Contextualizing the Ancient Cultivated Landscape of the Bajo el Laberinto Region, Campeche, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "New and Emerging Perspectives on the Bajo el Laberinto Region of the Maya Lowlands, Part 1" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ongoing archaeological investigations in the Bajo el Laberinto region, bolstered by advances in aerial laser scanning technology, have begun to offer a clearer indication of how the ancient Maya manipulated their environment to manage food, water, and soil insecurities. Multiple lidar campaigns have resulted in the acquisition of approximately 200 km2 of high-resolution surface models of the area, revealing an intricate network of terracing, berms, and cultivated wetland modifications surrounding the extensive bajo. Densely populated during the Preclassic and Classic periods, the region provides a valuable setting for exploring the relationship between urban growth, long-term capital investment, and agricultural strategies in this portion of Mesoamerica. This presentation synthesizes remote sensing methods and data derived from archaeological excavations to examine the density, diversity, and complexity of terraforming features across the Bajo el Laberinto landscape, including those associated with the major centers of Calakmul and Yaxnohcah. This research seeks to elucidate the sophistication of precolumbian food production in the Maya Lowlands, with a focus on agrarian engineering projects and land reclamation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New and Emerging Perspectives on the Bajo el Laberinto Region of the Maya Lowlands, Part 1   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40270.0