Honey Production in Modern and Ancient Yucatán: Going from the Known to the Unknown
Creators: name: Bianco, Briana
Publisher: name: New Mexico State University (NMSU)
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Yucatan, Mexico
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/86380/yucatan-mexico
subject: Historic Period 1545 - 2000
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/8375/historic-period-1545-2000
subject: Historic Native American
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/30/historic-native-american
subject: Spanish
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/31/spanish
subject: Maya
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/65/maya
subject: Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/25/historic
subject: Xcalacoop
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/136132/xcalacoop
subject: Ebtun, Cuncunul, Kaua, Tekom, Tixcacalcupul, Yucatan
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/136105/ebtun-cuncunul-kaua-tekom-tixcacalcupul-yucatan
subject: Water-Related
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/365/water-related
subject: Cemetery
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/302/cemetery
subject: Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/272/resource-extraction-production-transportation-structure-or-features
subject: Historic Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/336/historic-structure
subject: Agricultural or Herding
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/273/agricultural-or-herding
subject: Agricultural Field or Field Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/274/agricultural-field-or-field-feature
subject: Ossuary
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/306/ossuary
subject: Canal or Canal Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/275/canal-or-canal-feature
subject: Corral
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/276/corral
subject: Water Control Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/279/water-control-feature
subject: Historic Church / Religious Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/313/historic-church-religious-structure
subject: Historic Communal / Public Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/316/historic-communal-public-structure
subject: Hamlet / Village
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/254/hamlet-village
subject: Town / City
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/255/town-city
subject: Historic Governmental Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/320/historic-governmental-structure
subject: Hacienda
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/4833/hacienda
subject: Cenote
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/4834/cenote
subject: noria (waterwheel)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/4837/noria-waterwheel
subject: Apiary
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/4839/apiary
subject: Road
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/299/road
subject: Plaza
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/331/plaza
subject: Trail
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/300/trail
subject: Soil Samples
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2864/soil-samples
subject: Ceramic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1/ceramic
subject: Fauna
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/4/fauna
subject: Glass
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/6/glass
subject: Ground Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/7/ground-stone
subject: Building Materials
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/8/building-materials
subject: Metal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/11/metal
subject: Landscape
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/134095/landscape
subject: colonial and postcolonial transformations
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/171727/colonial-and-postcolonial-transformations
subject: 'Historical Archaeology'
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/154256/historical-archaeology
subject: Yucatan, Mexico
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/171725/yucatan-mexico
subject: Archaeological site survey and testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/171726/archaeological-site-survey-and-testing
subject: Ethnohistory
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/2106/ethnohistory
subject: Ethnographic Research
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/14/ethnographic-research
subject: Ethnohistoric Research
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/17/ethnohistoric-research
subject: Historic Background Research
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/18/historic-background-research
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/6/methodology-theory-or-synthesis
subject: Reconnaissance / Survey
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/7/reconnaissance-survey
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing

description: According to historic documents and scarce archaeological data, apiculture with the stingless bee, Melipona beecheii, was significant in the diet, economy, tribute, medicine, and ritual practices of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Current practices with stingless bees give us a frame of reference for interpreting archaeological data. This paper focuses on the ethnoarchaeological studies carried out in Yucatán, Mexico. Soil samples collected from underneath and near modern beehives, as well as samples of honey and wax, were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in order to identify possible chemical signatures. Soil samples taken from locations at Hacienda San Pedro Cholul suspected to be apiaries were also tested. The soil was tested for pH and nitrogen with the goal of developing new methods to identify beekeeping in the archaeological record. Results indicate that there are similarities in the chemical components of modern soils from apiaries, modern stingless bee honey, modern stingless bee wax, and soils from a hacienda that may have had an apiary located there in the past. Beekeeping practices have changed as a result of the introduction of other species of bees and taxation under the Spanish colonial regime. This and globalization have caused the intensification of honey and wax production. The global economy has linked
Yucatan’s beekeeping cooperatives with the rest of the world. However, ethnoarchaeological and soil chemical studies provide insight about the disappearance of traditional beekeeping practices and current traditional ecological knowledge, the disappearance of the variety of plants necessary to produce honey, and the disappearance of stingless bees themselves.