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Welcome to the museum of Plants and Animals in the pre-Columbian Maya Culture. This museum aims to achieve a deeper understanding into Maya documentation of plants and their uses to treat discomfort or illness in the community, some of which are still practiced today. To begin our tour of the museum, we begin with a documentation that depicts tarantulas being used to treat symptoms that develop in the chest and lungs. If someone were to complain about any discomfort in the chest, a healer would prepare a beverage using the crushed body of the arachnid, mixed with liquids to create a drinkable medicinal remedy. While to some, the review of these documented treatments may be viewed as data that holds less as scientific evidence and more of a ritualist practice founded in symbolism, studies have found that the research of plants and animals conducted by the Maya over many years hold value in their claims of healing; our second exhibit examines one plant in particular and its ability to treat inflammation. The third exhibit also focuses on one of the plant species available to the Maya and how effective it has been in treating abdominal pain. Not only were the Maya able to find remedies or pain alleviation through natural resources, but there has also been documented evidence of neurological symptoms being taken seriously in Mesoamerica, using herbs to treat symptoms of anxiety. Those herbs used to treat anxiety also seem to be found in current medicine practices used to treat epilepsy, a huge breakthrough which allows for a more serious examination of the data the Maya have left us with, which is still practiced today in some areas. Lastly, our exhibit will touch lightly on a more light-hearted use of plants to alter a person's state of reality by using plants that are known to produce hallucinogenic responses from those that consume them.

Overall, this exhibit is meant to enrich the viewer with the research conducted by the ancient Maya, in hopes that we can move into the future with respect when analyzing the remnants of information left in the forms of pottery, architecture, or even simply information that has been passed down between generations such as some of the healing methods we’ve highlighted in this museum.

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The Maya people were no strangers to using plant and animal resources to study and experiment with medicinal healing. The article titled "A case of zootherapy with the tarantula Brachypelma vagans Ausserer, 1875 in traditional medicine of the Chol Mayan ethnic group in Mexico", describes a process of concocting a beverage that was said to treat an illness given the name "aire de tarantula"; this illness presented itself with symptoms including asthma, coughing, and chest pain. It is documented that a medicine man would prepare the tarantula-based beverage by crushing the body with a mixture of herbs and alcohol that is later filtered to remove any unwanted particles. Once the beverage has been consumed, it is followed with a ritual practice.

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In the Yucatan peninsula, Critonia aromatisans, a classification for a plant, is used as a remedy to treat inflammation, specifically Rheumatism; a term that details the inflammation near joints, tissues, and tendons. It is traditional for the Maya to apply these plants topically near any localized area suffering from inflammation. There are some reports that the process to turning Critonia aromatisans into an ointment begins with pulverizing the leaves into a powder that is then mixed with petrolatum that is brought to a boil, and once cooled is filtered into containers that will then be used topically. The Maya, up until this point, were the first to document the properties this plant held. The article titled "Anti-inflammatory activity of Critonia aromatisans and Montanoa grandiflora leaves extracts, plants used in Mayan Traditional Medicine to treat inflammation", dives into whether these claims can be put through their scientific approach with evidence of their own. By the end of the article, substantial evidence was found that validated the effects the Maya studied many years before.

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Abdominal-pain herbal healing from the highland Maya

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Abdominal-pain herbal healing from the highland Maya

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The Maya studied herbal remedies for pain and illness extensively. The article titled "Medical Ethnobiology of the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico: The Gastrointestinal Diseases" notes that the Maya had a way of understanding herbal healing that had a scientific approach. Using the help of Tzeltal and Tzotzil, the writers of the article learned about a study done by the Maya to treat abdominal pain involving the use of a plant named Nicotiana tabacum, commonly referred to as Tobacco. To consume, dried leaves are pounded into a powder that can then be mixed with the juice of a lime; this can then be chewed. Alternatively, the powder can be dissolved into cane based alcoholic liquids or simply mixed with water.
While the effects of tobacco inhalation has been studied for years, the use of its effects topically or orally, while although are new to the scientific community, the Maya has been experimenting with its abilities for years. The article studied the Maya claims that the tobacco treated abdominal pain such as bloating to be true.

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It is documented that the Maya participated in events that required an altered state of reality, this altered state was reached through a variety of methods. In the article, "Hallucinogenic drugs in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures", it states that the Maya would drink a mixture of Lonchocarpus extracts along with honey during healing rituals that would intoxicate those who consumed.
Ritual enemas were also documented in this article, these were used to administer substances to attain a trance-like behavior that perhaps let the individual feel closer to a divine power. There are ceramics that document this practice.
Toads classified as Bufo spp, are known to contain bufotoxins that are said to have been used to alter reality since the Olmec period.

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Neurological health approaches from the Maya

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Neurological health approaches from the Maya

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In the article, "Medicinal plants used in traditional Mayan medicine for the treatment of central nervous system disorders: An overview", it is documented that the Maya treated psychological or neurological conditions with the use of natural resources. There is an anxiety related state of being, given the name susto, in the Mesoamerica area, that is said to come from an event triggered by fear/anxiety that involves "loss or imprisonment of a part of the soul or spirit". Susto is said to induce periods of restlessness, loss of appetite, irritability, depression.. the list of neurological symptoms go on. The Maya treat this with a mixture of herbs which, coincide with 1/3 of the herbs used to treat epilepsy. The importance of this overlap stems from the knowledge that anxiety disorders and epilepsy do share Neurotransmitter symptoms.
Articles such as these further the advancement of these civilizations in a light that takes a step back from the practice of symbolism and ritual, and takes recorded data from the Maya and studies their findings through a scientific lens.

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-> Berlin, Elois Ann, and Brent Berlin. "Medical Ethnobiology of the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico: The Gastrointestinal Diseases", 2015, https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400872886-005.

-> Machkour-M'Rabet, Salima, et al. “A Case of Zootherapy with the Tarantula Brachypelma Vagans Ausserer, 1875 in Traditional Medicine of the Chol Mayan Ethnic Group in Mexico.” Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, vol. 7, no. 1, 2011, https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-7-12.

-> Carod-Artal, F.J. “Hallucinogenic Drugs in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Cultures.” Neurología (English Edition), vol. 30, no. 1, 2015, pp. 42–49., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nrleng.2011.07.010.

-> Villa-De la Torre, F., et al. “Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Critonia Aromatisans and Montanoa Grandiflora Leaves Extracts, Plants Used in Mayan Traditional Medicine to Treat Inflammation.” Polibotánica, no. 43, 2017, https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.43.13.

-> Castañeda, Rodrigo, et al. “Medicinal Plants Used in Traditional Mayan Medicine for the Treatment of Central Nervous System Disorders: An Overview.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 283, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2021.114746.

-> Sahir. “Maya Drug Enema Study Receives Ig Nobel History Prize.” Ancient Origins Reconstructing the Story of Humanity's Past, Ancient Origins, 19 Sept. 2022, https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/drug-enema-0017286.