Revealing Ancient Maya Water Management: Insights from LiDAR mapping, excavation, and soil stratigraphy of the Birds of Paradise riparian reservoir

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Sessions in Honor of Dr. Fred Valdez Jr. and His Contributions to Archaeology, Part 2" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper explores the analysis of several parts of an ancient Maya reservoir located on the eastern edge of the Birds of Paradise (BOP) wetland field complex in the Three Rivers Region of northwest Belize. Here we used LiDAR imaging and geospatial analyses to identify a series of north - south and east - west linear berms that were part of a sophisticated reservoir. We then excavated and cored several of those berms to understand their construction and chronology. Our evidence indicates that these berms went through multiple phases of construction between the Late Classic and Postclassic periods. Our geochemical and stratigraphic analyses showed that these ancient Maya engineers utilized variably sourced materials over generations to build and maintain these berms. We suggest these adaptations were part of a broader socio-political system aimed at ensuring sustainability and growth in periods of climate and other environmental changes. Our research provides new insights into ancient Maya water management, land-use, and adaptation to a changing environment, and this study offers a broader understanding of ancient Maya persistence during the little known Postclassic Period in the Three Rivers Region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Sessions in Honor of Dr. Fred Valdez Jr. and His Contributions to Archaeology, Part 2

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53616