Reconstructing a Maya Agricultural Wetland on the Rio Bravo Floodplain, Northwestern Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ancient Maya Landscapes in Northwestern Belize, Part II" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Birds of Paradise wetlands have been a subject of recent intensive study within Northwestern Belize. We now recognize this fluviokarst wetland has undergone extensive modification of field building and channelization during the Maya Classic (1650-1050 BP) with use possibly extending into the early Maya Postclassic (1050-700 BP). Through many field seasons of study, we have begun to develop a chronosequence for soils and management within this wetland environment as well as an understanding of the form and function of agricultural features in the wetland, including ditched and raised fields, reservoirs, and sacbeob. Geoarchaeological efforts on a sacbe/berm feature along the east side of the wetland suggest that human modification within the system began at least to some extent sometime in the early Classic time period. The eastern margins of the BOP wetland are slightly lower in elevation than the area in the system that has been channelized, and it is possible this berm either acts as feature that serves as a boundary, eastern edge of a catchment, or elevated causeway. This study helps us to refine our understanding of how Maya agriculture and resource extraction within wetland environments either persisted or changed through drought cycles and cultural transitions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ancient Maya Landscapes in Northwestern Belize, Part II   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25979