A brief summary of published archaeobotanical studies and references to plant remains from archaeological sites in Mesoamerica and Central America is provided. followed by a discussion of the reasons for which this discipline has not developed significantly during the past 20 years in this area. It is concluded that the maior deterents to archaeobotanical research are the lack of sufficient trained personnel and the lack of any coherent concept of methods and goals to guide research.En este artículo la autora presenta los estudios arqueobotánicos y referencias de restos de plantas provenientes de sitios arqueológicos de Mesoamérica y Centroamérica; por otro lado, plantea una discusión sobre las razones por las cuales la Arqueobotánica no se ha desarrollado significativamente.