Before Guanacaste

The Journal

Maize and Manioc Flatbreads, Absent from Greater Nicoya

By Frederick W. Lange*

Most of my articles for The Guanacaste Journal have been headed “…in Greater Nicoya” (Pacific Costa Rica and Pacific Nicaragua) but this one deals with an element that was absent from, rather than present in, Greater Nicoya in prehistoric times, that being the absence of both tortillas and manioc griddle “cakes”.

What got my motivated to write this overview was a recent article by Lise W. Gray, in RISEUP July 11-17, 2008) entitled “The World is Flatbreads”. In this brief account of the historical importance of flatbreads, she stated “Nearly every culture in the world has a version of flatbread, which likely entered the human diet around 6000 B.C. The Babylonians baked flatbread beginning around 4000 B.C.” Interestingly, the prehistoric peoples of Greater Nicoya were among those who were exceptions to the rule, those who did not make flatbreads, either Mesoamerican influenced tortillas or South American/Caribbean influenced manioc griddle cakes.

For many years it was assumed that the prehistoric peoples of Greater Nicoya were strongly related to the prehistoric peoples of central and southern Mexico. The prehistoric societies of the region consisted of small villages and subsistence activities would have been carried out at the household or family level rather than by centralized production.

Many early publications had illustrated and described grinding stones, or “metates”, borrowing the word from corn grinding societies and assuming they were used for the same purpose in prehistoric Greater Nicoya. When I began my research in 1969 in northwestern Guanacaste, I was searching for evidence linking that area with Mesoamerican cultures, including evidence of the use of maize. Given the closeness of Guanacaste to the Caribbean I also recognized the possibility of evidence for the use of the root crop manioc. Having done archaeological fieldwork in the clearly maize-utilizing Southwestern U.S. prior to developing my interest in Central America I was familiar with the kinds of artifacts (manos and metates, and milling bins) that frequently indicate the use of maize (Jargon clarification: the mano is the smaller grinding stone you hold in your hand, while the metate is the larger surface on which the grains are placed and to which the hand-held grinding stone is applied. The use of manioc is indicated by small chips or “teeth” of sharp stone that were embedded in a board so that the manioc could be grated to remove potentially poisonous prussic acid before the manioc flour is converted to cakes and other foods. There also have been many opinions, but no real proof, that rectangular metates with rims were used to grind corn, while circular metates without rims were used for manioc. I found no metates of any shape, nor grater chips (although based on more recent investigations by other archaeologists I realize I may have missed them. and (no) manos, or hand stones.

For the past four years, Professor Geoff McCafferty, a Canadian archaeologist from the University of Calgary, has been conducting a multi-year project in southern Pacific Nicaragua, also seeking evidence of Mesoamerican contacts and/or influence. Paralleling my own experience, he found limited support for either contacts or influence, and little evidence for the use of maize. He did, however, find what his team thinks are grater “teeth” for the processing of manioc. Manioc has one distinct advantage over maize in that the roots do not need to be harvested immediately upon the maturity of the plant, but can be “stored” in the ground for up to three years before they are needed and utilized.

There are very few artistic representations of maize or manioc, the plants or the process, either in 2-dimensional painting on ceramic vessels, nor in the same 3-dimensional forms used to portray squashes and other vegetables have been identified in either Guanacaste or Nicaragua. Some archaeologists have suggested that maize may have been utilized as a fermented beverage long before tortillas were being made (probably after the arrival of the Spanish invaders and not before).

Also, what were originally thought to be ornate metates or grinding stone are now more frequently interpreted as being chieftains’ stools or ceremonial benches and are found almost exclusively in cemetery contexts and very few grinding stones have been found in domestic contexts. Finally, the ornate metates/stools/benches are seldom if ever accompanied by the manos, or hand stones, that are necessary to complete the grinding process. Manioc plants have recently been reported growing in Maya sites in El Salvador showing that they too appreciated the benefits of the more easily stored root crops.

But, why did Greater Nicoya adopt neither maize or manioc? Clearly, more research needs to be done.
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*Frederick W. Lange has a doctoral degree in anthropology, awarded by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971. He is the author of the recently published book Before Guanacaste, a popular account of the first 10,000 years of this wonderful place. BG is available at the Jaime Peligro Book Store in Tamarindo, the Café Britt Book Store at Peninsula de Papagayo, and in Libreria Internacional bookstores in San Jose and throughout Costa Rica. Fred’s e-mail is: hormiga_1999@yahoo.com.