Ancient Maya Tree Cropping

McKillop, Heather

doi:10.1017/s0956536100001085

Cited by 42 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Although waterlogged, the wood is fresh in appearance, preserving the original light brown color of the wood. Sapotaceae wood also was identified from Late Classic midden deposits at the nearby island community of Wild Cane Cay (25). A wooden spear from Actun Polbilche cave, Belize, was made from M. sapote (26).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finds in Belize document Late Classic Maya salt making and canoe transport

McKillop

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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How did people in preIndustrial ancient civilizations produce and distribute bulk items, such as salt, needed for everyday use by their large urban populations? This report focuses on the ancient Maya who obtained quantities of salt at cities in the interior of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala in an area where salt is scarce. I report the discovery of 41 Late Classic Maya saltworks ( anno Domini 600–900) in Punta Ycacos Lagoon on the south coast of Belize, including one with the first-known ancient Maya canoe paddle. The discoveries add important empirical information for evaluating the extent of surplus salt production and river transport during the height of Late Classic civilization in the southern Maya lowlands. The discovery of the saltworks indicates that there was extensive production and distribution of goods and resources outside the cities in the interior of the Yucatan. The discovery of a wooden canoe paddle from one of the Punta Ycacos saltworks, Ka'k' Naab', ties the production of salt to its inland transport by rivers and documents the importance of canoe trade between the coast and the interior during the Late Classic. Archaeological discovery of multiple saltworks on the Belizean coast represents surplus production of salt destined largely for the inland Peten Maya during their Late Classic peak, underscoring the importance of non-state-controlled workshop production in preIndustrial societies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finds in Belize document Late Classic Maya salt making and canoe transport

McKillop

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Lange (1971) suggested marine resources, and Wiseman (1978) proposed a model of a productive artificial rainforest. To date, archaeobotanical evidence supports neither the root crop nor the arboriculture argument (Turner and Miksicek 1984), while marine foods are not common in most archaeological contexts (McKillop 1994). The artificial rainforest hypothesis has similarly fallen out of favor, since pollen evidence for widespread deforestation suggests forest management would not have been a viable strategy (Abrams and Rue 1988).…”

Section: The Intensive Agriculture Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The artificial rainforest hypothesis has similarly fallen out of favor, since pollen evidence for widespread deforestation suggests forest management would not have been a viable strategy (Abrams and Rue 1988). Other scholars proposed combinations of several cultivation strategies, including infield-outfield systems (Netting 1977), multiple cropping (Culbert, Magers, and Spencer 1978), kitchen gardening (Wilken 1971), and silviculture (Gomez-Pompa 1987;McKillop 1994). Still other researchers (Gliessman et al 1983;Harrison 1977;Healy et al 1983;Siemens 1982;Turner 1983) began to focus on growing evidence for agricultural intensification in the form of hillslope terracing and utilization of wetlands through construction of raised or drained fields and canals.…”

Section: The Intensive Agriculture Debatementioning

confidence: 99%

BajoCommunities: A Case Study from the Central Peten

Kunen¹,

Culbert²,

Fialko³

et al. 2000

Culture & Agriculture

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A vital task facing scholars concerned with the structure of ancient Maya society is reconstructing the relationships among subsistence, population, and social organization. Particularly in the southern Maya lowlands, where extremely dense populations were found by Late Classic times, substantial modifications of the landscape through a variety of land management techniques were necessary. The nature of these modifications, the range of innovations, and the degree of intensification are still, however, poorly understood. This article explores the significance of one form of landscape modification entailed by the occupation and use of seasonal wetlands (bajos). Below, we examine the debate over the significance of intensive wetland agriculture in the Maya lowlands, then discuss the preliminary findings of a case study designed to investigate the duration and intensity of use of a major central Peten bajo. Culture & AgricultureVol. 22, ,\i. ; Fd

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“…However, many upland forest species are absent from or extremely rare in bajos in the Maya region today (Schulze & Whitacre 1999), which argues for an upland seed source during postcollapse reforestation. Other possible seed sources were managed plots dominated by economic species, such as house gardens, tended groves, and "forest gardens" resulting from selective cutting and planting of trees in swidden fields (Gómez-Pompa et al 1990, McKillop 1994, Peters 2000, Turner & Misicek 1984. Also important were the forested, unoccupied areas between competing polities that served as both buffer zones and battle grounds (Taube 2003).…”

Section: Anthropogenic Landscapes: Tropical Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeology, Ecological History, and Conservation

Hayashida

2005

Annu. Rev. Anthropol.

114

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Ecologists have increasingly turned to history, including human history, to explain and manage modern ecosystems and landscapes. The imprint of past land use can persist even in seemingly pristine areas. Archaeology provides a long-term perspective on human actions and their environmental consequences that can contribute to conservation and restoration efforts. Case studies illustrate examples of the human history of seemingly pristine landscapes, forest loss and recovery, and the creation or maintenance of places that today are valued habitats. Finally, as archaeologists become more involved in research directed at contemporary environmental issues, they need to consider the potential uses and abuses of their findings in management and policy debates. 43 Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2005.34:43-65. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org by California Institute of Technology on 08/28/14. For personal use only.

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Ancient Maya Tree Cropping

Cited by 42 publications

References 32 publications

Finds in Belize document Late Classic Maya salt making and canoe transport

Finds in Belize document Late Classic Maya salt making and canoe transport

BajoCommunities: A Case Study from the Central Peten

Archaeology, Ecological History, and Conservation

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