que utilizan para elaborarlos. Encontramos que los ancestros silvestres de Agave spp., Zea mays L, Cucurbita argyrosperma Hort. Ex L.H. Bayley, Phaseolus spp., Capsicum annum L., Solanum lycopersicum L., Physalis phyladelphica Lam., Spondias purpurea L., Persea americana Mill., e Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit son consumidos en platillos que permanecen en la cultura alimentaria de los campesinos pobres, y que son elaboradas con técnicas y herramientas que estuvieron disponibles en el periodo arcaico: secado al sol, asado, tostado, horneado, triturado, molido, exprimido, fermentado y remojado en agua o en agua con cenizas, usando el fogón de tres piedras, los tostadores, exprimidores y moledores de piedra, los pozos de piedra y tres tipos de horno bajo tierra. Un hallazgo relevante es que los frijoles pudieron ser incorporados a la dieta sin ser hervidos, sino solo tostados, molidos en piedras y horneados en tamales de masa de maíz. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que la dieta básica Mesoamericana pudo haberse conformado antes de que las especies involucradas fueran domesticadas. Su complementariedad nutricional desde el periodo Arcaico pudo haber sido uno de los incentivos para el desarrollo del agroecosistema milpa y la domesticación de sus especies, lográndose así también su complementariedad agroecológica.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jerónimo Zizumbo–Colunga for help in translation, Verónica Limones and Victor Canché for technical assistance, Francisco Santana and Ofelia Vargas for help in botanical identification, and the families of Cruz Blanca, Huitzometl, Mazatán, Perempitz, Telcruz, Tetapán, Zacalmécatl, and Zapotitlán for their hospitality and generosity.

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  1. Unidad de Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán A.C., Mérida, Yucatán, México

    Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal, Alondra Flores-Silva & Patricia Colunga-García Marín

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  1. Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal
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Correspondence to Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal.

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Submitted 30 March 2012; Accepted 22 August 2012.

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Zizumbo-Villarreal, D., Flores-Silva, A. & Colunga-García Marín, P. The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication. Econ Bot 66, 328–343 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-012-9212-5

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