Such extraordinary preservation provides an opportunity to not only understand what plant species the ancient inhabitants of this village utilized in their daily lives, but also how the villagers perceived and managed their landscape . The preservation from the rapid deposition of volcanic ash results in the archaeological visibility of flora that were either growing at the time of the eruption or were collected, stored, and utilized in some manner by the ancient inhabitants. Thus far, plant material has been recovered at this site in two main forms: carbonized macrobotanical remains and plaster casts taken when archaeologists encountered voids within the volcanic ash during excavations. Using paleoethnobotany as a methodological tool at Cerén reveals significant plant-human interactions of ancient Mesoamericans that add to other studies of less well preserved domestic settings, where investigations have typically focused on architecture and artifacts , creating a stronger and more in-depth interpretation of ancient household life in ancient Mesoamerica. The paleoethnobotanical collection efforts at Cerén have been highly productive, revealing foodstuffs within homes, kitchens, and storage facilities as well as exterior spaces such as small household garden plots, pipp racks clusters of fruit trees surrounding each structure, and extensive infields and outfields of maize, manioc, and wild and weedy plant species.
The assorted array of culturally and economically useful species reveals a detailed variety of foodstuffs readily accessible to the inhabitants on a daily basis that would have been incorporated into meals and contributed towards daily life as medicine, tools, construction material, fuel, and more. Typically, the recovery of ancient plant remains in Mesoamerica is challenging due to the generally poor preservation of organic materials in the tropical environment, with carbonization leading to the best preservation conditions . The long history of paleoethnobotanical research at Cerén allows for a deeper study of the social meanings behind Mesoamerican agriculture and home gardens with an intimate view of how these ancient people interacted with and viewed their environment in the past. Joya de Cerén serves as a valuable case study in household archaeology because of the detail that can be obtained concerning prehispanic Mesoamerican residential and rural lifeways . For example, the exceptional preservation establishes consistent characteristics and components of an average household in Mesoamerica. The structures at Cerén had an average of 70 ceramic vessels within them, many decorated with intricate painted designs and hieroglyphic depictions. Many of the structures held finely crafted obsidian blades tucked away within the thatch roofs, a safe and secure space for sharp and dangerous tools. The obsidian blades and fine ceramic in situ assemblages illustrate that these rural villagers were able to obtain materials necessary to complete daily tasks of life.
Over all, the inhabitants of Cerén were doing quite well for themselves while occupying a rural segment of society. Households took care to surround themselves with many of their daily resource needs with thriving kitchen gardens and clusters of fruit trees. Recent paleoethnobotanical data from flotation samples collected from the agricultural infields reveal that these spaces not only supplied staple crops, but also an abundance of herbs and spices that could have flavored their meals and provided additional nutritional and medicinal benefits. Archaeological investigations at Cerén provide a unique perspective of household life in Mesoamerica and help archaeologists working in other areas to further imagine activities and behaviors in the past. The village of Joya de Cerén formed sometime after the eruption of Ilopango , a volcano located in the central area of El Salvador that would have created an uninhabitable environment for flora and fauna within 1000 km for perhaps a century . The ancient agriculturalists of Cerén were almost certainly pioneers onto this recently transformed landscape with its rich, fertile volcanic soils of the Zapotitán Valley that they chose to reside within, located in central El Salvador . After weathering, ash deposited from volcanic eruptions is typically full of nutrients, so that eventually it can lay the foundation for vibrant ecosystems. A soil survey conducted in 1983 found that Cerén’s soils were in fact quite fertile in terms of the chemical and physical properties . The average pH of the soil within Cerén’s maize fields was neutral, with high levels of phosphorous, potassium, iron, and copper yet low concentrations of inorganic material .
