ArcheoGastronomy Seminar 'INGUAT - June 2025

Seminar given by Architect Regina Moraga

The main objective of Archaeogastronomy is to reconstruct and rewrite the history of Guatemalan cuisine through the interpretation provided by archaeological evidence.

Archaeology is one of the main foundations for studying the gastronomy of cultures. Because ceramics are a key element in the study of civilizations (Cotzumalguapa and Tiquisate are two examples of the differences, primarily due to the materials used to produce them—lithic and ceramic).

You get to know:

• Identity

• Culture and Folklore

• Worldview and Syncretism

• Ancestrality vs. Creoles

High cultures that were established in America are the cultures

* Mesoamerican

* Andean

Terminology and aspects to recognize within Guatemalan gastronomy are:

• Pinol, seed, peanuts, and dough

• Roasted fruit

• Bowls

• Chemical reaction

• Macronutrients

• Micronutrients

Wars were and are driven by and to obtain new food sources.

• Columbus and Marco Polo

There were two critical moments in which the economic and socio-cultural base were affected in Guatemala

1. The Conquest: ancestral before 1524 / Traditional after 1524

2. The armed conflict (brothers against brothers, guerrillas and the military)

   
   

   Ancestral herbs with significance (they mark time in a culture)

   • Ramon (crop) food factor

   • Apazote

   
   

Heritage dishes registered as Intangible Gastronomic Cultural Heritage (Jocon, Pepian, Kak Ik, and Plátanos en Mole are recados and moles (thick sauces))

• Kaq ik | CulturaGuate http://culturaguate.com/kaq-ik/

Note: The Chapin terms are chirmoles; broths; and recados.