Landscape Modifications and Water Management at Aguada Fénix

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Aguada Fénix and the Middle Usumacinta Region: Interregional Interactions and Social Transformations in the Middle Preclassic Period" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The latest archaeological evidence has shown that 10,000 years ago the landscapes of the actual Mexican territory suffered constant changes due to human activities. Fire, horticulture, species dissemination, and agriculture are among the factors that played a significant role in landscape transformations. The area occupied by the monumental site of Aguada Fénix was not an exemption. The creation of artificial reservoirs and hydraulic works dated from around 1100 BC show the advanced knowledge the builders had on water management, one of the most abundant resources found around the area. The requirements to reach the final goal took huge human force at a communitarian level to create their own environment. Archaeological works at Laguna Naranjito—a shallow lake found to the west part of the artificial plateau—evince that the area underwent major changes. This talk is about those modifications, the hydraulic features, the landscape transformation, and the human force implied in this engineering work.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Aguada Fénix and the Middle Usumacinta Region: Interregional Interactions and Social Transformations in the Middle Preclassic Period   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38033.0