Three NEIU students are searching for evidence of foods that sustained the Late Classic (AD 600-900) Mayan people. Soil samples collected by Jon Hageman, assistant professor, anthropology, while working with the NEIU Archaeology Field School in Belize, are being analyzed by Gardner Brandt, student, anthropology; and Neeshia Macanowicz and Anita Fareeduddin, students, biology.

“This project is part of a larger research project on ancient Maya diet,” said Hageman. “We have already recovered a lot of seeds, stems, and leaves, but that only represents some of the plants they consumed.” The NEIU students are now looking for phytoliths, or microscopic bodies of silica present in many plants including wild rice, beans, squashes, and gourds.

Jennifer Slate, associate professor, biology, explains, “Phytoliths are very small particles, on average about 1/20 of a millimeter in size, that exist inside plant cells. If you threw a glass Coke bottle in the ground, it would still be there in 1,000 years in most soils. The same thing is true for these little phytoliths. The plants, seeds and stems may disintegrate, but these survive because they’re made of silica, a glass-like substance.” Phytoliths appear in the fossil record at the same time grazing animals appeared. One theory is that plants developed phytoliths as a defense against grazing animals.

Hageman noted, “This kind of study requires a lot of very technical lab processes for which most archaeologists aren’t equipped. Slate added, “Interdisciplinary work like this is relatively new, but it’s becoming more and more common.  For ecologists to understand and interpret what was going on in a prehistoric environment, you need to study the people who lived in that particular environment. So more and more ecologists are working with archaeologists, who also benefit, because in order to really understand an ancient culture, you must understand the ancient natural environment.”

Findings from this research could have a large impact on the understanding of Maya prehistory. One theory for the “collapse” of the Maya culture at about AD 900 is that they overused their natural resources and their environment could not support the number of people living in the area. “There aren’t a lot of data out there to support that for the Belize region,” said Hageman, “but if we can find out what the Maya people were consuming, it will provide clues to what kind of natural environment they were living in.” If the researchers find grass materials, it suggests that there wasn’t a lot of forest, which would support the theory that the Maya deforested their land and overexploited their natural resources. If they find forest plant materials, it would indicate that the Maya did not deplete their forest resources. “Just finding phytoliths would be a huge event for Maya archaeology since we work with the remains of the rural, everyday Maya,” said Hageman. “Most of the archaeological research has been done on urban sites where kings and queens lived. Very little is known about the other 95 percent of the population living in rural areas. So this will be the first glimpse at what the average Maya consumed around 800-900 A.D.”

The NEIU students involved in the project are actually conducting the experiments and using critical thinking skills to identify and apply best research practices, which is an experience their professors say will prepare them well for graduate study. Anthropology student Gardner Brandt’s experience with the project has already earned him an internship at the Smithsonian Institution, where he will spend a month working with Dolores Piperno, the world’s top expert in the study of phytoliths. “Assuming we find phytoliths, this research will have direct relevance on the larger fields of Maya archaeology and ethnobiology,” said Slate. “We are creating more opportunities for student research in the future, and there’s a very good chance our students may get published.”