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Paleoethnobotany,
Ethnomedical Botany; Central America
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Dr. Lentz at
Chicago Botanic Gardens
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Current Research - Selected Publications
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| Personal
Statement |
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My primary
research interests are in paleoethnobotany and ethnomedical botany. I
have conducted field research in many areas of Central America,
studying indigenous groups of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Mexico and
El Salvador, as well as in North America. To develop a greater
understanding of how early cultures manipulated their environment
through their agricultural and other land-use practices, I have
examined the way in which indigenous people, including the Jicaque,
Paya and the Kekchi-Maya, use plants. Much of my work has focused on
the archaeobotany of the ancient Maya, studying the differences in
dietary habits among groups of varying economic status.
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| Current Research |
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Currently, I am investigating the origins of domesticated sunflower and
current ethnographic uses of sunflower in Mexico. I welcome students
interested in pursuing compatible research projects. Support for this
purpose is available through the internship program at the Garden.
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| Selected
Publications |
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2005 (With Christopher
Morehart and Keith M. Prufer) Wood of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Pine (Pinus Spp.) by the
Ancient Lowland Maya. Latin American Antiquity 16(3): 255-274.
2002
(With L. Haddad, S. Cherpelis, H.J. Mary Joo, and M. Potter)
Long-term influences of ancient Maya agroforestry practices
on
tropical forest biodiversity in northwestern Belize. In Ethnobiology and
Biocultural Diversity, J. R. Stepp, F. S. Wyndham, R. Zarger, eds., pp.
431-442. University of Georgia Press, Athens.
2002 (With C.R. Ramírez-Sosa)
Cerén plant resources: Abundance and diversity. In Before the
Volcano Erupted: The Cerén Village in Central America,
Payson D. Sheets, ed., pp. 33-42. University of Texas Press,
Austin.
2001 (With M.E.D. Pohl, Kevin O. Pope, and Andrew R. Wyatt)
Prehistoric sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)
domestication in Mexico. Economic Botany 55(3): 370-377.
2001 (With Kevin O. Pope [Primary Author], M.E.D. Pohl, J.
Jones,
C. von Nagy, and I. Quitmyer) Early agriculture in the
lowlands
of Mesoamerica. Science 292: 1370-1373.
2000 Paleoethnobotanical remains from western Morelos. In: The
Xochicalco Mapping Project, Hirth, K.G., ed., pp. 193-196.
University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
2000 Lentz, D.L., ed. Imperfect Balance: Landscape
Transformations in the Precolumbian Americas. Columbia University
Press, New York.
2000 Symbolism and function at the Mehtab Bagh: The botanical
component. In
The Moonlight Garden, New Discoveries at the Taj Mahal, Moynihan, E.,
ed., pp. 42-57. Sackler Gallery Occasional Papers, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington D.C.
1999 Paleoethnobotany of the ancient Maya. In Reconstructing
Ancient Maya Diets, White, C.D., ed., pp. 3-18. University of Utah
Press, Salt Lake City.
1998 (With A.M. Clark, C.D. Hufford, B. Meurer-Grimes, C.L. Passreiter,
A.L. Okunade, J. Cordero, and O. Ibrahimi) Antimicrobial
properties of Honduran medicinal plants. Journal of
Ethnopharmacology 63 (3): 253-263.
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