Sponsored by Exploring Solutions Past - The Maya
Forest Allilance
U Seville Aula 33 17-18 July
Anabel Ford (UCSB Santa
Barbara /ESP Maya CA)
Ronald Nigh (CIESA Chiapas Mexico)
Scott Fedick (UCR Riverside CA)
Conservation of the world's resources is based on
how we use our landscape. For 2000 years the ancient Maya developed a major
civilization deep in the tropical forests of Mesoamerica. Their rise and fall
left more than archaeological remains. Their foundation was based on agriculture
and a mastery of nature. The living legacy of their investments can be witnessed
in the diversity and utility of the Maya forest today. Converging from a variety
of disciplines and drawing on a wide range of data on the Maya forest - archaeological,
historical, ethnological, zoological - reinforce knowledge of the forest as
a garden and that today bears all the signatures of the past human management.
The prehistoric occupation of the Maya lowlands, cultivation of the Maya forest
by the ancient Maya, the regeneration of the forest after the Classic Maya collapse,
and the development of the feral forest of the 20th century set the stage for
the risk the forest faces as we launch in the 21 century. This symposium brings
together diverse fields and disciplines to grapple with the issues that created
the Maya forest, provided the context for the rise and fall of the ancient Maya
civilization, and holds clues to its critical values for future generations.
To show/hide the abstracts of the papers presented
at the symposium, click on the papers' titles below:
Adopting a long view of Maya history, we
study the principles of spatial organization of Maya productive ecology from
remote times to the present. We can distinguish processes with great historical
profundity that have evolved over centuries, such as milpa agriculture and homegardens,
and have shaped the characteristic physiognomy and composition of the Maya forest.
Other processes seem to be opportunistic responses to relatively ephemeral situations
commercial plantations of cacao or coffee, extensive pasture land that, while
equally impacting in their moments, appear to be far more impermanent in their
presence. In both cases, Maya farmers consciously manage successional processes
to build an environment amenable to their needs. We reflect on the implications
of Maya practices for future of tropical landscapes and human communities in
the region.
Modern Yucatec Maya farmers employ a mixed
system of milpa, forest garden, and home garden agriculture to satisfy their
subsistence needs, supplemented by bee-keeping and the raising of domestic animals.
Cash for goods not produced is secured through temporal wage labor in such activities
as milpa-for-hire, forest product extraction, cattle production, road building,
and - increasingly - jobs in the tourist service industry. Intra-peninsular
emigration, reliance upon kinship relations, education, language-acquisition,
and irrigation are but some of the Maya farmers' adaptations to contemporary
change in their forest and social environment. We examine case studies of agricultural
practice, and draw from 34 years of photographs and ethnographic data collected
from 1971-2005 in northern Yucatan, to consider the trends and implications
- past, present, and future - for Maya farmers, their culture, and their forest.
Maya home gardens in the Yucatán are among
the most intensive land use system of campesinos. The home garden involves different
agricultural techniques, it is rich in wild and domesticated plant species,
and its structure is defined by multipurpose perennial species. The Ka'anche
is a raised bed where vegetables are produced that had been commonly used. Today
this technique, although it is well known, is becoming a rare practice. Numerous
fruit species were used in the past as food, many of these species are not cultivated
currently, perhaps due to a lack of demand for the products or to the lost of
the knowledge of meal-preparation techniques using these fruits as ingredients.
The rescue of such techniques and species, besides the biological importance
in terms of conservation and storage of useful germplasm, could help to improve
the nutritional status and the economy of rural people. The present work reviews
the changes in techniques and fruit species in order to identify why they are
currently being neglected. Results of a strategy for in situ conservation of
Mayan home gardens as living laboratories in secondary schools of rural communities
are discussed.
In the generally dry limestone plane of the
northern Yucatán Peninsula, modern Maya communities often appear to be islands
of forest amid a landscape of milpas, secondary growth, and abandoned henequen
plantations. These forest islands are composed of trees and other vegetation,
cultivated primarily in homegardens. While the cultivated trees tend to be dominated
by local species, there are almost always some introduced species, such as citrus,
that the Maya have purchased or obtained through trade. Some of these exotics
have been cultivated in the region for so long that the Maya gardeners consider
them to be local species. Thus, in modern cases, there is a blurring in the
distinction between local and introduced species in the cultivated homegarden.
