The buried manioc field at Joya de Cerén
Campo de yuca sepultado de Joya de Cerén
- Date
- 2007-2012 · confidence medium
- Place
- Joya de Cerén, San Juan Opico, La Libertad, El Salvador
- Credited to
- Payson Sheets and team (University of Colorado)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A manioc field planted in ridges and buried by Loma Caldera ash around AD 630 preserved the cavities left by the plants. It is the clearest proof that manioc was a staple crop in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, where it had been thought to be barely used.
The field was identified in the 2007 campaigns and published around 2012; exact field and publication dates may vary between sources.
What it led to
- a reappraisal of the role of root crops compared with maize in the Maya diet
- techniques for analysing plant voids in volcanic ash
- better understanding of the agrarian resilience of Maya villages