A Classic Maya House-Lot Drainage System in Northwestern Belize

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4374280
AutoresJon C Lohse (0000-0002-7900-7664), Patrick N Findlay
Año2000
Volumen11
Número2
Páginas175-185
Fecha de publicación2000-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLatin American Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1045-6635 • E-ISSN: 2325-5080
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/971854
OpenAlexW2333515657
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas19

Off-mound excavations at a residential group near the site of Dos Hombres, Belize have revealed a series of unusual modifications to the limestone bedrock. The primary purpose of these modifications appears to have been to facilitate drainage of excess surface and subsurface moisture during periods of heavy rain. By utilizing a variation of lithic mulching in the soil, however, the Maya also may have been able to slow the loss of moisture through evaporation during lengthy dry periods. We suggest that these finds reflect soil and water management in house-lot gardening, and that these measures were necessary to overcome localized geologic, pedologic, and regional climatologic conditions. The use of such a drainage system together with gravel fill at the household level is previously unreported in the Maya Lowlands, and represents an important line of inquiry into gardens as ancient agricultural production systems

Archaeology · Bedrock · Drainage · Drainage system (geomorphology · Excavation · Geography · Geomorphology · Geotechnical engineering · Hydrology (agriculture · Maya · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Tree-ring climate responses · Ecology · Geology