There is growing evidence that in ancient times, the Maya of the northern peninsula
imported trees that would not normally be found there; trees that require deeper
soils, higher humidity, or other conditions that are generally lacking in the
north. This paper explores the many ways in which the ancient, as well as modern,
Maya select natural microhabitats, or create microhabitats, that allow cultivation
of trees and other plants outside of there natural range. The increased biodiversity
resulting from homegarden cultivation creates refugia for plants as well as
animals that are drawn to the concentration of resources
Physical and psychological measures show
that three groups living off the same rainforest habitat manifest strikingly
distinct behaviors, cognitions and social relations relative to the forest.
Only the area's last elderly native Maya (Petén Itza') reveal systematic awareness
of ecological complexity involving animals, plants and people, and practices
clearly favoring forest regeneration. Spanish-speaking immigrants prove closer
to native Maya in thought, action and social networking than do immigrant Maya
(Q'eqchi'). There is no overriding "local," "Indian" or "immigrant," relationship
to the environment. Results indicate that exclusive concern with rational self-interest
and institutional constraints do not sufficiently account for commons behavior,
and that cultural patterning of cognition and access to relevant information
are significant predictors. For elderly male Itza', the expressed preferences
of forest spirits are significant components of behavioral and mental models
of the local ecology. Possibly Itza' (and others) "negotiate" with species as
intentional (subjectively defined) and relational entities, like enemies or
friends, and do not simply treat them as extensional, fungible objects, like
items in a shopping mall. From a long-term perspective, Itza' spirit preferences
may represent the statistical summary of mutually beneficial outcomes over generations
of human-species interactions. But new transgenerational data suggest that Itza'
language loss reliably corresponds to significantly degraded knowledge of how
the forest works among younger Itza'.
Maya home gardens, being of complex architectures
and phenologies, have long been recognized as repositories of native species
and the ethnobotanical traditions that pertain to them. They are biological
refuges, sometimes richer in species of flowering plants than the subtropical
forests that surround them (although many of these species are post contact
introductions from the Old World). Pastures and fence lines - Maya and otherwise
- also function as refuges (with fewer introductions), yet remain poorly studied.
We examine the phytosociology, the alpha diversity and the beta diversity of
Maya, Garifuna, Creole and Mestizo forest gardens, pastures and fence lines
in Central and Southern Belize, and evaluate their utility as refuges for native
species of flowering plants.
Traditionally, research on ancient civilizations
uses archaeological, physical, and recorded evidence to deduce facts about the
past. By adding the tools of geographic information systems (GIS) and the power
of spatial modeling we map and analyze likely past distributions of settlements
in the Maya Forest of Guatemala and Belize. We suggest that we can uncover the
patterns of past land uses based on smallholder farming choices. Our work expands
upon an existing UCSB Maya forest GIS, now available through Alexandria Digital
Library. Using this GIS, we develop a spatial model of Maya settlement to simulate
the land use and population distribution of the Maya during the Late Classic
period to explore the environmental consequences of the settlement and land
use patterns as conditions leading to the Maya collapse. Our first model is
presented for the local scale of the Belize River and. Our plan is to explore
the model at three spatial scales, with most detailed work at the site specific
scale focused at El Pilar.
In the last 50 years archaeologists working
in the Maya Lowlands have recovered a wealth of data concerning the organization
and ecology of the Classic Period settlement and agricultural landscapes. Despite
these advancements critical questions concerning the settlement ecology of Maya
sites remain unanswered or hotly debated. For example, we are not certain about
the processes that led to the distribution of households on the landscape during
the Classic Period. Simply, while we have developed numerous site specific and
regional inventories, we have yet to adequately compare the variety of evidence
and spatial patterns of households and associated agricultural production. Relying
on traditional field survey, remote sensing, soil analysis, and spatial modeling,
I first compare and contrast the settlement and agricultural landscapes of Caracol,
Belize and Tikal, Guatemala. Second, I reconstruct the household ecology/economy
of Late Classic farmsteads at Caracol and Tikal, evaluating the appropriateness
of a smallholder analogy and discussing the contribution of gardens to the overall
household economy. Two distinct but comparative patterns of settlement ecology
are seen for Caracol and Tikal. I argue that these patterns reflect both the
variable spatial distribution of available resources and the social organization
of agricultural production in each region.
