Yucatec Lacandon Edible and Useful Plants: Ethnobotany and Ecology

I have visited the Lacandon areas of Chiapas first in 1962 and several times since then. I also have done library research at Na-Bolom, the house of Trudy Blom. Frans Blom, her husband, was dying the first time I was in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas (he drank himself to death). So when I learned he was in the process of passing away, I did not enter the house to try to meet him or her. But in subsequent years I did spend time there doing research.

Everything I found up to about 1968 is in my 1969 original (KATUNOB) and 1970 reprint of my bibliography (by University of Northern Colorado). So here on this web page are monographs and books published after 1968 that mention the landscape, ecology, flora, or fauna

Enlarge Image

Most of Dr Nicholas visits to Bonampak were in the 1960’s (as you can see in this photo); then one final visit in 1990’s.

• BARRERA, Narciso and Victor TOLEDO
• 2005
• Ethnoecology of the Yucatec Maya: symbolism, knowledge and management of natural resources. Journal of Latin American Geography. Vol. 4, No. 1. Pages 9-41.
  
  Sold Online:
  www.jstor.org/stable/25765087?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

• BUDA, A., G.
• 2002
• Manejo y aprovechamiento persistente de Aechmea magdalenae en la selva lacandona, Chiapas. Tesis de Licenciatura en Biología, Univer-sidad de Ciencias y Artes del Estado de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México. 73 pages.

• CONTRERAS, Leonardo, CASO, Laura, FERNÁNDEZ, Mario and Ramón MARIACA
• 2013
• Manejo de los agroecosistemas en la comunidad lacandona de Nahá, Chiapas. Etnobiología. Vol. 11, No. 3. Pages 34-44.
  
  Available Online:
  http://asociacionetnobiologica.org.mx/aem/wp-content/uploads/Revista%2011-3/Tema%206.pdf

• COOK, Suzanne
• 2007
• Documenting Lacandon Traditional Ecological Knowledge. University of Victoria

• COOK, Suzanne
• 2016
• The Forest of the Lacandon Maya. An Ethnobotanical Guide. Springer. 414 pages.
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/publication/303067056_The_Forest_of_the_
  Lacandon_Maya_An_ethnobotanical_guide_2016

• DE VOS, Jan
• 1988
• La paz de Dios y del Rey: la conquista de la selva lacandona, 1525-1821. Fondo de Cultura Económica. 504 pages.
  
  Sold Online:
  www.amazon.com/paz-Dios-del-Rey-conquista/dp/9681630491

• DE VOS, Jan
• 2003
• Una tierra para sembrar sueños: historia reciente de la Selva Lacandona, 1950-2000. Fondo de Cultura Económica. 505 pages.
  
  Sold Online:
  www.amazon.com/sembrar-Historia-reciente-Lacandona-1950-2000/dp/9681665368

• DIEMONT, Stewart and Jay MARTIN
• 2009
• Lacandon Maya ecosystem management: sustainable design for subsistence and environmental restoration. Ecological Applications. Vol. 19, No. 1. Pages 254-266.
  
  Available Online:
  https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/49028/fac_MartinJ_
  EcologicalApplications_2009_19_1.pdf?sequence=1

• DIEMONT, Stewart A. W.
• 2006
• Ecosystem management and restoration as practiced by the indigenous Lacandon Maya of Chiapas, Mexico. PhD thesis, The Ohio State University.
  
  Available Online:
  www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Ecosystem-management-and-restoration-
  as-practiced-Diemont/ebd8021c29b543bbfe31d87ff89c121d6e005eba

• DIEMONT, Stewart A. W and Jay F, MARTIN
• 2009
• Lacandon Maya ecosystem management: sustainable design for subsistence and environmental restoration. Ecological Applications, 19(1), 2009, pp. 254–266
  
  Available Online:
  https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e4de/e64654268ccc4321f
  8e33eaeea6ce6f85f55.pdf

• ELLIS, E. and L. PORTER
• 2007
• Agroforestería en la selva maya: antiguas tradiciones y nuevos retos. In: A. Gonzáles J., S. Del Amo, F. Gurri. (Coords.). Los nuevos retos de la agricultura: procesos de conversión y perspectivas. Plaza y Valdés. México, D.F. pp. 213-242.
  
