08/150-plantas-medicinales-uxmal

a story that leaves open thousands of possibilities. In Uxmal, Yucatán, found hundreds of species of plants with medicinal properties that could benefit millions of Mexicans and people around the world.

The traditional Mayan medicine could be revived thanks to these discoveries, even ancient medicine with the modern could merge to bring cure to diseases that previously did not have hopes.

agencies. Oaxaca, Mexico.-on the sides of a white trail of sascab (limestone powder) lowering by the platform of the Governor’s Palace, Uxmal, Yucatan, medium forest hides more than one hundred healing using plants, recorded recently by experts in traditional medicine eyes. According to specialists, this is an area reserved by the ancient Maya to the practice of this type of crop.

So was announced by archaeologist José Huchim Herrera, director of the archaeological site of Uxmal, who explained that the high concentration of healing herbs, with around 150 identified species, found to the East side, in the lower part of the platform on which was built the Palace of the Governor.

Based on ethnographic research, the healing properties of the plants concerned are used in treatments against bites of snake, intestinal infections, sores, fires in the mouth, gastritis, ulcers in the stomach and fever.

While there is flora with these properties in different parts of the archaeological site, the platform of the Governor’s Palace is the only place where there has been a high concentration; therefore it is inferred that they did not grow there naturally, but that they were cultivated by the Maya for human consumption, he stressed Huchim Herrera.

The Governor’s Palace, one of the emblematic buildings in Uxmal, is located in a residential area of elite, where surely that culture was not only of cultivation of medicinal plants, but milpas and beans and squash vegetable gardens, because it is known that they developed their planting in cities areas, he explained.

In Uxmal detected 321 species, of which more than 200 have at least one local application, and that the ancient Maya were great observers of heaven and Earth, allowing them to develop agriculture and herbal knowledge. The use of plants is due to its medicinal, artisanal, food, decorative, sacred and symbolic properties, and stays alive in many communities of Yucatan.

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to safeguard this heritage not only – linked to the traditional knowledge-, but intangible, the archaeological site of Uxmal undertook a project for the identification and registration of the flora of the site, which had been joined Sebastiana Zi Cauich (Mayan woman recognized for its know-how and traditional practice in herbology he inherited from his grandparents) and Juan Ancona Aragón, biologist specializing in Botany.

All started in 2010, when the Dr. Nina Méndez Domínguez visited Uxmal and detected some medicinal plants among the heap of herbs that withdrawing from the areas of buildings, as part of the everyday tasks of cleaning and desherbada.

, Nina M̩ndez proposed Jos̩ Huchim to take advantage of the escardada to choose the curative plants. Thus invited Sebastiana Zi Cauich Рoriginating in the town next to San Simon, municipality of Santa Elena Рto participate in a tour of surface within the polygonal that delimits the pre-Hispanic City, in order to detect this cultural tradition herbs.

Doña Sebastiana Zi Cauich and Dr. Nina Medina, with the help of other residents who know herbs, identified 150 species concentrated in the East side of the Palace of the Governor, some of them scattered in other parts of the archaeological zone, said Jose Huchim.

Are the Bauhinia divaricata, “pata de vaca” or sak ts’orontok, Maya; Echinodorus andrieuxii, referred to as wakok; Helicteres baruensis, called sutub or suput – used it as mythological plant therefore think allowing rotating its fruit nine times in the opposite direction to its threading, on the language of stammering children, speak well, and the Malvaviscus arboreus, “manzanilla de monte”, or tamanche, used to treat various diseases.

Faced with this rich panorama, from 2010 in Uxmal is a dual task: preserving cultural heritage and natural landscape where he developed the prehispánico settlement, explained José Huchim.

Of why in the cleaning process, the herbs are identified with a cultural tradition and medicinal species are selected; these are marked with an orange Ribbon and placed them a card with their scientific name and in Mayan, for information from visitors, as in the botanical gardens. Also works in the plantation of a cornfield that along with medicinal shrubs will give idea of how it worked the city.

The forest of Uxmal protects a high diversity of species, so recently the cataloging spread to wildlife. That civilization had a great respect for the land. In their worldview, there were four cardinal and points, to the Center, the forest that communicated to the underworld with the Earth, explains José Huchim; the bats was related to them night, darkness, death, sacrifice and sexuality, while certain birds represented abundance, wealth, power and their feathers were much prized.