After being closed to repair the roof for over a year, the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología (MUNAE) is now open to the public. The entire inside of the museum was redesigned by new museum Director/Administrator Christopher Martínez.
Machaquila stelae have large water lily flowers being nibbled on by fish. This is a very common headdress decoration and the Machaquila stelae are well-preserved so you can see the beauty of the Nymphaea ampla flower.
A stylized fish (with two long feathers extending past its tail) nibbles on the petals of the large water lily flower. Actually the fish wants the seeds inside the mature flower, but the artists and sculptors always show the flower in full bloom (no seed inside yet).
The stem of the water lily flower is wrapped around a rectangularized rendition of the water lily pad. There are so many of these headdresses that you can “read” what is intended if you have experience seeing all the “Lily Pad Headdress Monsters” and other stylized renditions.
Machaquila Stela 3, MUNAE, Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Zona 13, Guatemala City, near the airport.
Closer view of the details of the fish, water lily flower, and rectangularized (stylized) water lily pad on Machaquila Stela 3, MUNAE. More than a dozen Maya stone stelae are on exhibit in the new displays organized by new museum Director/Administrator Christopher Martínez.
Young God N is in front of his conch shell home; a giant profile cross-section of a water lily flower is above. This remarkable scene is one of the new exhibits in MUNAE, Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología. The new museum Director/Administrator is Christopher Martínez. He had available thousands of artifacts but he selected ones with dramatic images such as this God N-conch-water lily flower scene. It is perfectly preserved and the orange-yellow color contrasts with the black background. We are making a list of all flora and fauna that are presented in the new exhibits chosen by Director/Administrator Christopher Martínez. There are a dozen animals and for flowers mostly Nymphaea ampla, white water lily.
Posted April 1, 2024 Written by Nicholas Hellmuth.
World Traditional Medicine Day is commemorated on October 22, a day established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1991 through the Beijing Declaration, with the aim of rescuing, preserving, promoting, and widely disseminating the knowledge of medicine, treatments, and traditional practices. Through this agreement, Member States of the United Nations are asked to promote policies that guarantee the safe and effective use of traditional medicines.
Keep reading the note to find more information about traditional medicine in the World and in Mesoamerican countries.
Malvaviscus arboreus Cav. Sombrero Garde, Yaxhá, Petén. Erick Flores, 2018. Note: A decoction of the flowers is used in the treatment of bronchitis, fevers, inflammation of the digestive tract, as a gargle to treat sore throats, and in popular practice as an emmenagogue. A decoction of the leaves is used for the treatment of cystitis, diarrhea, gastritis, and sore throat
What is traditional medicine?
According to the definition of the United Nations, traditional medicine is the sum of total knowledge, skills, and practices based on theories, beliefs, and native experiences to different cultures, explainable or not, and used in the maintenance of health, as well as in the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of physical or mental illness. It comprises various health practices, approaches, knowledge, and beliefs from plants, animals, and mineral sources; spiritual therapies, techniques, manuals and exercises applied singly or in combination to maintain well-being, in addition to treating, diagnosing, and preventing diseases.
Traditional medicine encompasses a wide diversity of therapies and practices that vary between countries and regions. In some countries it is called “alternative” or “complementary” medicine. It has been used for thousands of years and its practitioners have contributed greatly to human health, particularly as primary health care providers at the community level. It is recognized as a fundamental source for the health of millions of human beings, an essential component of the tangible and intangible heritage of the world’s cultures, a wealth of information, resources, and practices for development and well-being, and a factor of identity of numerous peoples on the planet.
Aristolochia grandiflora Sw. Restaurante El Montañes, San Jerónimo, Baja Verapaz. Erick Flores, 2017. Note: The roots are abortifacient, sudorific and emmenagogue. They are used in the treatment of snake bites. The leaves are also sudorific and it is used in the treatment of cold and chills.
Traditional Medicine in the World
Traditional Medicine is a broad term used to refer to traditional Chinese, Hindu, Western Arabic, Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and/or various forms of indigenous medicine. This includes therapeutic practices, and experiences immersed in specific cultural contexts, which involve the use of herbal medicines, animal parts, mushrooms, and/or minerals. Likewise, they include non-medication therapies, such as acupuncture, manual practices, and spiritual therapies.
Traditional medicine has maintained its popularity throughout the world. Since the 1990s, there has been a resurgence of its use in many developed and developing countries. It is widely used and is a rapidly growing and economically important healthcare system. According to WHO estimates, 88% of all countries make therapeutic use of practices such as indigenous medicine, herbal medicine, acupuncture and others. In Africa, up to 80% of the population uses traditional medicine to help meet their health needs. In China, it accounts for around 40% of healthcare. In the Americas, 17 nations and territories have their own laws, policies and programs to recognize, protect, and include traditional and ancestry-based knowledge in their health system. Specifically, in Latin America, populations continue to use traditional medicine as a result of historical circumstances and cultural beliefs.
Cochlospermum vitifolium (Willd.) Spreng. Km. 25, CA9 Villa Nueva, Guatemala. 2014. Note: The roots and flowers are used to treat infections, headaches, stomachaches, and snake bites.
Traditional Medicine in Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican medicine had its own root and evolution, as it is based on specific concepts about the structure of the world and the origin of life. The ancient inhabitants of this territory imagined that the world was a huge cube. In the middle of that imaginary cube was a rectangular platform inhabited by man, where they located earth itself with its mountains, plants, animals, rivers and lagoons surrounded by the sea. That sea water arose on that distant horizon to form four immense blue was that reached the sky, conceived as the lid of the bucket. The sky roof was supported by 4 enormous trees, one in each corner. There was an underground world, the region below the habitable earth platform, which had nine cold levels where clouds formed, water was born, and aquatic beings lived. Above the platform they imagined thirteen celestial levels where light and heat were born and it was through this medium that the stars, the sun, and the moon and other beings of Mesoamerican mythology traveled.
In the pre-Hispanic world, the people conceived the disease as a product of action of beings that inhabit celestial floors and the underworld, and that through the elements of the platform: wind, water, sun, earth, animals, and others; they resulted in an imbalance in the human body. In this worldview, medicine was concerned with helping the patient regain balance. Medicinal plants were a resource with which the inhabitants of Mesoamerica helped themselves to seek a cure for their disease. These plants were used in different ways: ointments, to relieve disorder through the skin; potions, for external and internal use, vaporization, etc. The inhabitants maintained an almost perfect order and organization, with doctors specializing in different tasks. There were even schools to teach young people the art of healing and there were medicinal plant markets where the people could visit, buy and consult doctors.
Currently, many of these practices continue to be used within communities in Mesoamerican countries. The indigenous traditional medicine is practiced by therapists commonly known in Spanish as “curanderos” (traditional healers), “hierberos” (herbalists), and a considerable number of other specialists including “viboreros” or “culebreros” (snake healers), “rezanderos” (prayers), “sobadores” (massage therapist), “ensalmadores” (sorcerers), as well as “sabios” (wise ones) or shamans. These specialists offer different services aimed at preventing illness, restoring health, and maintaining individual collective and community health. They are often experts in health matters, but they are also religious or civil authorities, or individuals who are knowledgeable about the weather and give advice on planting practices. They base their practices and knowledge on the cosmovision of the traditional indigenous system and the population views them with profound respect and as intrinsically linked to the community.
Cestrum nocturnum L. Nicholas Hellmuth, 2018. Note: An extract of the plant is used as an antispasmodic and as a treatment for epilepsy. In recent studies the methanol extract of the plant has shown bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus and various other bacteria. In laboratory tests, the extracts of the plant are shown to inhibit tumor growth and prolong the lifetime in a dose-dependent manner.
Methods, Procedures and Material Therapeutic Resources used in Mesoamerica
There are different methods for diagnosing illness in traditional medicine. They can include one or several of the following procedures: close observation of the patients and their environment, dialogue, divination, dreams and dream interpretation, pulses, “limpias” (cleansings), ingestion of psychotropic plants, premonitions or warnings, inquiry into behaviors, and assessment of emotional, climatic, social, and interpersonal factors among others. Sometimes the same procedure is used for both diagnosis and healing.
The therapeutic resources vary depending on the diagnosis and the specialty of a given traditional healer. Some resources include the use of medicinal, psychotropic plants, and plants used in rituals, medicinal animals and amulets, minerals, hydrotherapy (“temazcal” a pre-hispanic sweat lodge or tub bath), sacred places, “mandas” (penance or sacrifice offered to alleviate the problem), “rezos” (prayers), promises, pilgrimages, offerings to holy or sacred entities, and power staffs.
Cordia dodecandra A. DC. Paso Caballos, Río San Pedro, Petén. Nicholas Hellmuth, 2016. Note: The bark, flowers and fruit are used to make cough syrup. The fruit is eaten raw with a sweet pulp and is considered a delicacy by local people. It is also highly esteemed for making preserves.
Traditional Medicine in a Modern World
In the seventies, an important change occurred in the use and study of herbalism in most of the world. Such a shift came from the World Health Organization, which recognized that medical plants used by indigenous cultures played an important role in the health of many countries. In the present year, a report by WHO showed that 40% of pharmaceutical products have a natural product basis encompassing traditional, complementary and integrative medicine. In a world where many people still associate traditional medicine and complementary spiritually with witchcraft, integrating indigenous forms of healing into mainstream healthcare may be challenging but necessary.
The truth is that modern medicine is in dire need of new drugs. Getting a new substance past the research and development stages and onto the market takes years and the investment is enormous. Additionally, growing drug resistance, partly caused by drug misuse, has rendered several antibiotics and other life-saving drugs ineffective. Both trends make scientists and pharmaceutical laboratories urgently search for new sources of drugs and pay more and more attention to traditional medicine. A few achievements have fueled interest in traditional medicine as a source of highly successful and profitable drugs. As revealed at the WHO summit, many landmark drugs like aspirin, artemisinin, and childhood cancer treatments also derive ingredients from traditional medicine.
Pithecellobium dulce Mart. Tamarindito, Petexbatún, Sayaxché, Petén. Nicholas Hellmuth, 2019. Note: The pulp has been used as astringent and haemostatic, to treat gum ailments, toothaches, and bleeding in any wound. The cortex is used to treat chronic diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, and tuberculosis. The extract of the leaves is used for indigestion, prevent miscarriage, and bladder pain. The ground seed is used to treat ulcers, diabetes mellitus, biliary disorders, fever, cold, sore throat, malaria, skin pigmentation, acne, dark spots, conjunctivitis, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema and leprosy.
Mesoamerica is one of the most diverse regions in the world both biologically and culturally. This region is occupied by the influence of the Aztec, Mayan, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Olmec cultures. Here we have more than 19,000 species of flora described, of which Guatemala has around 10,300 of those species. Many of them have significant use in the region, not only for ancient cultures but also for current populations. We have many species with edible, medicinal, commercial, ecological, and scientific importance. Our goal over the years has been to document this diversity and share it with the public so that they can better understand the beauties that this region has to offer.
Selenicereus testudo. Petexbatun, Sayaxché, Petén. Nicholas Hellmuth, 2019.
As a team, we are interested in flora, fauna, and educational research in the Mesoamerican region. We are dedicated to documenting and photographing the flora that has a significant impact and value on the region. Our efforts focused on researching plants that have medicinal, edible, and other significant uses. The current projects that we have been working on in recent years have the purpose of documenting through high-resolution photography the biodiversity of different areas of Guatemala. These have been used to generate photographic reports and educational material on our platforms.
Río Dulce, Livingston, Izabal. Haniel López, 2021.
Yaxhá-Nakúm-Naranjo National Park (PNYNN) is the largest protected area in Guatemala, inside the Mayan Biosphere Reserve located in the north of the country, in the department of Petén. This project started in 2018 and ended in 2019. We have documented and made photo essays with the aim of publicizing the natural resources found in the protected area. We documented a wide diversity of flora in the park, among the most interesting has been the flowering of the wild vanilla orchid (Vainilla insignis Ames) which is believed to have had a significant use for ancient cultures in food and continues to be used today and even synthesized to imitate its flavor. We also found other interesting plants such as a species of orchid with aquatic habits (Bletia purpurea (Lam.) DC.), flowering tree cacti (Selenicereus testudo (Karw. ex. Zucc.) Buxb.), and a species of yellow paintbrush flower (Combretum fruticosum (Loefl.) Stuntz).
Vainilla insignis. Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM), Petén. Edwin Solares, 2022.
We also have been working on the biodiversity documentation in the Main Protected Areas of the Mayan Biosphere Reserve (RBM) in Petén in collaboration with the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP by its acronym in Spanish). This project started in 2021 and will continue until 2025. We have also documented lots of native species such as a species of water flower (Nymphaea ampla (Salisb.) DC.), an edible species of cotton tree (Cochlospermum vitifolium (Willd.) Spreng.), and the differences between the Pseudobombax ellipticum (Kunth.) Dugand and the Pachira aquatica Aubl. flowers. An interesting one is the report of the bromeliad Aechmea bracteata (Sw.) Griseb which has great cultural value in indigenous communities such as its healing properties, it is part of religious ceremonies, and its fibers are used in the creation of tools. This species is also an important host of a wide variety of fauna and has an important function within the ecosystem of the treetops.
Nymphaea ampla. Laguna Petexbatun, Sayaxché, Petén. Nicholas Hellmuth, 2019.
In addition to the department of Peten, Izabal offers a range of recreational activities, is home to numerous nature parks and diverse natural landscapes. It has white sandy beaches, tall jungle-covered mountains, mangrove swamps, seagrass ecosystems, and the Mesoamerican Reef System of the Caribbean Sea. In addition, it has an incredible flora and fauna diversity and three different cultures coexisting (Mayan Q’eqchi, Garifuna, and Ladinos). This makes the department a great destination not only for tourists but also for our team to investigate. In cooperation with the municipal authorities, we have been producing educational material specifically for the Livingston municipality. We have registered species such as the water snowflake (Nymphoides indica (L.) Kuntze), an interesting species of waterlily (Nymphaea ampla (Salisb.) DC.), and multiple species of Heliconia genus. It is worth mentioning that this project has also focused on documenting edible plants of wetlands.
Crinum americanum. Lagunita El Salvador, Livingston, Izabal. Nicholas Helmuth, 2020.
Currently, we have a total of 148 photo essays of the flora, fauna, and ecosystems from these three projects in which we have worked. 41 of them are dedicated to plants with ethnobotanical importance. If you are interested in learning more about the diversity of plants that you can find in Guatemala and that we have recorded in our projects, we invite you to visit our websites to learn more about them through the following link: https://flaar-mesoamerica.org/shop/
Written by Flor Morales Arroyo.
Posted September 18, 2023
Written by Flor Morales Arroyo.
One of our long-range goals is to find all wetlands plants of the Maya world that are edible. Week after week our team hikes to remote areas or travels in boats far up rivers never traversed by any botanist or ecologist.
So far we have found three Hibiscus plants or which one is edible for sure and we estimate the other two are also.
Our first discussion was on Hibiscus furcellatus, a Hibiscus that is common in several seasonally inundated savannas of Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre (PNLT), Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM), Peten, Guatemala.
Cochlospermum wrightii in the Zacapa area of Guatemala, in the sun between Crescentia alata trees. Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth.
Cochlospermum wrightii (A.Gray) Byng & Christenh is the accepted name, achiote family. The Cochlospermum wrightii that we saw are ground herbs (not yet even a foot high) but their relative, Cochlospermum vitifolium can grow easily to 3 meters height as a shrub and often over a dozen meters as a tree.
We have seen and photographed Cochlospermum vitifolium in dry areas along highway CA9 from Guatemala City towards El Rancho but this was the first time we stopped to photograph Cochlospermum wrightii. When in flower Cochlospermum vitifolium is easy to notice and we have photographed this in several areas of Guatemala in the recent decade.
Plumeria rubra are listed by botanists often as “tree or shrub.” Half the wild Plumeria rubra that I see across biodiverse ecosystems in different parts of Guatemala are large shrubs or small trees. But on June 6th, 2023, I happened to see the largest flor de mayo tree that I have yet found outside of a cemetery (often in burial areas the trees are more protected so grow taller with thicker trunks).
Uphill from Ipala, Chiquimula department of Guatemala. Over 90% of the Plumeria rubra out in the wild across Guatemala grow on steep hills or even stone cliffs (because these areas are not chopped down for slash-and-burn milpa agriculture). When you Click to Enlarge you may notice lots of epiphytic cactus (arboreal cactus that grow up tree trunks and out on the tree limbs).
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, June 6, 2023, iPhone 14 Pro Max. FLAAR Photo Archive has over 30 TB (yes TERAbytes) of digital photos of flora and fauna of Guatemala, Central America.