Swamp People: Landscape Building in the Ciénaga de Zimatlán, Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Landscapes: Archaeological, Historic, and Ethnographic Perspectives from the New World / Paisajes: Perspectivas arqueológicas, históricas y etnográficas desde el Nuevo Mundo" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Valle de Zimatlán, in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, is considered to have been a key zone for agricultural production during the prehispanic era, especially within the Río Atoyac’s floodplain. However, its productivity faces a major obstacle, flooding. This is because it is covered with Vertisols, which contain high concentrations of expansive clay minerals (montmorillonite). Thus, it quickly becomes saturated and impermeable during the rainy season, resulting in the formation of seasonal swamps and lakes. Information from the colonial period indicates that, devoid of human occupation, this zone was characterized by a multitude of lakes and ponds, making it unusable for cultivation. In order to bring the zone into agricultural production, collective labor mobilization was required to build deep drains. Today the area is crisscrossed by drains that are 1–3 m deep and tens to hundreds of meters long, serving to lower the water table and direct water to the Río Atoyac. Accordingly, in this paper, we use geospatial analysis of relief, pedology, modern drainage channels, and archaeological data to understand the scale, organization, and implementation of the landesque strategies that converted the Valle de Zimatlán into a highly productive agricultural zone during the prehispanic era.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Landscapes: Archaeological, Historic, and Ethnographic Perspectives from the New World / Paisajes: Perspectivas arqueológicas, históricas y etnográficas desde el Nuevo Mundo

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32163