The Mesoamerican Ethnobotanical database is a collaborative ethnobotanical and archaeobotanical project between The Searle Herbarium of The Field Museum (F)) and the Department of Anthropology at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). Archaeologists, botanists, ethnobotanists, and interested laypeople often recover parts of flowers, seeds, and fruits in their research. As Miller (2011:9-10) noted, the largest obstacle to advancing archaobotanical research in Central America is the lack of “resources aiding identification (on-line and published reference material and databases).” This website was created to address this situation.
