Author : Briana Bianco
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (897 download)
Book Synopsis Honey Production in Modern and Ancient Yucatán by : Briana Bianco
Download or read book Honey Production in Modern and Ancient Yucatán written by Briana Bianco and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 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.