El Gigante Rock Shelter: Archaic Mesoamerica and Transitions to Settled Life

Floral Material

In almost all cultural strata some amount of preserved macro-floral material is present (29,096 specimens in all). A very fine sequence of maize was recovered (see below). Organic remains were recovered in lower strata but, were considerably less common. These items include a predominance of ciruela (Sponidas sp.) and avocado (Persea americana) rinds and pits, maguey quids and fibers (Agave spp.) as well as many unidentified seeds (Sapotaceae?). In addition, unidentified beans (Leguminosae spp.), squash and gourd (Curcurbitaceae) remnants and grasses (Poaceae) and leaves (mostly Quercus spp.), which may have been used to line storage pits, have been identified. These remains have been preliminarily sorted into some fifty-plus morphological types and await species-level identification by Dr. Lee Newsom at the Pennsylvania State University.

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