The Hydraulic Landscape of Muralla de León

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Hydro-Ecological System of the Maya in Petén, Guatemala" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Premodern landscape modification at the northeast corner of Lake Macanché, surrounding the site of Muralla de León, predominantly consists of small hilltop settlements and hydraulic channels. These channels interact with the lake itself, as well as the juleques (pond-sized water-filled sinkholes) that cluster in the vicinity. Two prominent channels were mapped and excavated during dissertation fieldwork in 2018: first, an artificial continuation to the east of the inlet off the lake that marks the southern boundary of Muralla de León. This first channel then turns 90 degrees to the north and continues to the southern shore of the juleque to the east of the site, connecting the juleque to the lake. The second channel is a modified natural drainage that runs on a WSW bearing into the northeast of that same juleque, across from the northeast corner of the site. It consists of a narrow channel cut into bedrock and a series of constructed pools incorporated into the alignment. The function and chronology of construction and use of these hydraulic features are considered here in conjunction with data from the Muralla de León site interior.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Hydro-Ecological System of the Maya in Petén, Guatemala

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40299.0