Spatial and Physical Characteristics ofRejolladasin Northern Yucatán, Mexico: Implications for Ancient Maya Agriculture and Settlement Patterns

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy J. Munro-Stasiuk ◽  
T. Kam Manahan ◽  
Trent Stockton ◽  
Traci Ardren
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Physical Characteristics ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Agriculture

scholarly journals How Maya Archaeologists Discovered the 99% Through the Study of Settlement Patterns

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy A. Sabloff
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Settlement Pattern ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Single Group ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Maya Civilization ◽  
The Many

This article presents an autobiographical perspective on the changing nature of Maya archaeology, focusing on the role of settlement pattern studies in illuminating the lives of commoners as well as on the traditional emphasis on the ruling elite. Advances in understanding the nature of nonelite peoples in ancient Maya society are discussed, as are the many current gaps in scholarly understandings of pre-Columbian Maya civilization, especially with regard to the diversity of ancient “commoners” and the difficulty in analyzing them as a single group.

A new look at Maya statecraft from Copan, Honduras

Antiquity ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 62 (234) ◽  
pp. 157-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Fash
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Environmental Studies ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
The Past ◽  
Religious Symbolism ◽  
New Look ◽  
The Revolution

The revelations in the study of the Ancient Maya made possible by the revolution in hieroglyphic decipherment have not occurred in isolation. Archaeological investigations within the last three decades have produced a much broader vision of Maya society during the Classic Period than previously possible. Particularly, the study of settlement patterns in conjunction with environmental studies has opened new vistas onto the size and organization of the populations which supported the rulers in their civic-ceremonial centres (Ashmore 1981; Culbert & Rice n.d.). The challenge for the present, and future, is to combine the archaeological record with the studies of inscriptions and politico-religious symbolism, to build a more complete and incisive reconstruction of the past. Where the two records are particularly clear and abundant, we may also aspire to explaining the past.

Ancient Maya agriculture

2020 ◽  
pp. 501-518
Author(s):  
Nicholas Dunning ◽  
Timothy Beach ◽  
Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Agriculture

Ancient Maya Rural Settlement Patterns, Household Cooperation, and Regional Subsistence Interdependency in the Río Bec Area: Contributions from G-LiHT

2021 ◽  
pp. 000-000
Author(s):  
Scott R. Hutson ◽  
Nicholas P. Dunning ◽  
Bruce Cook ◽  
Thomas Ruhl ◽  
Nicolas C. Barth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Rural Settlement ◽  
Ancient Maya

Using Lidar and GIS to Investigate Water and Soil Management in the Agricultural Terracing at Caracol, Belize

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian S.Z. Chase ◽  
John Weishampel
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Rainfall Runoff ◽  
Agricultural Terraces ◽  
Gravitational Flow ◽  
Airborne Laser ◽  
Maya Agriculture

AbstractIn April 2009, a lidar survey flown by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping recorded 200 square kilometers of terrain that comprised the Classic Period Maya city of Caracol, Belize. The data revealed a highly manipulated landscape of dense settlement, agricultural terraces, and residential reservoirs. Literature on Maya agriculture has discussed the benefits of terraces in controlling soil erosion, retaining water, and managing the gravitational flow of water; however, until now these benefits have not been quantified or demonstrated on the ground at scale. This research utilizes these lidar data and data derivatives in order to test the degree to which the ancient Maya manipulated their environment and were able to support large-scale populations through their landscape management practices. As such, the research provides evidence supporting the significance of agricultural terraces and their impact on limiting soil erosion, increasing water retention, and permitting flow control over rainfall runoff. This research also highlights the conscious effort by the ancient Maya to manage the hydrology of their terraced landscape.

Linking the Past and Present of the Ancient Maya

2015 ◽  
pp. 155-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabel Ford ◽  
Keith C. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Model ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
The Past ◽  
Residential Units ◽  
Maize Yields ◽  
Potential Use

Understanding traditional Maya land use is key to interpreting ancient Maya settlement. The authors link the traditional Maya milpa cycle in use today with a predictive model of ancient settlement patterns through a spatial model for the El Pilar area. The model provides the number of residential units, and therefore population, projected based on the geographic variables of soil fertility, drainage, and slope, while the ethnographic records of maize yields from traditional Maya forest gardening provide the basis for subsistence. By classifying residential units and assuming average family sizes, the authors derive population estimates and ranges for the Late Classic Maya and demonstrate the potential of the milpa cycle to support significant populations at the height of the Maya civilization. Their work shows the value of indigenous strategies to produce food and household needs while conserving the forest, a strategy of potential use today and in the future.

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