Modeling the Milpa-Cycle: A GIS-Based Approach to Envisioning Ancient Maya Land Use and Traditional Agricultural Practices

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Provisioning Ancient Maya Cities: Modeling Food Production and Land Use in Tropical Urban Environments" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Traditional ecological knowledge from living Maya farmers informs us of a storied heritage of agricultural production within the tropical Maya lowlands that traces its lineage to the development and height of ancient Maya civilization. In studying the Maya milpa-cycle, a 20-year land-use system integrating both managed tropical forests and polycultural milpa, or cultivated fields, we can explore the various means by which the provisioning of Maya populations was conducted. Utilizing geographic information systems in conjunction with remote-sensing and archaeological settlement data, a spatial model of a milpa-cycle environment can be constructed within the context of real-world Maya settlements. This paper presents the base methodology behind creating such a model per the expectations and limitations of Maya agriculture, accounting for conditions such as erosion and architectural presence. Furthermore, we demonstrate the capability of the model to generate spatial data that aids in evaluating agricultural production and envisioning traditional land-use distribution. The model thus facilitates further analysis of the ways in which the ancient Maya negotiated their landscape across a variety of environments spanning the Maya lowlands.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Provisioning Ancient Maya Cities: Modeling Food Production and Land Use in Tropical Urban Environments   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36006.0