13. Substinance Flashcards
Milpa Cycle
sustainable method of farming:
Cycle spans 20 years and involves careful
selection of plant species to sustain the
ecosystem
Ecosystem transforms at each phase of
the cycle and grows back into a closed
canopy forest at the end
Four Phases:
1. open field dominated by maize
2. reforestation (useful woody plants to create shade)
3. Closed canopy forest/garden (full of useful species)
4. full forest restoration
Characterizing ancient Maya agriculture
Milpa
agriculture is (and was) just one type
of agriculture practiced in the Maya
Many different forms of agriculture
co-existed, supporting dense urban
and rural populations
Idea that the Maya only practiced
long-fallow milpa agriculture had a
pervasive impact on understanding
of Maya cultural development
Historical Perspectives
Ethnographic analogy: Maya farmers
observed using slash-and-burn, therefore
that is how farming was done in the past
Milpa agriculture is extensive (vs. intensive)
and can only support low population levels
and densities
Result: Maya settlements must have low
populations and low population densities
Early archaeology: focused only on the site
epicenters
Stone cities, green cities, garden cities
Settlement archaeology showed that residential
settlements were by far the most
abundant features on the landscape
– more people than could be fed
through slash-and-burn agriculture
alone
New model: landscape is modified
to support widespread intensive
agriculture
“Green-cities” or “Garden cities”:
ample intra- and inter-household
spaces under cultivation
Note** intensive agriculture suggest using small plots of land and mass resources and labour to cultivate high yield
LiDAR/Low-density agrarian-based urbanism
Maya cities provide an example of low-
density agrarian-based urbanism
Monumental center, surrounded by
sprawling, relatively low-density settlement,
with considerable agricultural modification
of the landscape (forest clearing and
agricultural infrastructure – e.g., fields,
gardens, orchards)
The primary reason for comparatively low
settlement densities was presence of
agricultural production within residential
neighborhoods
Smallholder Farmers
Unlike state managed agricultural
systems found in some other ancient
civilizations, Maya agriculture was
primarily organized at the household
and community level
Smallholder farmers formed the
backbone of Maya subsistence,
producing the majority of food
Farming required communal and
family-based labour, with seasonal
shifts in work patterns (e.g., clearing,
planting, harvesting, processing
challenges of agriculture in the mayan lowlands
Shallow soils, often on sloping uplands
Soil development is slow: soils receive scant inorganic material from limestone parent
material and deposition of other particulates (volcanic ash, Saharan dust, and other particulates) is slow
Poor soil moisture conditions
Critical lack of perennial surface water
Five-month long dry season
Frequent droughts – often lasting for multiple years
solutions to agriculture in the Mayan lowlands
- Landesque capital” improvements to family-managed smallholder plots (improved forest diversity and cropping over time/ features and techniques land owners invested in to better meet their needs)
-Build a complex infrastructure of soil and water management features as part of resource
management and investment strategy. Intensive agricultural methods (terracing, water transport, wetland landscape engineering)
-
Agricultural Terracing
Stone terraces constructed on sloping
uplands
Vary from simple linear piles of rocks to
engineered vertical faces of stacked stones
Walls slow the down-slope
velocity of runoff and form
barriers to trap sediment
Barriers allow deeper,
enriched, soils to form and
reduced runoff velocity
allows soils to absorb and
retain more moisture
Types of Terracing
Contour terraces partition hills into
vertical segments, capturing and
retaining soil and moisture along the
face of slopes
Footslope terraces are positioned at
the base of steep slopes to capture
down-washing sediment
Cross-channel terraces are
perpendicular to water flow act to
reduce flow velocity and capture
sediment
Agricultural terracing:
The Vaca Plateau
Caracol is the largest city, situated in steep
hilly terrain (Minanha and its subsidiary centers are much
smaller, but also situated in steep hilly terrain)
Entire settlement zone of this region is
terraced
Contour, footslope, and cross-channel terraces,
operating in concert
also household agriculture
Bajo Margins
Some of the largest Maya cities
developed along bajos (seasonal
wetlands
Forest clearance on sloping terrain
led to generations of accelerated
soil erosion on sloping lands,
creating aprons of deep soils at the
bajo margins, further modified into
raised fields using bajo soil
Bajo soils (rich in nutrients)
dredged and brought to upland
areas for agricultural infields and
household gardens
Wetland agriculture
Strong evidence of historical use
of wetland fields from
Mesoamerica in chinampas around
Aztec Tenochtitlan but no parallel
historical examples from the Maya
Few studies of ancient Maya
wetland agroecosystems – suggest
wetland agriculture was practiced
in complex ways and at a large
scales
Without historical data, we need
more archaeological testing
Wetland agriculture: Evidence
Best evidence from is from Northwestern
Belize
Multi-faceted wetland agricultural systems
identified through:
Aerial and surface survey, LiDAR imagery,
Ground verification including excavations
through ancient canals and fields
Sediment cores analyzing floral remains
(pollen, phytoliths, macrobotanicals,
charcoal) and radiocarbon dating of layers
Wetland agriculture: Chinampa model
Characteristics:
Fields reclaimed and raised from shallow
bodies of water
Canal/field edges stabilized
Debris cleaned from canals and placed on
fields as fertilizer
Temperature moderated by canal water
Polycultural systems with fruit trees
(avocado), cacao, tubers (manioc), maize,
beans, squash, fish, snails
Wetland agriculture: Chinampa model Cont’d
Evidence for system in NW Belize at Chawak
But’o’ob and Sierra de Agua from
stratigraphy (bottom to top)
Buried soils with high amounts of
charcoal from burning fields to prepare
them for raising
Coarse and fine-textured buried
sediments
Rounded river cobbles and ceramics
deposited on top buried soils for better
drainage
Radiocarbon dated older sediments
(excavated from below and then piled) on
top of younger sediments
Wetland agriculture: Human-made canals
strong evidence for human-made canals
around Chan Cahal, NW Belize.
