Work over the past several decades in the emerging field of ethnobiology, and research in medical ethnobotany in particular, has demonstrated that ethnobiological knowledge of traditional peoples conforms in many respects to basic scientific principles (Berlin 1973, Berlin 1978, Berlin 1992, Berlin and Patton 1979, Berlin, Breedlove, and Raven 1974, Raven, Berlin, and Breedlove 1971, Quiros et al. 1990, Toledo 1988) and that recognition of the curative properties of medicinal plants is not simply unsubstantiated folklore. Since the late 1970s traditional herbal medicine has been given major emphasis by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural...

The verbal nountza’nel(from the roottza’‘feces’) is the term for defecation in general. In the context of illness, however, it is more appropriately glossed as ‘diarrhea’ (of unspecified type). We considered use of the phrase ‘abnormal feces’ to more accurately reflect Maya terminology and to indicate that the focus of the term is the character of the stool. However, since our Maya collaborators normally translate the forms presented here as classes of ‘diarrhea’, and since the discussion would be made awkward by the use of ‘abnormal feces’, we employ the term ‘diarrhea’ for conditions of this group....

The abdominal pains comprise a small group of conceptually related conditions within the Maya ethnomedical system. Figure 3.1 graphically demonstrates the conditions of the group and their relative relationships according to the highland Maya classification. As the name implies, the primary criterion for ethnomedical diagnosis is the location of the pain.

The core group is comprised of three conditions: abdominal pain, epigastric pain, and ‘mother of man’. Abdominal pain involves the entire abdomen. Epigastric pain is limited to the stomach and lower to midthoracic regions. The third condition refers to an abdominal organ (me’ winik[Tzeltal] ≈me’ vinik[Tzotzil]...

The worms constitute a well-defined set of conditions that are conceptually quite distinct from all other gastrointestinal problems. This group is closely related to other gastroenteric conditions because of shared symptomatology. However, the distinct presentation of readily identifiable organisms in the feces makes this one of the most clearly defined groups in the Maya ethnomedical system. Figure 4.1 graphically represents the worms, their relative relationship within this ethnomedical group, and the closely affiliated conditions. Three kinds of worms are generally distinguished: regular worms, flatheaded worms, and tiny worms.

The regular worms are the type specific of the worms. They are...

The gastrointestinal diseases represent the most significant set of health conditions recognized by the highland Maya. The conceptual relationship among the members of this set are shown by similarities in signs and symptoms and by the region of the body affected. Further support of the interrelatedness of the members of this group comes from an analysis of their sequential relationships, that is, when one illness type develops from or leads to another condition in the group. Figure 5.1 diagrams these relationships among the gastrointestinal conditions, based on the Explanatory Models responses concerning sequelae to a primary condition, or conditions that...