We use multiple lines of evidence to understand
the formation and ancient use of patterned ground in perennial and seasonal
wetlands (bajo) in the karst depressions of Belize and Guatemala. Some argue
that some of these features are the remnants of ancient Maya wetland fields,
akin to chinampas, on which intensive cultivation sustained high populations
in the Maya Late Classic (A.D. 550-850). Others argue that these are partly
or wholly natural features. Still others maintain that they represent landscape
manipulation for rising sea level in the Preclassic (1000 B.C. to A.D. 200).
We present the evidence for ancient intensive agriculture and natural landscape
formation based on multiple proxies from thirty excavations, including artifacts,
pollen, soil chemistry and stratigraphy, and water chemistry. Evidence thus
far suggests that many regional depressions and all perennial wetlands have
Preclassic or earlier paleosols, buried from 1-2 m by two mechanisms: ancient
Maya induced erosion from uplands and precipitation of gypsum from rising groundwater.
The aggradation occurred largely from the Preclassic into the Classic, after
which Late Classic Maya farmers built an extensive network of ditches in pre-existing
lows. To test whether these wetlands contained forest gardens or non forest
crops, we use pollen, phytoliths, and carbon isotopes. Bajo sites do have carbon
isotopic evidence of C4 grasses in buried Classic period paleosols, but wetland
sites show evidence for continuous forest cover. Thus, stable natural processes,
environmental change, and human manipulation have acted together to form patterned
wetland ground over the later Holocene. And through the Maya Classic, wetland
fields largely remained forested, possibly containing forest gardens, while
bajos show more evidence of deforestation and cereal cropping.
Archaeological research has demonstrated
that the ancient Maya utilized a variety of agricultural techniques, to raise
food for their people, including raised fields, arboriculture, kitchen gardens,
and terracing. These varied techniques reflect a more sustainable approach to
agriculture in the tropics than the traditional swidden (slash-and-burn) farming
primarily utilized today, especially when populations are comparatively large
and sedentary. With the identification of these agricultural techniques, it
is now necessary to provide details of the chronology, construction, and use.
When and where were these technologies first constructed? Who built them, and
how? How did their use develop over time? Answering these questions will provide
us with a better understanding of how the ancient Maya were able to sustain
an agriculturally-based culture for thousands of years in the tropical forest.
Two genera of nonhuman primates, howler
monkeys (Alouatta palliata and A. pigra) and spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
currently reside throughout the area inhabited by the modern Maya. It has bee
suggested that the Classic Maya associated these monkeys, especially howlers,
with the arts exemplified in the Quiche Maya creation myth, the Popol Vuh, and
in depictions of monkey-men scribes on Late Classic (A.D. 550-900) ceramics.
This paper discusses evidence that capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) reside
within the southern most boundaries of the ancient Maya and may have extended
as far north as Belize within the last century. Supporting evidence is drawn
from historic accounts, artifact and faunal analysis, and linguistic data. It
is also proposed, based ion interspecific comparison of morphological and behavioral
characteristics, that capuchin monkeys are the animals represented in depictions
of monkey scribes.
the Guatemalan Petén Florida Museum of Natural
History, University of Florida. This paper will combine ancient biogeography,
habitat analysis, and stable isotopic research derived from zooarchaeological
analyses of faunal remains from archaeological sites in the Guatemalan Petén
to present a picture of ancient Maya environments through time in the region.
