Plant Material from a Cave on the Rio Zape, Durango, Mexico

Abstract

Plant remains from La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos consist mostly of cultivated plants, beans, corn, and cucurbits. The inhabitants also gathered acorns, pinon nuts, black walnuts, and opuntia fruits for food, and used yucca, agave, and possibly cotton for fibers. The beans are unusually abundant and diverse: three species and 12 types or varieties. A type of lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) and two common beans (P. vulgaris), one of them similar to the cultivar Wells Red Kidney, are new to the Southwest and to northwestern Mexico. The lima bean is of interest because it belongs to the round-seeded Carib group with a center of diversification in the West Indies, whereas other lima beans from the prehistoric Southwest are mostly small-seeded and flat, probably derived from Central America. Five races of corn are represented: an ancient race called Chapalote; Cristalina de Chihuahua, the most numerous race in the collections; Onaveño, a race with medium-sized, hard-flint kernels; Pima-Papago, the common soft flour corn of the Arizona-Sonora border; and Toluca Pop, a central Mexican pyramidal, pointed popcorn. Cob fragments and grains show definite evidence of hybridization with Tripsacum or teosinte. Three species of cultivated Cucurbitaceae, a wild species of Cucurbita, and a species of Apodanthera were identified. Fragments of gourds, mostly Lagenaria siceraria, are relatively abundant. Seeds and peduncles of Cucurbita pepo occur in strata throughout the entire profile. Cucurbita mixta was found in the later strata, but remains of this species are meagre. Seeds of Apodanthera sp. may have been used for food. A single wood sample from near the base of the midden produced a radiocarbon date of A.D. 660 (1300 ± 100 B.P.).

Clarifying prehistoric parasitism from a complementary morphological and molecular approach

“…La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos is a rock shelter with excellent preservation, located approximately 50 feet above the Rio Zape in a cliff face (Brooks, et al, 1962; Jiminez, et al, 2012). (Insert Inline Supplemental KML Map here) A trail connecting the Rio Zape site with other towns runs along the river and passes seven to eight feet below the cave entrance.…”

Food and status in the prehispanic Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico

“…The few macrobotanical studies demonstrate that the primary plant foods consumed were corn, beans, and squash, with the addition of a few other wild resources such as Agave sp., Opuntia sp., and wild legumes (Brooks et al, 1962;Toll, 1990;Trombold, 2000;Turkon, 1995Turkon, , 1998Weintraub, 1992).…”

Assessing the Archaeoparasitological Potential of Quids As a Source Material for Immunodiagnostic Analyses

“…The region illustrates a cultural transition zone between the northern most edge of Mesoamerica and the greater American Southwest [26–28]. CMC was used year-round as a temporary habitation by the Loma San Gabriel between 1,200 and 1,400 years ago [29,30]. This cave housed an abundance of botanical artifacts, the skeletons of 14 children (aged several months to 5 years at the time of death) as well as some adult bone fragments, nearly 500 coprolites, and over 2,000 quids all sealed beneath adobe floors [28,29,31,32].…”

“…CMC was used year-round as a temporary habitation by the Loma San Gabriel between 1,200 and 1,400 years ago [29,30]. This cave housed an abundance of botanical artifacts, the skeletons of 14 children (aged several months to 5 years at the time of death) as well as some adult bone fragments, nearly 500 coprolites, and over 2,000 quids all sealed beneath adobe floors [28,29,31,32]. The people who utilized CMC subsisted using a mixed strategy of agricultural production and hunting-gathering, both of which fluctuated seasonally [29,33].…”

“…This cave housed an abundance of botanical artifacts, the skeletons of 14 children (aged several months to 5 years at the time of death) as well as some adult bone fragments, nearly 500 coprolites, and over 2,000 quids all sealed beneath adobe floors [28,29,31,32]. The people who utilized CMC subsisted using a mixed strategy of agricultural production and hunting-gathering, both of which fluctuated seasonally [29,33]. Previous analyses of coprolites reported excellent preservation of parasitic helminth eggs [34], bacterial DNA [35], and parasite coproantigens [15].…”