  Available Online:
  www.academia.edu/12844042/Los_Nuevos_Caminos_de_la_
  Agricultura_Procesos_de_Conversi%C3%B3n_Nuevos_Enfoques_y_
  Paradigmas

• FALKOWSKI, Tomasz B., DIEMONT, Stewart A. W., CHANKIN, Adolfo and David DOUTERLUNGNE
• 2016
• Lacandon Maya traditional ecological knowledge and rainforest restoration: Soil fertility beneath six agroforestry system trees.
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/publication/301482777_Lacandon_
  Maya_traditional_ecological_knowledge_and_rainforest_
  restoration_Soil_fertility_beneath_six_agroforestry_system_trees

• GAONA, Osiris and Rodrigo MEDELLÍN
• n.d.
• The Lacandon Jungle Bulwark of Biodiversity. Ecology. Pages 108-111.
  
  Available Online:
  http://www.revistascisan.unam.mx/Voices/pdfs/7218.pdf

• GARCÍA-Del Valle, Yasminda, NARANJO, Eduardo J., CABALLERO, Carlos, RUAN-Soto, Felipe and Paula L. ENRÍQUEZ
• 2015
• Cultural significance of wild mammals in mayan and mestizo communities of the Lacandon Rainforest, Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 11:36
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/publication/276069972_Cultural_
  significance_of_wild_mammals_in_mayan_and_mestizo_
  communities_of_the_Lacandon_Rainforest_Chiapas_Mexico

• GÖTZ, Christopher
• 2014
• La alimentación de los mayas prehispánicos vista desde la zooarqueología. Anales de Antropología. Vol. 48, No. 1. Pages 167-199.
  
  Available Online:
  www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/antropologia/article/view/44198/pdf

• HELLMUTH, Nicholas
• 1970
• Preliminary bibliography of the Chol, Lacandon, Yucatec Lacandon, Chol Itza, Mopan, and Quejache of the southern maya lowlands 1524-1969. Museum of Anthropology, University of Northern Colorado. Katunob – Occasional publications in Mesoamerican anthropology. No. 4. 134 pages.
  
  Available Online:
  www.maya-archaeology.org/FLAAR_Reports_on_Mayan_archaeology_Iconography_publications_books_articles/82_Bibliography-Chol-Cholti-Lacandon-Itza-Mopan-Quejache-Maya-Nicholas-Hellmuth-Katunob-April-1970.pdf

• HELLMUTH, Nicholas
• 1977
• Cholti-Lacandon (Chiapas) and Petén-Ytzá Agriculture, Settlement Pattern and Population. Chapter 20 in Social Process in Maya Prehistory Studies in honour of Sir Eric Thompson edited by Normal Hammond. Academic Press.
  
  Available Online:
  https://maya-archaeology.org/FLAAR_Reports_on_Mayan_
  archaeology_Iconography_publications_books_articles/84_
  Cholti-Lacandon_Maya_and_Peten-Ytza_Maya_Agricultrure_
  Settlement_Pattern_Population_Nicholas_Hellmuth_FLAAR_1977.pdf

• HITCHNER, Ruth
• 1947
• Notas sobre la alimentación e indumentaria de los indios chol de Chiapas, México. Boletín Indigenista.

• KASHANIPOUR, Ryan and Jon MCGEE
• 2004
• Northern Lacandon maya medicinal plant use in the communities of Lacanja Chan Sayab and Naha’, Chiapas, México. Journal of Ecological Anthropology. Vol. 8. Pages 47-66.
  
