Ancient Maya sylviculture of breadnut (Brosimum alicastrum Sw.) and sapodilla (Manilkara zapota (L.) P. Royen) at Naachtun (Guatemala): A reconstruction based on charcoal analysis

Researchers have long argued that the ancient Maya actively exploited forest resources, but the nature of these forest economies and their long-term impact on the landscape are still vigorously debated. We address this issue through charcoal analysis at the Classic site of Naachtun (Northern Guatemala), systematically analyzing the use of the breadnut (Brosimum alicastrum) and sapodilla (Manilkara zapota) trees for domestic firewood over eight centuries. These two species are among the most economically and ecologically valuable for modern Maya people, and have been at the core of the debate concerning ancient Maya subsistence economy. We carry out an experimental anthracological study and discuss the implications of its results from a diachronic and taphonomic perspective for the ancient Maya site of Naachtun. We assume that sapodilla wood was intensively exploited as a primary source of fuel throughout the site's occupation history, and that its importance in the fuel economy until the city's abandonment was the product of careful management practices. Our results also indicate that breadnut wood use may have been much more significant than generally perceived in the charcoal records of Maya Lowland sites. An increase in breadnut wood use during the Late Classic, which corresponds to the demographic apogee of Naachtun, is evidence that this tree was of sufficient economic and/or ecological importance to be maintained despite the growing population pressure on the local forest.