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Identification Of Ancient Maya Agriculture In The Periphery Of Motul De San José, Alexandra E. Smofsky
Identification Of Ancient Maya Agriculture In The Periphery Of Motul De San José, Alexandra E. Smofsky
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Agricultural systems were investigated in the Motul de San José periphery, an ancient Maya polity in Guatemala, using soil geochemical techniques. The δ13C values of soil organic matter delineated areas of ancient maize agriculture at the satellite center of Kante’t’u’ul. A new method to locate areas of former cacao cultivation or processing was developed using HPLC to detect theobromine, an alkaloid of the cacao plant, preserved in soils. Extraction of spiked soils revealed that theobromine adsorption is inversely correlated with organic matter content of soils. Detection of naturally occurring theobromine was successful, demonstrating its utility as a tracer. …