.......................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xv List of Appendices ....................................................................................................................... xvi Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter Overviews ................................................................................................... 6 Descriptions of Study Sites ...................................................................................... 7 Summary .................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 2 Connecting Contemporary Ecology and Ethnobotany to Ancient Plant Use Practices of the Maya at Tikal. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 11 Methods ............................................................................................................................. 14 Paleoethnobotanical Samples ............................................................................... 14 Species Identification of Paleoethnobotanical Remains ..................................... 15 Sampling of Modern Trees and Vines .................................................................. 16 Species Identification for Modern Forest Survey ................................................ 17 Socioeconomic Values ........................................................................................... 18 Analysis .................................................................................................................. 19 Results ............................................................................................................................... 21 Modern Forest ....................................................................................................... 21 Paleoethnobotanical Remains .............................................................................. 25 Correlations between Ancient Plant Remains and the Modern Forest ............... 26 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 26 The Importance of Paleoethnobotanical Remains ............................................... 28 Dynamics of the Modern Forest ........................................................................... 29 Socioeconomic Values of Trees at Tikal and Ancient Remains .......................... 30 Distinctions: Ancient Plant Remains and the Modern Forest at Tikal ............... 33 Dominant Woods from Modern and Ancient Settings ......................................... 35 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 37 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 46