Paleolimnological research in the Petén lakes region of Guatemala has argued
for dramatic changes caused by human and climatic factors particularly at the
end of the Late Classic period (the "Maya collapse"). However, my early zooarchaeological
research from the Petexbatún region of Guatemala, only kilometers from the Petén
lakes, revealed evidence of biotic stability in that area. This new zooarchaeological
research from sites across the Guatemalan Petén will be used to test the question
of environmental change on a regional basis.
The study of ancient Maya protein sources
has long been overshadowed by the focus on maize consumption because of the
ecological significance of maize and its role in the development of intensive
agriculture. Adequate protein is, however, essential for the sustainability
of human demography and health, and many non-plant protein resources (e.g.,
terrestrial and marine) were also imbued with symbolic meaning. Isotopic techniques
of stable carbon isotope ratios in human skeletal collagen and apatite, and
nitrogen isotope ratios in bone collagen can reveal much about the nature of
Maya protein sources, including the source of protein consumed (?13C, ?15N),
the trophic level from which it is acquired (?15N), and the degree of carnivory
versus herbivory (?13Cap-col). These measures indicate considerable regional
and social variability in protein consumption. In this analysis, the relationship
between environment and the type of protein exploited by the Maya is explored,
along with factors affecting the choice of protein sources and their relative
importance in ancient Maya diets.
Much Maya research has studied water management,
but very little has studied water quality. Water chemistry reflects local land
uses and local and regional geology. Thus, it can supply a reliable link between
past and contemporary environmental conditions. This research analyzes the water
quality of the regions surrounding archaeological sites in northwestern Belize
and in northwest Yucatan, Mexico, to better understand Preclassic and Classic
period (ca 600 B.C.-900 A.D.) Maya land and water use potentials and possibilities
for contemporary water use in these regions. We explore quality complications
for crop types, including forests and orchards, in two main areas: Chunchucmil,
Mexico and the Three Rivers Region, Belize. Then we compare water quality across
the broader Maya Lowlands as a potential predictor of agricultural production.
We also consider the health implications of Maya populations and their groundwater
supplies. For the Three Rivers Region of Belize, our results show chemically
distinct water sources that include waters that are limited for agricultural
and domestic uses, and other waters that are acceptable for these uses. Water
chemistry also changed from the Preclassic into the Classic Period, which had
profound impacts on Maya land use. Around Chunchucmil we found that the water
chemistry also imposes limitations on agricultural and domestic uses. Here dense
populations lived a few meters above a slowly rising, karst water table, which
today with a lower population still has water-related diseases such as cholera.
In sum, we overview Maya Lowlands water quality and discuss two case studies
in Belize and Yucatan to understand better the agricultural limitations and
health implications influencing this tropical, karst civilization.
The Maya forest, once home to the ancient
Maya civilization, is now the focus of intense management scrutiny and pressures
of growing local land use needs. Adapting to the changing conditions and managing
with more flexible designs is a crucial requirement to meet both short-term
and long-term development objectives. To accomplish both resource conservation
and human development, innovative management planning with strategic and dynamic
designs need to be encouraged. This is precisely what the El Pilar Program has
been promoting. Over the past ten years, the innovations of the El Pilar Program
have constructed an interdisciplinary progressive strategy for the El Pilar
Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna. El Pilar is now destined as
a tourism destination, and the vision for that destination is to create new
and innovative management designs that are inclusive of the regional qualities
and the local traditions. The aim is to landscape the ancient monuments with
the forest garden practice.
The purpose of this paper is to present a perspective toward understanding
the characteristics and structure of tropical forest. It is argued that a
productive approach in historical ecology could be the development of a methodology
that allows the recognition of structures and composition in the forest that
are product of a human selection process in the past. Theoretically this approach
can be founded on the study of pattern and diversity recognition of the distributions
of species in mature forests. This could be identified as an ecofact of human
production in analogy to what fragments of ceramic are in relation to the
soil matrix. Patterns of patchiness of species distribution can be analyzed
as forest ecofacts that can be recognized in the matrix of forest landscapes
to be "living" fragments of human interventions on the landscape.
Discussants
Francesca Bray, U Edinburgh: Discussant on Sustainable
Development
Bill Havilland, U Vermont: Discussant on Archaeology