Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 119–124 Antiquity of medicinal plant usage in two Macro-Mayan ethnic groups (México) Marco Leonti a,b , Otto Sticher a , Michael Heinrich b,∗ a Department of Applied BioSciences, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland b Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29–39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, UK Received 11 October 2002; received in revised form 6 May 2003; accepted 7 May 2003 Abstract In the biological sciences the use of medicinal plants in indigenous cultures is commonly seen as being based on a long tradition (‘traditional medicine’). However, under normal circumstances, ethnobotanical studies cannot provide evidence on the antiquity of specific uses for medicinal plants since oral traditions have a limited historical depth and archaeological evidence does not provide evidence for the specific medicinal use of a certain plant. Here, we provide evidence for the antiquity of medicinal plant use in the Olmec region in Mexico by comparing the pharmacopoeias of the linguistically related Lowland Mixe and Zoque-Popoluca. These cultures, separated for about 2000 years, have cognates for vernacular medicinal plant names in common. For fifteen species such cognate names were detected. Also, a statistically significant segment of the medicinal flora is used for similar purposes. Overall, 123 species are shared between the two groups and of these 62 have a similar usage. In nine cases they also have a similar name. These findings make a transmission of such knowledge since the time of the Olmecs highly likely. © 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Medicinal plants; Ethnobotany; History of plant use; Traditional medicine; Mixe/Zoque-Popoluca (México); Macro-Maya 1. Introduction It is generally assumed that the use of medicinal plants in indigenous cultures is based on a long tradition (‘traditional medicine’). However, for cultures with no written records there is practically no evidence available to establish the his- torical depth of traditional medicinal plant use (Cox, 2000, cf. Pieroni et al., 2002). While archaeobotanical research may provide evidence for the use of food plants widely used in a society and stored so that remains may be detected (e.g. cacao; Hurst et al., 2002), it cannot answer the question of the historical depths of medicinal plant use since archaeob- otany does not provide evidence for a species’ medicinal use (Leroi-Gourhan, 1975) and it is in fact difficult to establish the exact use context of such findings (Sommer, 1999). Ar- chaeological relicts, comprising dried plant material together with human art in form of paintings, rock carvings, amulets, ceramic artefacts, stone figurines and monuments exist from ∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +44-20-7753-5909. E-mail address: phyto@ulsop.ac.uk (M. Heinrich). which the use of plants for magico-religious ceremonies can be derived unambiguously (Schultes, 1998). Overall, proof exists only for some isolated and important species used as stimulants and hallucinogens but not for medicinal plants in their narrower sense. Establishing the historical depth of medicinal plant use is relevant from a variety of perspectives. Not only would it show unambiguously that indigenous cultures have an in depth knowledge of certain botanical taxa, which has been transmitted over centuries prior to it becoming important in the context of developing novel pharmaceuticals or nu- traceuticals, but as importantly, such research would demon- strate the historical development of an intricate relationship between a culture and its environment (Posey, 2002a). Lo- cal knowledge of indigenous peoples includes information about the ecosystem in general, but also about specific plants used as medicine, food, building material and the like. In view of the rapid loss of such knowledge both the documen- tation of this knowledge as well as a better understanding of its botanico-historical roots has become an essential task of ethnobiology. 0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0378-8741(03)00188-0