Ancient Maya Agriculture: The Intersection of Archaeology, Soil Science, Ethnobotany and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

One enduring mystery of the ancient Maya is how they managed to feed large populations in a tropical environment and land resources that have long been characterized as hostile and challenging for agriculture. The traditional academic and popular perception of Maya agriculture, both ancient and modern, was based on the cultivation of maize, beans, and squash, using a land-extensive slash-and-burn cultivation system across a relatively uniform landscape. In this study we model the suitability of varied land resources for a variety of crops beyond the maize-beans-squash trilogy. We are developing a model of how the ancient Maya may have tailored their cultivation practices to match a variety of food plants to the most suitable soils for particular species. Our study area is El Pilar Bi-national Park which straddles the Belize-Guatemala border and surrounds the ancient Maya civic-ceremonial center of El Pilar. LiDAR imagery and full ground truthing has been used to map all ancient settlement within the park. Soils have also been mapped at a scale of 1:10,000. We critically evaluate the application of the FAO suitability classification for specific crops, while comparing the results to crop suitability evaluated by Maya master gardeners well versed with traditional ecological knowledge.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39224.0