Feeding oneself and one's community is a fundamental activity encompassing various stages, including the acquisition, transformation, and eventual consumption of plants and animals. These steps carry social implications that incorporate identity, gender roles, labor division, worldview, and status differentiation, among other facets of cultural practices. In the Northern Maya Lowlands, paleoethnobotanical research has shed light on past plant consumption, expanding our understanding of ancient Maya dietary habits. Nonetheless, our knowledge of the dishes and plants consumed by non-elites remains limited, as the epigraphic and iconographic records primarily document the preferences of elites. This study focuses on identifying the plants exploited by residents of two lower social status domestic groups at the archaeological site of Siho, Yucatan, Mexico during the Late-Terminal Classic period. By analyzing starch grains extracted from soil samples, we were able to identify staple crops like maize (Zea mays) and beans (Phaseolus spp.). Additionally, we identified the presence of plants less commonly represented in the archaeological record, including arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) and tentatively Mexican yam ( Pachirhyzus spp.). This research contributes to the study and identification of starch grains and provides valuable insights into agricultural and food-related practices within non-elite Maya households.