  Available Online:
  http://web.mnstate.edu/robertsb/307/anth%20307/Articles/kashanipour.pdf

• LEVY-Tacher, Samuel Israel and J. R. AGUIRRE R.
• 1999
• Conceptuación etnobotánica (experiencia de un estudio en la Lacandona). Revista de Geografía Agrícola 29: 83-114.
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/publication/284355154_Conceptuacion_
  etnobotanica_experiencia_de_un_estudio_en_la_Lacandona

• LEVY-Tacher, S. I.
• 1999
• Contribución al conocimiento de la flora útil de la selva Lacandona. Conservation International México A.C. Informe final SNIB-CONABIO. Proyecto No. M002. México, D.F.
  
  Available Online:
  www.conabio.gob.mx/institucion/proyectos/resultados/InfM002.pdf

• LEVY Tacher, S. I.
• 2000
• Sucesión causada por roza-tumba-quema en las selvas de Lacanhá, Chiapas. Tesis de Doctorado en Ciencias, Colegio de Posgraduados, Montecillo, Texcoco, Estado de México, México. 165 pages.

• LEVY Tacher, S. I., AGUIRRE R., J. R., ROMERO M., M. M. and A. DURAN F.
• 2002
• Caracterización del uso tradicional de la flora espontánea en la comunidad lacandona de Lacanhá Chansayab, Chiapas, México. Interciencia 27 (10): 512-520.
  
  Available Online:
  www.redalyc.org/pdf/339/33907302.pdf

• LEVY Tacher, S. I. and John Duncan GOLICHER
• 2004
• How predictive is traditional ecological knowledge? The case of the Lacandon Maya fallow enrichment system. Interciencia. September 29(9): 496-503

• LEVY Tacher, Samuel Israel and J. R. AGUIRRE R.
• 2005
• Successional pathways derived from different vegetation use patterns by Lacandon Mayan Indians. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 26: 49-82.
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/publication/232982264_Successional_Pathwa
  ys_Derived_from_Different_Vegetation_Use_Patterns_by_Lacando
  n_Mayan_Indians

• LEVY-Tacher, Samuel I., AGUIRRE-Rivera, Rogelio J. GARCÍA-Pérez, José D. and Magdalena MARTÍNEZ-Romero
• 2006
• Aspectos florísticos de Lacanhá Chansayab, Selva Lacandona, Chiapas. Acta Botánica Mexicana 77: 69-98.
  
  Available Online:
  www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/abm/n77/n77a5.pdf

• LEÓN-Cortés, J. L., MARCIAL-Ramírez, N., RANGEL-Salazar, J. L., NARANJO-Piñera, E. C. and Lorenzo MONTERRUBIO
• 2005
• Patrones de diversidad florística y faunística del área focal Ixcan, selva Lacandona, Chiapas. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. Unidad San Cristóbal de las Casas. Informe final SNIB-CONABIO. Proyecto No. Y036. México, D.F.
  
  Available Online:
  https://datos.gob.mx/busca/dataset/patrones-de-diversidad-floristica-
  y-faunistica-del-area-focal-ixcan-selva-lacandona-chiapas1

• NARANJO, Eduardo, GUERRA, Michelle, BODMER, Richard and Jorge BOLAÑOS
• 2004
• Subsistence hunting by three ethnic groups of the Lacandon forest, Mexico. Journal of Ethnobiology. Vol. 24, No. 2. Pages 233-253.
  
  Available Online:
  https://ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/JoE/24-2/Naranjo2004.pdf

• NARANJO-Piñera, Eduardo Jorge
• 2002
• Ecología poblacional y conservación del tapir en la Selva Lacandona, Chiapas. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. División de Conservación de la Biodiversidad. Informe final SNIB-CONABIO proyecto No. R080. México D. F.
  
  Available Online:
  www.conabio.gob.mx/institucion/proyectos/resultados/InfR080.pdf

• NATIONS, James and Ronald NIGH
• 1980
• The evolutionary potential of Lacandon Maya sustained-yield tropical forest agriculture. Journal of Anthropological Research. Vol. 36, No. 1. Pages 1-30.
  
