Emma Messinger

Among the ancient Maya, the integration of plants in ritual events functioned to construct meaning, reiterate relationships between the supernatural and natural worlds, and reconcile social and environmental change. The significance of organic elements in ritual practice is evident in Classic period Maya iconography and macrobotanical studies, indicating that plants were ubiquitous across elite ceremonial assemblages. This project investigates relationships between these plants and the development of ritual orthodoxy and divine kingship in ancient communities from the Maya lowlands of western Belize. By combining traditional archaeological and paleoethnobotanical techniques with novel chemical residue analysis, the study will investigate the diversity of plant species across three functional ritual categories. The results will illuminate plant use in rites related to dedication, termination, and pilgrimage. Changes in species diversity and continuity between these distinct ceremonial contexts will be mapped onto political and ecological shifts documented during the Late Preclassic (~AD 100-250) and Terminal Classic periods (~AD 750-900). The outcome of this project holds value to the descendant public in the local Maya village of Ox Mul Kah and will culminate in collaborative presentations with community stakeholders to develop comparisons between ancient and modern plant use.