Ancient Maya water management, agriculture, and society in the area of Chactún, Campeche, Mexico

AbstractAguadas, either natural or human-made ponds, were significant sources of water for the ancient Maya. Aguadas are common features in the Maya Lowlands and make valuable locations for collecting archaeological and paleoenvironmental data. This article discusses research conducted at four aguadas around two adjacent Maya sites, San Bartolo and Xultun in Peten, Guatemala. Both San Bartolo and Xultun were established during the Preclassic period. However, the fates of the two sites differed, as Xultun continued to prosper while the city of San Bartolo was abandoned near the close of the Late Preclassic period. We argue that aguadas provide important clues for understanding the fate of these two ancient communities and many others in the Maya Lowlands.

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Classic Maya Wells at Quiriguá, Guatemala: Household Facilities in a Water-Rich Setting

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/280519 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 147-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Wendy Ashmore

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Eighth Century ◽

Classic Maya ◽

Ancient Maya ◽

Water Supplies

Studies of ancient Maya water management tend to emphasize consideration of features related either to agriculture or to the provision of communal water supplies in water-poor settings. