Importance of Jute among the Ancient Maya
Pachychilus is a freshwater gastropod which flourishes in Central American
streams and rivers, the modern Maya refer to it as Jute. While it is known that the ancient
Maya relied heavily upon their agriculture of squash, beans, and most famously maize,
for food to fuel their civilization, it is equally well known that the ancient Maya could not
and did not solely rely upon those crops as their only source of food. The ancient Maya
also relied on hunting and gathering for subsistence, making use of any plants or animals
they could. Not surprisingly, the ancient Maya made good use of freshwater streams and
rivers not only for drinking water but as a source of food, the rich biodiversity of the land
can also be found in its waters. There are many different species living in the freshwater
streams and rivers of Central America and among them is Pachychilus, jute. The remains
of jute shells have been found in numerous caves around Mesoamerica and also in and
around Maya population centers. Jute have been found at ballcourts and several buildings
in densely settled Maya areas, Many jute have also been found in what seem to be refuse
pits around homes. Jute remains have also been found among burials which contain
human remains. Further, in one instance a seeming road or pathway of jute shells was
found near one cave site. With all of these different locations and different contexts many
speculations have been made as to the meaning, use, ceremonial importance, dietary
importance, and even cultural importance of the jute among the ancient Maya. This paper
will look the importance of jutes in the ancient Mayan subsistence activities, role of jute
within the culture, and ceremonial significance to the ancient Maya.
Two different species of Jute snail
Before we can move further into significance of jutes among the ancient Maya, it
is important to know the different forms of jute which have been found and how each
form is believed to have been used in terms of sustenance. First there are whole jute
shells, these whole shells have been interpreted with two meanings, in has been asserted
by (Halperin et al. 2003:208) that because the shells were found whole they were
offerings used for ceremonial purposes and had not been used for sustenance. However,
through an interview with a Maya man which will be discussed later, it has been found
that among the Maya, jutes are often cooked whole in water and the water is then drank
like a tea. From the incites gained through the interviewed Mayan, it is now believed that
the whole jute shells found were not offerings with both shell and meat, but instead used
for sustenance. Afterwards the shells may have been either discarded, put up as an
offering for some ritual purpose, or possibly used as body adornment.
The other form of jute remains found at numerous locations are broken at the tip
in order to gain access to the meat; this technique is called spire-lopping. Spire-lopped
jute shell remains are “important
archeologically as a marker of
human agency” (Halperin et al.
2003:208). Interviews with modern
Maya such as the Maya in Belize
have revealed that spire-lopped
whole snails can be cooked in a stew
with various spices and then sucked
from the shell and eaten (Healy et al.
1990:179). Spire-lopped jute shells
are the most commonly found form of jute shell because eating the meat yielded more
nutrients than drinking jute tea.
A recent experiment was conducted around the ancient Maya site of Pacbitun
aimed at finding whether jutes, because of there small size, would be plentiful enough to
fill a substantial part of the ancient Maya hunting gathering lifestyle, the research was
done on a area of roughly 4 to 5 square kilometers. Emery found that in the 4 to 5 square
kilometer region, upwards of three million jutes lived in the local water systems during
the dry season and that during the rainy season upwards of fourteen million (Healy et al.
1990:174). Being found in these vast numbers, jute could undoubtedly represent a good
portion of subsistence activities among any local civilizations.
In addition to these findings, in order to further solidify the claim that jute was a
significant part of the ancient Maya diet Healy et al. had a nutritional analysis performed
on jute which were acquired near the Pacbitun site. Healy et al. (1990:177) found that the
nutritional values of jute were comparable to that of raw oyster and clam and that the
caloric yield of jute was analogous to that found in rabbit or turtle. “When contrasted
with other mollusks, Pachychilus tends to have somewhat less protein, but more calories,
fat and carbohydrates” (Healy et al. 1990:177). The incite gained from interviews with
the modern Maya and studies conducted on population size and nutritional value of jute
have shed significant light into the use of jutes as a major player in Maya diet.
The most important and revealing quantity of information relating to the
importance of the jute snail to the Maya peoples is found in the statements of an unnamed
Maya villager. While conducting archeological fieldwork near Petén, anthropologist
Sergio Garza asked an older villager about significance of the jute after discovering a
cache of jute shells at Balam Na. “He was a well-respected member of his community,
having served as auxiliary and alcalde of his village” (Halperin et al. 2003:214). When
asked about the meaning and importance of the jute snail to Maya people he replied:
Jute live in water, and in springs there are always jute. This water comes out of
the caves, and it is Mother Earth’s sacred water. Therefore, jute live in sacred
water, water that will never go dry. Mother Earth gives us waters for our rivers,
and all of the jute that live there are given to us by Mother Earth.
Our ancestors used to eat them and, as jute live in sacred water, our ancestors ate
sacred food. When our ancestors ate jute, they would save the shells, and later
they would take all of those shells to the caves to give them back to Mother Earth
and to thank her for the sacred food. Jute are sacred food given by Mother Earth,
and both men and women can eat them and still eat them. But only men can take
shells to the caves.
Nowadays, when people eat jute, they cut off a little bit of the jute’s shell, the tail,
to get the meat out and then they cook it in water. At times, people do not cut off
the jute shells, and they just cook them whole in the water. People then drink the
water, which is now sacred water. Our ancestors sometimes buried their dead
with jute because they were sacred food that they could take with them on their
journey. (Halperin et al. 2003:214-215)
It is evident from this interview that the jute snail was and is a very important and
sacred resource to the ancient and modern Mayan peoples. This interview helps to
explain why so many jute shells have been found at numerous surface sites and in many
caves across Mesoamerica, particularly in the Maya lowlands. It also explains why jute
shells have been discovered in connection with various burials at several sites and
provides valuable incite into the correlation between ballcourts and jute shells which will
be discussed later. Every sentence of the interview has helped shed a tremendous amount
of light on a subject which is of great importance to anyone who studies either the ancient
or contemporary Mayan peoples. Theories about the importance of the jute snail to the
ancient Maya have been comprised largely of a patchwork of opinions and well educated
guesses, but no matter how well educated, a guess is still a guess. However, with this
interview which comes from a reliable source, many of the opinions and theories can be
laid to rest and new truths about importance of the jute snail to the Mayan peoples can be
made known.
As was mentioned previously, jute remains have also be found accompanying
burials, from information gathered through the interview with the Mayan villager we can
now assert that as they are considered to be sacred food that can transcend with the
deceased into the afterlife. One instance of jute remains being accompanied with a burial
was found at the Maya site of Cahal Pech, the find was dated to the Late Classic period.
The find, discovered by Ferguson, was again affiliated with a ballcourt, located on the
eastern ballcourt’s alley the cache contained deposits of marine shell artifacts, obsidian
eccentrics, chert flakes, and jute; all of this was accompanied by the disarticulated
remains of a young child and an infant (Halperin et al 2003:213).
Eastern Ball Court at Cahal Pech
In another instance, at the ancient Maya site Xunantunich, Jamison and Wolff uncovered
jute shells located in the center of the site’s ballcourt, it was later reported to have been
directly associated with a burial (Halperin et al. 2003:213). Some of the most astonishing
and imperative finds so far come from rockshelters located in the Maya mountains.
Mayahak Cab Pek, Mohibal Kanchi, and Saki Tzul are located in southern Belize near the
central portion of the Maya mountains, these rock shelters all contain burials associated
jute shells. “The quantity of shells was so great that in some areas, jute comprised as
mush as 50 percent of the matrix” (Halperin et al. 2003:211). The vast amount of jute
shells found clearly points to some significance; the fact that they were found
accompanying burials leaves little doubt of their ceremonial and cultural importance.
Last, we take a look into the findings of jute shell in and around caves. As was
discussed earlier, caves are highly venerated and endowed with the utmost significance
among the Mayan peoples. So it comes as little surprise that jute shells, the remnants of a
sacred food, would be found in deposits throughout numerous caves, which represent
such a staple in the Maya culture. One extraordinary discovery, which so far is
incomparable to any others findings of jute shells in relation to a cave can be found at the
Petroglyph Cave, located in central Belize. In Petroglyph Cave, a pathway of spire
lopped jute shells leads from the mouth of the cave down to an underground river, the
number of jute shells at the site has been estimated to be in the millions. Macleod and
Puleston have asserted that this very site physically represents a pathway to the
underworld described in Maya texts (Halperin et al. 2003:209). This jute pathway is a
primary example of just how symbolic the jute snail was to the ancient Mayan peoples,
jute were so important that they literally paved the road to the underworld with their
shells.
Through all of the studies and conclusions reached throughout this paper it is clearly
evident that the jute snail was a highly significant staple in the ancient Maya subsistence
activities. Studies around surface sites show evidence of ritual feasting which included
jute snails; on top of this, evidence from the nutritional analysis of jute snails collected
from rivers and streams in the Mesoamerican area confirmed that they do contain enough
calories, fat, and carbohydrates to make them a worth while subsistence activity. Jute
undoubtedly played an important role in terms of sustenance to the ancient Maya.
It can also be concluded that the jute snail played an equally important role in ceremonial
and religious aspects of ancient Mayan life. The interview with the Mayan villager
pointed out that Mayans would occasionally bury their dead with jute shells as a form of
sacred food for them to take along in their journey into the afterlife. Jute shells are also
found at numerous ballcourts, which represent to the Mayans a sort of boundary between
earth and the underworld. Additionally, a pathway which was believed to have led into
the underworld discovered in Belize was made almost entirely of millions of jute shells.
In the past little was known about the importance of jute to the ancient Maya and jute
were all too often overlooked and often deemed inconsequential to conclusions made
about other aspects concerning Maya society. It has only been in the last couple of
decades that the importance of the jute to the ancient Mayans has begun to become a
more respected and serious issue, and with the evidence compiled, the vast importance of
jute in subsistence and ceremonial activities to the ancient Mayans is becoming
increasingly irrefutable.
Having knowledge of the incredible importance of the jute snail to Mayan society
is priceless in the field of archeology, offering a new lens which can be used to go back
and reexamine previous notions and reassess prior explanations. For example, by
conducting a study aimed to determine the availability of jute a different times through
history a researcher may be able better understand the timeline of agricultural methods
and technologies that develop, possibly due to drought or other poor conditions. On the
other hand, a researcher may be able look at the availability of jute as a resource and find
that during times when jute have been plentiful that maybe their may have been a wealth
of trade of the shells for their previously express value or period of economic prosperity
because people were well fed and more productive. Studies such as these could also
reveal reasons for conquest or abandonment of territories, it is possible that in a year with
reduced or insufficient jute military conquests may have been used for attaining new land
to use for hunting, or to steal resources for neighboring societies. Similarly, the
knowledge of the importance of Jute to the Ancient Mayans would have been valuable
knowledge if your society occupied a region nearby. That knowledge could have aided in
befriending the Mayans with gifts of Jute shells or it may have given nearby societies a
valuable resource for trade with the Mayans. Further, a society with this knowledge who
found themselves in trouble with the Mayans could plot a conquest of regions with many
rivers and tributaries in hope of restricting or cutting off a major resource of their enemy.
Works Cited
Healy, Paul F., Kitty Emery, Lori Wright E.
1990 Ancient and Modern Maya Exploitation of the Jute Snail. Latin American Antiquity
1:170-183.
Halperin, Christina T., Sergio Garza, Keith Prufer M., James Brady E.
2003 Caves and ancient Maya Ritual Use of Jute. Latin American Antiquity 14: 207-219.