Cerén is situated at 450 masl in a tropical monsoon climate with an average annual temperature of 24 °C . The area receives 1700 ± 300 mm of precipitation per year, with the vast majority of rain falls occurring between May and October. The village is conveniently situated along the Rio Sucio, which provides a nearby water source. The Rio Sucio was clearly significant to the village, since the domestic, religious, and political structures at the site are all oriented 30° east of north, aligning the built environment with the riverbank . Even the agricultural ridges within the kitchen gardens of Household 1 and the milpas are oriented parallel to the Rio Sucio. Since water is sacred to the Maya, it is not surprising that the community was oriented to the water source. Such an orientation also facilitated water drainage within the fields which prevented soil erosion. Reconstructions of the Zapotitán Valley before it was colonized by the Spanish suggest that the area was a tropical deciduous forest dominated by tree species such as breadnut , Spanish cedar , ceiba Gaertn., guanacaste Gresb., and quebracho Exell. In Pulle. Today, much of the original flora of El Salvador has been cleared for agriculture and urban development, making modern comparisons challenging. Through years of archaeological research at Cerén, we have a sense for what the landscape was like at the time of the eruption that buried this small agricultural settlement. Phytolith evidence shows that the Cerén landscape was dominated primarily by grasslands; some phytoliths representing maize and squash were also present . Much of this grassland may have been dominated by Trachypogon spicatus Kuntze, the material used as thatch roofing on the earthen structures . Forest products used as construction materials or as fuel have been identified via the abundant charcoal remains recovered through paleoethnobotanical investigations at the site. These data indicate that the surrounding environment was comprised of multiple ecosystems, including tropical deciduous forests, wetlands, savanna, and second growth forests . The wood charcoal assemblage indicates that these villagers traveled to or traded with people who lived in various ecosystems nearby; they made use of the expansive and diverse floral setting available to them. This shows that the residents of Cerén did not solely rely on the gardens surrounding their homes or the maize and manioc fields surrounding the village for their resource needs. The small patches of plants cultivated immediately surrounding the Cerén structures are not the only gardens at Cerén. The entire landscape surrounding the village may have been considered their garden that they visited, maintained, pipp rack tended frequently, and formed meaningful relationships with beyond functional or economic aspects.Paleoethnobotanical investigations at Joya de Cerén have incorporated a variety of methodologies since excavations began in 1978. Early work collected floral remains that were preserved in a variety of ways. Foodstuffs were directly preserved within storage vessels inside of household buildings. Additionally, plaster impressions were taken of cultigens from visibly noticeable voids within the ash. Recovery efforts soon began to include the use of mechanized water flotation strategies with soil samples of 1 to 2 L in volume collected systematically from cultural contexts . This study incorporates plant materials recovered as plaster casts or carbonized macrobotanical materials from the village as well as 80 flotation samples collected in 2013 from the maize agricultural fields and an earthen sacbe . ‘Sacbe’ is the Maya term for a causeway or road feature. Carbonized macrobotanical remains were analyzed and identified with the aid of comparative reference collections at the University of Cincinnati Paleoethnobotany Laboratory. Identification and imaging of botanical remains were accomplished using low-powered stereomicroscopes , a Keyence VHX 1000E digital microscope, and a Philips FEI XL-30 Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope. Within the immediate vicinity of the four separate households identified at the settlement are kitchen gardens adjacent to the structures containing various plants that were growing at the time of the volcanic eruption.
These kitchen gardens provided a small amount of produce using a large diversity of plant species to supplement the staple crops growing in the larger fields . These plants provided food, medicine, tools, and other resources to the village as well as aiding in spiritual and cultural activities. Cerén’s kitchen gardens demonstrate that these spaces were not just locations for decorative/shade plants, they reflect the traditional ecological knowledge of the village inhabitants and diversified their diet to go beyond the staple crops while also supporting other household needs . There were numerous fruit trees surrounding the structures including avocado , guava , calabash , cacao , and nance DC.. Lamb argues that a house-lot garden should be considered a living and a social space as it can provide an area for social gatherings and other communal activities. This perspective can be envisioned within the ancient village at Cerén since the fruit trees surrounding the homes would have created desirable outdoor activity spaces in such a hot tropical climate by supplying shaded, comfortable areas, in addition to producing nutritious fruits for consumption. The distribution of these trees at Cerén demonstrate that the villagers included trees into their perception of household spaces, rather than limiting such a space to include just herbs and major cultigens. Adjacent to Household 1 were rows of agricultural ridges with piñuela , malanga Schott, and manioc. Charcoal fragments from jocote may be indicative of a tree between structures 1 and 6, whereas plaster casts document guava, calabash, and piñuela were growing just outside the kitchen . Household 2 had patches of maize milpa within just a few feet of the structures and had large concentrations of seeds and branches indicating nearby cacao, avocado, and calabash trees. The small milpa plots adjacent to the households were more carefully maintained compared to those farther away from any structure in that they exhibited more formalized ridges, suggesting that the aesthetic appearance of the homes gardens was of importance to the ancient inhabitants . The small maize plots were managed using a ridge and furrow technique with the soil being tilled between rows . Household 4 was surrounded by a garden plot including rows of agave , some chile plants, cacao and avocado trees, and a guava tree, producing an abundant assemblage of fruits. To the west of the structure manioc and piñuela plants were growing as well. It is likely that additional plants were thriving within the house-lot gardens at Cerén besides what was encountered using plaster cast recovery methods and large carbonized branches, but water flotation collection strategies were not yet implemented at the time of these investigations. It is common for volunteer plants to develop surrounding home gardens that may be tolerated and cared for by residents. As discussed further below, the more extensive agricultural fields in this ancient village exhibited many plants that may have been volunteers in disturbed environments and were subsequently tolerated and perhaps even encouraged. Further excavations could confirm the same cultivation strategies within the house-lot gardens as well, revealing wild species that could contribute towards nutritional, medicinal, and ornamental needs of the village occupants. These house-lot gardens were likely conceptualized and managed at the scale of the household, in comparison to the more expansive agricultural fields which could have been incorporated into larger state level organization . Each house-lot garden space at Cerén is organized differently and composed of its own set of plant species, suggesting that each household managed such spaces. The agriculturalists at Cerén chose to surround their homes with a variety of important plant species so that their daily needs could be fulfilled by simply stepping outside of their doorway, as can be seen with the variety of food products noted above that encompassed the village center. The soil within these village gardens would have been easily fertilized and replenished through household refuse along with human and animal waste . Additionally, the array of fruit trees could have provided shade for the house compounds and ample space for daily activities. Rural commoners, such as those living at Cerén, could have enjoyed practices that were usually associated with the elite through their gardens by growing desired plants within their own land.