South American Maize and Political Economy of the Middle and Late Formative Soconusco Region of Guatemala

Abstract

We present macrobotanical, starch, and phytolith data from artifacts and sediments from Middle Formative La Blanca (1000–600 cal BC) and Late Formative El Ujuxte (600 cal BC–cal AD 115 ) in the Soconusco region in Guatemala. Potential economic plants identified included palm (cf. Arecaceae), two varieties of maize (Zea mays), guava (Psidium guajava), bean (Phaseolus), chili peppers (Capsicum), squash (Cucurbitaceae), custard apple (Annonaceae), coco plum (Chrysobalanaceae), lerén (Calathea), arrowroot (Maranta), and bird-of-paradise (Heliconia). The results suggest that control of food production and consumption was critical for the transition from complex chiefdoms during the Middle Formative to the archaic state in the Late Formative. The arrival of a more productive South American variety of maize at El Ujuxte (about 2549 BP) allowed elites to exploit an already existing broad-based economic system and to use the maize-based religious system to increase control over maize agricultural practices and maintain power through ideology and disciplinary power. These data suggest that the arrival of fully domesticated South American maize likely influenced the overall development of Mesoamerican state-level societies.