Raised fields form from combination of
natural and human-processes over
millennia:
- Rising water tables cover previously dry
agricultural surfaces with peat (Late
Archaic)
-Slope erosion leads to soil deposition
Flooding in causes gypsum precipitation
from soil (Preclassic period)
-Canals are dug, and excavated material
deposited to form raised fields (Classic
period)
Wetland agriculture:
Raised Fields
Note** Raised fields are a type of wetland agriculture that involve building long, low mounds of soil to elevate land above water for farming. They are typically found along river floodplains or in other wetlands
Birds of Paradise wetland field
complex (located on flood plain)
Rectilinear, pre-planned system on
a north-south and east-west grid ( 900m long canals, excavated materials used to create fields)
Predominantly maize cultivation
based on carbon isotope signature
in the soil
Late-Terminal Classic and Early
Postclassic
Possibly an adaptation to persistent
drought conditions
Cultigens and crop selection
Mesoamerican triad – maize, beans, and
squash – are clearly important
Maize evident in role of cosmology:
Origin stories (Popol Vuh)
Concentration and distribution of stable
carbon isotope ratios in soil organic matter
show areas were subject to prolonged maize
cultivation
cultigens and crop slection cont’d
Joya de Ceren, El Salvador – the
“Pompeii of the Maya,” rapidly buried
by volcanic ash around 600 CE
Excavations of houselots reveal carefully
tended household gardens with plots of
maize, beans, and squash, but also
manioc, malanga, agave, and fruit trees
Contents of storage jars had chiles,
cacao, herbs, and other spices (and
cotton)
Household Gardens
Ethnographic studies of
contemporary Maya communities
show household gardens used to grow
food, medicinal plants, and herbs
archaeological evidence is
subtle:
Spatial analyses show residential areas
had open spaces, likely dedicated to
small-scale food production
Soil phosphate analyses of these areas
show enrichment
Archaeobotanical evidence including
carbonized seeds and remains of fruit
trees (rare)
Phytoliths and pollen in soil (rare)
Animal Use
The Maya diet incorporated a
range of animal resources, but
was mostly plant-based
Consumed animals included:
Deer, peccary, and tapir
(hunted)
Rabbits, agouti, and various
birds (hunted)
Fish, turtles, and mollusks
(fishing, wetland polyculture)
Turkeys (domesticated)
Elites had access to more favoured species/better cuts
Isotope analysis
Analysis of carbon and nitrogen
isotopes in bones and teeth tells us
relative proportions of types of
foods people ate throughout their
lifetime
Plants vary carbon isotopes based
on how they photosynthesize and
animal nitrogen levels change
depending on the animal’s position
in the food chain
Ratios of these elements can be
measured:Results can reveal whether diet
was terrestrial or marine oriented
of if they relied on certain crops
like maize
Note** Most plants are C3 plants (wheat, rice, many vegetables while
only a few C4 plants are consumed (maize, sugarcane, various grasses)
Maya Diet
Commoner diets are fairly constant over
time, based on mixed local-level resources
such forest fruits, cultivated vegetables, and
large quantities of maize
Period of highest maize consumption is the
transition from the Early to Middle Classic
Elites consume more maize and increased
amounts of animal protein over the Classic
period until the Terminal Classic collapse
Postclassic populations ate the lowest
quantities of maize
