Landscape of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The southern Petén Plateau can be subdivided into four karst landscapes, each with a dominant karst landform. They are fluviokarst, polygonal karst, karst margin plain, and upland karst. These terrains have different proportions of uplands and low standing wetlands. Within this framework lies the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin (MCKB). A karst drainage basin is the combined surface area and subsurface drainage that contributes water to a conduit network and its outlet springs. Six key hydrologic features characterize the basin, including seasonal swamps, dolines, intermittent lakes, a lack of perennial streams, subsurface conduits, and springs. We infer subsurface flow in the karst basin from a regional groundwater map, compiled from over 4,000 surface hydrologic features covering the southern plateau and its surrounding lowlands. Comprised of the Mirador and Calakmul watersheds, the basin is bounded on the east by the Mirador Anticline, on the north by a drainage divide with the Desempeño watershed, and on the west by a line of low hills punctuated by karst valleys. We suggest that the wetland characteristics of the MCKB made it a favorable landscape for cultural development of the ancient Maya during the Preclassic period due to the wide range of resources present.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33275