Esteban Moises Moises Herrera Parra

This dissertation investigates the sensory dimensions of foodways in two Classic-Period (300-800 CE) Maya households in the Central Usumacinta Region of Chiapas, Mexico. By situating food within assemblages of ingredients, culinary tools, bodies, and the senses, I examine how sensory experiences of food mediated domestic relationships and reflected broader sociopolitical dynamics. Employing a multi-method paleoethnobotanical approach that includes the recovery, analysis, and identification of starch grains and phytoliths, and the novel incorporation of biomarkers, I explore how people managed their plant-based food repertoires as they navigated regional shifts. This project draws on theoretical perspectives from the anthropology of food, embodiment, and materiality to understand the intersections of foodways and the senses. Collectively, this research expands anthropological understandings and brings an archaeological perspective to how daily practices and multisensory engagements with food contribute to wider social processes and cultural change among ancient Maya communities.