On June 29, 1978, in one terrible and tragic moment, the field of Mesoamerican archaeology lost a highly gifted, dedicated and productive researcher on top of El Castillo at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan. Dennis Edward Puleston died suddenly when he was struck by lightning. Dennis went up to the top of the pyramid with his children to watch the approach of a large thunderstorm. It was to be the last journey the children would take with their father.
Dennis E. Puleston was born on June 19, 1940 in New York City to Dennis and Betty Puleston. His father was formally trained as an architect, but he devoted most of his career to being a naturalist. His parents were both fond of scholarly activity and outdoor life. Dennis received his degree in Biology from Antioch University (Ohio) in 1964. Prior to and during his college years, Dennis had the opportunity to work and study in Tahiti, Canada and Wales. He also worked as a Student Assistant for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. One of the people he worked for in Chicago (Paul Martin) arranged a visit in Tikal for Dennis and a classmate. Tikal offered Dennis a virtual playground for two of his primary interests: cultural ecology and food resources and the use of caves and underground chambers. In 1964, Dennis entered graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1965, Dennis married Olga Stavrakis, a fellow graduate student at Pennsylvania. They had two children, Cedric Owen and Lyda Lowrie. Olga and Dennis both had adventuresome spirits and they collaborated on a number of research efforts in Maya ecology and the rise of Maya civilization. In 1968 Dennis received his Master's Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his thesis, Brosimum licastrum as a Subsistence alternative for the Classic Maya of the Central Lowlands, was described as innovative and controversial.
Olga Puleston soon followed, receiving her Master's Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. Dennis taught briefly at Temple University, joined the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota as an Instructor in 1969, and became Assistant Professor in 1974. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973.
Dennis Puleston was a rare gem. He was a born naturalist, a superb "field worker, a fearless explorer" and a gentle person. He was admired and respected by his students and colleagues alike. One of his most significant contributions to the field of Maya archaeology involves his belief that Maya subsistence was not dominated by Maize alone. In his studies, Dennis pointed out the possibility of a unique relationship between subsurface pits, or chultuns in Tikal (Guatemala), and the fruit from the ramon tree. Dennis realized that the ramon nut has a higher protein content than maize and other root crops, and it also has a higher vitamin content as well.
In addition, the nutritious ramon seeds have a low moisture quotient, a property which is highly favorable for long-term storage. The ramon nut remains edible after 13 months of storage in the chultuns. Dennis theorized that the stored ramon served as "famine food" during times of drought or low yield. He also developed further ideas on the Maya use of river levees or raised cultivation plots where maize, beans, cotton and cacao could be grown. Also, Dennis demonstrated how subsistence themes in Maya art and iconography were not just confined to rain gods or Chacs. In addition, they were full of aquatic symbolism involving water birds, fish, turtles, snails, crocodiles and water lilies.
Flannery, Kent. Maya Subsistence: Studies in Memory of Dennis E.Puleston, Academic Press, New York, N.Y. 1982
Puleston, D.E., "An Experimental Approach to the Classic Maya Chultuns:" American Antiquity, Vol. 36, pp 322-335, 1971
Harrison, P.D. & Messenger, P.E., "Obituary: Dennis Edward Puleston," American Antiquity, Vol. 45, pp 272-276, 1980
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