Papers by Alondra Flores Silva
Ethnoscientia, 2020
Las prácticas zooterapéuticas son parte importante del cuidado de la salud en muchas zonas rurale... more Las prácticas zooterapéuticas son parte importante del cuidado de la salud en muchas zonas rurales y urbanas de Colombia, sin embargo, estos saberes y prácticas son difusamente contemplados dentro de las competencias y aprendizajes asociados al ambiente por parte del sistema educativo nacional. El objetivo de esta investigación fue documentar los conocimientos zooterapéuticos de los estudiantes y sus familias de dos escuelas urbanas de El Yopal, Colombia para poder generar una discusión dirigida a la pertinencia de una enseñanza intercultural para la enseñanza de ciencias. Encontramos que tanto los estudiantes como sus familias emplean 32 etnoespecies para tratar 43 enfermedades, lo que se traduce en la importancia de reconocer la posibilidad de llevar a cabo un diálogo intercultural dentro del salón de clases donde se parta del respeto a las otras formas de conocimiento diferentes al científico, donde el salón de clases constituya un espacio de intercambio de ideas cuyos conocimientos tradicionales puedan ser compartidos y no anulados o excluidos. La complementariedad de conocimientos tradicionales y científicos puede ayudar a los estudiantes a ampliar su universo de conocimientos y valorar los diferentes modos de solucionar padecimientos de salud con la posibilidad de aplicarlos en su contexto sociocultural. Palabras clave: Conocimiento zooterapéutico de los estudiantes, diálogo intercultural, enseñanza de las ciencias.
Ethnobiology, 2016
The west of the biogeographic region Balsas-Jalisco is considered a center of agricultural origin... more The west of the biogeographic region Balsas-Jalisco is considered a center of agricultural origin and plant domestication in the New World; in this region, a complex agro-alimentary system could have generated as far back as the Archaic Period (10000–4400 BP). To date, we ignore the structure and evolution of the system found there by the Europeans in 1522; however, this knowledge is fundamental to understand the high cultural development of the area and to measure the changes produced by the conquest and the subsequent cultural subjugation. We compiled the dishes that could have been elaborated during the Post-Classic Period (900–1521 CE), incorporating archaeological, ethnographic, and ethnobotanical information. The results indicate that the food system in 1522 could have been structured with close to a hundred dishes elaborated with at least 75 wild plants, 19 domesticated or cultivated natives, 12 domesticated ones introduced from other regions, and 6 wild edible mushrooms. Some of these dishes included meat, obtained from at least 19 wild animals and 4 domesticated ones. Spirits possibly were among the major dishes of this time. The nucleus of the system was made up by the same species listed since the Archaic Period, produced in the milpa agro-ecosystem. The changes recorded in the food system and the diet, induced by the conquest and heightened in the last 60 years, could partly explain the high levels of decalcification, cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity among the human population native to the study area.
Economic Botany, 2012
Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que la dieta básica Mesoamericana pudo haberse conformado antes... more Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que la dieta básica Mesoamericana pudo haberse conformado antes de que las especies involucradas fueran domesticadas. Su complementariedad nutricional desde el periodo Arcaico pudo haber sido uno de los incentivos para el desarrollo del agroecosistema milpa y la domesticación de sus especies, lográndose así también su complementariedad agroecológica.
Investigações em Ensino de Ciências, 2020
Este estudio tuvo por objetivo el análisis cuali-cuantitativo de los contenidos botánicos de los ... more Este estudio tuvo por objetivo el análisis cuali-cuantitativo de los contenidos botánicos de los libros de texto de ciencias naturales de las escuelas primarias rurales de México, cuya finalidad fue identificar posibilidades de contextualización para el diálogo intercultural en la enseñanza de ciencias. Se encontraron 88 referencias con enfoque teórico botánico y 82 actividades propuestas relacionadas con ocho temáticas botánicas: valor nutricio, taxonomía, morfología, fisiología, ecología, botánica, evolución y anatomía; además, se encontraron 133 recursos visuales relacionados con el contexto regional o nacional. Aunque algunos contenidos, actividades propuestas y recursos visuales hacen referencia directa a conocimiento cultural de los estudiantes, pudiendo contribuir a la contextualización sociocultural del conocimiento durante el diálogo intercultural, es necesario que los contenidos contemplen las relaciones con la historia y la filosofía de esta ciencia para que los alumnos c...