  Sold Online:
  www.jstor.org/stable/3629550?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

• NATIONS, James
• 1979
• Population Ecology of The Lacandon Maya. Dallas: South Methodist University, Thesis. Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology 375 pages.
  
  Available Online:
  www.researchgate.net/publication/33912098_Population_ecology_of_the_Lacandon_Maya_microform

• NATIONS, James
• 1980
• The Evolutionary potential of Lacandon Maya Sustained-Yield Tropical Forest Agriculture. Journal of Anthropological Research, Spring 1980 Vol. 36 No.1
  
  Available Online:
  www.jstor.org/stable/3629550?seq=1

• RAMOS-Elorduy, Julieta and José Manuel PINO-Moreno
• 2001
• El consumo de insectos entre los Lacandones de la comunidad Bethel y su valor nutritivo. Etnobiología 1:24-43
  
  Available Online:
  https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5294492

• ROBLERO, Marin
• 2008
• La relación hombre-naturaleza entre los lacandones de Nahá, Ocosingo, Chiapas. Revista Liminar. Vol. 6, No. 1. Pages 125-140.
  
  Available Online:
  www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/liminar/v6n1/v6n1a10.pdf

• ROMAN D. F., LEVY Samuel, RIVERA R., DOUTERLUNGE, D. and A. G. SANCHEZ
• 2008
• Árboles de la Selva Lacandona útiles para la restauración ecológica. CONAFOR, SEMARNAT, Mexico. 91 pages.
  
  Available Online:
  www.conafor.gob.mx:8080/biblioteca/ver.aspx?articulo=413

• SCHERRER, Varela, MIGUEL, Carlos and Felipe TRABANINO
• 2016
• La cacería tradicional chol y tzeltal en los acahuales de Palenque: implicaciones para la zooarqueología maya. Revista Pueblos y Fronteras Digital. Vol. 11, No. 22. Pages 165-191.
  
  Available Online:
  www.redalyc.org/pdf/906/90648638008.pdf

• TAJEDA-Cruz, Carlos, NARANJO, Eduardo J., CUARÓN, Alfredo D. PERALES, Hugo and Jorge L. CRUZ-Burguete
• 2009
• Habitat use of wild ungulates in fragmentes landscapes of the Lacandon Forest, Southern Mexico. Mammalia 73, 211-219

• TEJEDA-Cruz, Carlos, NARANJO-Piñera, Eduardo J., MEDINA-Sanson, Leopoldo M. and Francisco GUEVARA-Hernández
• 2013
• Cacería de subsistencia en comunidades rurales de la selva Lacandona, Chiapas, México. Quehacer Científico en Chiapas 9 (1)
  
  Available Online:
  www.academia.edu/5720183/Habitat_use_of_wild_ungulates_in_fragme
  nted_landscapes_of_the_Lacandon_Forest_Southern_Mexico

• TOLEDO, V. M., BARRERA, E., GARCÍA, R and C. ALARCÓN
• 2007
• Manejo y uso de la biodiversidad entre los mayas yucatecos. CONABIO. Biodiversitas. Vol. 70, No. 3. Pages 10-15.
  
  Available Online:
  www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/Biodiversitas/Articulos/biodiv70art3.pdf

• VARELA, Carlos and Felipe TRABANINO
• 2017
• La cacería tradicional chol y tzeltal en los acahuales de Palenque: implicaciones para la zooarqueología maya. Pueblos y fronteras. Vol. 11, No. 22. Pages 165-191.
  
  Available Online:
  www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rpfd/v11n22/1870-4115-rpfd-11-22-00165.pdf

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/jungle-trek-tour-lacandon/
Photos and information about the Cholti-Lancando’s ecosystem.

http://www.bigorrin.org/archmn-lacandon.htm
Information

http://campus.albion.edu/library/archives-and-special-collections/exhibits/marvin-j-vann-exhibit/lacandon-indians/
Information

First posted April, 2021.
Bibliography prepared 2017-2018 by Marcella Sarti.
Updated by Vivian Hurtado, FLAAR Mesoamerica