Upland Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands: Ancient Maya Soil Conservation in Northwestern Belize (original) (raw)
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Archaeological research has demonstrated that the ancient Maya utilized a variety of agricultural techniques, including raised fields, arboriculture, kitchen gardens, and terracing, to raise food for their people. These varied techniques reflect a more sustainable approach to agriculture in the tropics than the traditional swidden (slashand-burn) farming primarily utilized today, especially when populations are comparatively large and sedentary. With the identification of these agricultural techniques, it is now necessary to provide details of the chronology, construction, and use. When and where were these technologies first constructed? Who built them, and how? How did their use develop over time? Answering these questions will provide us with a better understanding of how the ancient Maya were able to sustain an agriculturally-based culture for thousands of years in the tropical forest.
Investigations of the Agricultural Terracing Surrounding the Ancient Maya Center of Minanha, Belize
Since the 1970's it has generally been understood that intensive agricultural practices were essential to the development of ancient Maya state formation in the Vaca Plateau. Terraced field systems were the method of choice with respect to the enhancement of agricultural production. Yet, we still have a limited understanding of the development and expansion of terrace systems found throughout the Plateau. Over the past nine years a number of researchers have attempted to build a more detailed understanding of the terrace field system at the ancient Maya center of Minanha. The results of the ongoing study will be detailed in this paper, with particular emphasis on the factors involved in the initial development of the field systems and what drove its eventual expansion.
Gardens on Hills: Ancient Maya Terracing and Agricultural Production at Chan, Belize
2008
This dissertation examines the organization of production on the agricultural terraces at the site of Chan in the Belize River valley. Chan is an ancient Maya farming community with an over 2000 year history and a high density of agricultural terraces. Located 4 km from the site of Xunantunich, Chan’s population increases dramatically in the latter half of the Late Classic (A.D. 600-800 or 830), concomitant with the rise of Xunantunich as a polity capital. My research addresses how the production of the agricultural terraces at Chan was organized and managed, and how the agricultural production which commenced in the Middle Preclassic (650-300 B.C.) was affected by the later rise of Xunantunich. Archaeologists often take a top-down approach to the study of agriculture and farmers, emphasizing the role of elites as the prime motivating factor in agricultural production, and neglected the study of small-scale sites in favor of an archaeological focus on large, urban centers. My research takes a bottom-up approach by focusing on farmers and their means of agricultural production and demonstrates that farmers at Chan developed complex agricultural technologies independent of external pressures from elites. The agricultural terraces at Chan display a complexity of construction and use that extends far back in time, and reveals the farmers’ intimate knowledge of the landscape. The results of this research demonstrate the importance in concentrating archaeological investigations on the landscape and away from large, urban centers. These results were achieved through extensive excavations of terrace walls, horizontal exposures of terrace beds, and explorations in associated structures; an extensive strategy not previously utilized in studies of terrace systems in the Maya area. My dissertation will advance our understanding of the relationship between agricultural producers and ancient political economies, while refining methodological approaches to the study of ancient agricultural technologies.
Excavations of Agricultural Terraces at Chan, Belize: Results of the 2004 Season
Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology, Vol. 3, 2005
Excavations on agricultural terraces at the Chan site in the Belize River Valley have revealed new information regarding ancient Maya agriculture. An earlier date for the construction of these intensive agricultural strategies than previously established, as well as evidence of irrigation and other hydraulic features suggests that our models of Maya agriculture need to be refined through extensive excavation and the recovery of empirical data. This new data indicates that agricultural terraces were constructed independent of the population increase in the Late Classic and were constructed without the input of external influence from larger, nearby sites.
Impacts of the ancient Maya on soils and soil erosion in the central Maya Lowlands
Catena, 2006
Many studies across the central and southern Maya Lowlands of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico have produced records of land degradation, mostly sedimentation and soil erosion, during the ancient Maya period from before 1000 BC to the Maya Collapse of c. AD 900. This paper provides new data from two sites (Blue Creek and Cancuén), synthesizes more than a decade of the authors' research in Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, and synthesizes other findings from this region. These research projects analyzed more than 100 excavations in upland and depression sites, cored lakes and wetland sediments, and studied sediments in the field and laboratory using radiocarbon dating, a battery of soil chemistry tests, stratigraphic analysis, magnetic susceptibility, elemental analyses, and artifact identification. Our objective was to date when sedimentation and soil erosion occurred, identify stable surfaces, and correlate them with the state of knowledge about past land use. These findings indicate three general epochs of accelerated soil erosion and identified two major paleosols. The three waves of soil erosion occurred in the Preclassic period (c. 1000 BC to AD 250), the Late Classic (AD 550 to 900), and in the last several decades. The major paleosol (‘Eklu'um’) in these sites is a well-developed Mollisol or Vertisol that started forming in the early Holocene and was buried in either the Preclassic or Classic periods (AD 250 to 900). At some sites the Eklu'um paleosol lies beneath sediments with a fainter paleosol, which in turn lies buried below Classic period and later sediments. This picture shows higher than expected soil erosion linked to the region's first pioneer farmers in the Preclassic and less than expected soil erosion in the Late Classic when population peaked and land use was the most intensive. In other regions like Cancuén, Guatemala, however, most soil erosion occurred during the Maya Late Classic (AD 550–830). Erosion here was intense but short-lived: depressions record 1–3 m of aggradation in two centuries. A third epoch of accelerated soil loss and aggradation arose with the rapid land use changes brought by new pioneers during the last several decades.
Geodinamica Acta, 2007
This work focuses on the impact of Maya agriculture on soil degradation. In site and out site studies in the area of the city of La Joyanca (NW Petén) show that "Maya clays" do not constitute a homogeneous unit, but represent a complex sedimentary record. A high resolution analysis leads us to document changes in rates and practices evolving in time in relation with major socio-political and economic changes. It is possible to highlight extensive agricultural practices between Early Pre-classical to Late Pre-classical times. Intensification occurs in relation with reduction of the fallow duration during Pre-classic to Classic periods. The consequences of these changes on soil erosion are discussed. However, it does not seem that the agronomic potential of the soils was significantly degraded before the end of the Classic period.
Landuse and soil degradation in the southern Maya lowlands Preclassic Postclassic
Geodinamica Acta, 2007
This work focuses on the impact of Maya agriculture on soil degradation. In site and out site studies in the area of the city of La Joyanca (NW Petén) show that "Maya clays" do not constitute a homogeneous unit, but represent a complex sedimentary record. A high resolution analysis leads us to document changes in rates and practices evolving in time in relation with major socio-political and economic changes. It is possible to highlight extensive agricultural practices between Early Pre-classical to Late Pre-classical times. Intensification occurs in relation with reduction of the fallow duration during Pre-classic to Classic periods. The consequences of these changes on soil erosion are discussed. However, it does not seem that the agronomic potential of the soils was significantly degraded before the end of the Classic period.