Economic Botany 68 (1): 67-84, 2014
The Food System during the Formative Period in West Mesoamerica. How was the food system structur... more The Food System during the Formative Period in West Mesoamerica. How was the food system structured in West Mesoamerica during the Formative Period (2400 B.C.E.–100 C.E.)? The answer is important to understanding the high cultural development accomplished by the Mesoamerican civilizations throughout the Early Classic Period (100–400 C.E.). In the same native communities of Náhuatl origins for which we previously reconstructed their putative pre–ceramic food system, we investigated the ancient dishes that could have been developed in the Formative Period; we cooked using wild, cultivated, and domesticated native plants; and we employed ceramic technologies from that time. We also recorded the
ceramic objects from the Formative Period and Early Classic Period exhibited in local museums that had representations of plants, animals, and foods. We found that the Formative Period food system could have included more than 66 dishes and drinks with 29 cultivated and domesticated native plants. Compared with the putative Archaic Period food system, its nucleus continued to be composed by Zea mays, Phaseolus spp., Cucúrbita argyrosperma, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Physalis philadelphica, Capsicum annum, Hyptis suaveolens, and Spondias purpurea. These plants probably had more variants than in the pre–ceramic period, and maize gained greater relevance. The most important innovations were cooking in water and vapor, nixtamalization (soaking and cooking with water that contains lime), and possibly distillation. The elaboration of food using ceramics could have facilitated the transformation of the ingredients, raised their quality and the number of dishes, and introduced new selective pressures on the cultivated plants, all of which probably had an impact on their diversification, domestication and productivity, and on
the complexity of the agro–food system.
Economic Botany, 2014
lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Physalis philadelphica, Capsicum annum, Hyptis suaveolens, and Spo... more lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Physalis philadelphica, Capsicum annum, Hyptis suaveolens, and Spondias purpurea. Estas plantas probablemente tuvieron más variantes que en el periodo pre-cerámico, y el maíz adquirió mayor relevancia. El cocimiento en agua y vapor, el remojo y cocimiento en agua con cal (nixtamalización) y, posiblemente, la destilación, fueron las innovaciones más importantes. La elaboración de alimentos usando cerámica pudo facilitar la transformación de los ingredientes, incrementar su calidad y el número de platillos, e introducir nuevas presiones selectivas sobre las plantas cultivadas, todo lo cual probablemente impactó en su diversificación, domesticación y productividad, así como en la complejidad del sistema agro-alimentario.
Economic Botany 66 (4): 328-343, 2012
One of the central questions in the development of Mesoamerican civilization is how the alimentar... more One of the central questions in the development of Mesoamerican civilization is how the alimentary, agronomic, and ecological complementarities were achieved within the milpa agroecosystem, which is one of its more important and distinctive cultural elements. In the Mesoamerican center of origin of agriculture and domestication of plants, located in western Mexico, we inquired among Náhuatl communities about the ancient dishes prepared with wild plants that are part of their ancient foodways, and the tolos and technology used to prepare them. We found that the wild progenitors of Agave spp., Zea mays L, Cucurbita argyrosperma Hort. Ex L.H. Bayley, Phaseolus spp., Capsicum annum L., Solanum lycopersicum L., Physalis phyladelphica Lam, Spondias purpurea L., Persea americana Mill., and Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit are consumed in dishes that remain in the present food culture of the poor peasants, and are prepared with techniques and tools that were available in the Archaic period: Sun drying, roasting, toasting, baking, cracking, grinding, crushing, fermenting, and soaking in plain water or in water with ash, using three–stone fireplaces, stone toasters, crushers, grinders, rock pits, and three types of earth ovens. A remarkable finding was that beans could be incorporated into the diet without boiling, but just by toasting, stone grinding, and baking in corn dough tamales. Results obtained suggest that the basic Mesoamerican diet could have been shaped before the species involved were domesticated. Its nutritional complementarity since the Archaic period could have been one of the incentives for the development of the milpa system and the domestication of its species, achieving in this way also their ecological and agronomical complementarity.
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Papers by Alondra Flores Silva
ceramic objects from the Formative Period and Early Classic Period exhibited in local museums that had representations of plants, animals, and foods. We found that the Formative Period food system could have included more than 66 dishes and drinks with 29 cultivated and domesticated native plants. Compared with the putative Archaic Period food system, its nucleus continued to be composed by Zea mays, Phaseolus spp., Cucúrbita argyrosperma, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Physalis philadelphica, Capsicum annum, Hyptis suaveolens, and Spondias purpurea. These plants probably had more variants than in the pre–ceramic period, and maize gained greater relevance. The most important innovations were cooking in water and vapor, nixtamalization (soaking and cooking with water that contains lime), and possibly distillation. The elaboration of food using ceramics could have facilitated the transformation of the ingredients, raised their quality and the number of dishes, and introduced new selective pressures on the cultivated plants, all of which probably had an impact on their diversification, domestication and productivity, and on
the complexity of the agro–food system.
ceramic objects from the Formative Period and Early Classic Period exhibited in local museums that had representations of plants, animals, and foods. We found that the Formative Period food system could have included more than 66 dishes and drinks with 29 cultivated and domesticated native plants. Compared with the putative Archaic Period food system, its nucleus continued to be composed by Zea mays, Phaseolus spp., Cucúrbita argyrosperma, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Physalis philadelphica, Capsicum annum, Hyptis suaveolens, and Spondias purpurea. These plants probably had more variants than in the pre–ceramic period, and maize gained greater relevance. The most important innovations were cooking in water and vapor, nixtamalization (soaking and cooking with water that contains lime), and possibly distillation. The elaboration of food using ceramics could have facilitated the transformation of the ingredients, raised their quality and the number of dishes, and introduced new selective pressures on the cultivated plants, all of which probably had an impact on their diversification, domestication and productivity, and on
the complexity of the agro–food system.