Exploring the Function and Evolution of Intensive Stream Modifications in the Southern Escarpment of Calakmul

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.

Investigations over the past decades have shown that the Classic Maya conducted monumental landscape modifications in order to both avoid inundations of settlement areas and to capture and store rainfall. In the initial stages, these modifications involved the sealing of reservoirs, which maximized the amount of stored water. In situations of increasing demographic pressure, the Maya also increased the catchment areas of their reservoirs by sealing the surrounding areas and the construction of influx canals. Frequently, these public building programs involved the modifications of larger landscape areas, including the alteration of natural seasonal streambeds. In our contribution, we present the results of our recent investigations within the PABAL project, realized in three streams located in the southern escarpment of Calakmul (Arroyos 5 and 6 and Arroyo Zapote). The features documented in these drainages revealed sophisticated solutions of hydraulic engineering indicating a highly integrated modification of the settlement landscape, which both protected and created cultivation areas, and prevented the loss of surface runoff into the adjacent bajo areas. Our contribution will explore the function and evolution of these landscape alterations in the specific case of Calakmul, and in comparison with other Lowland Maya sites.

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): 39952.0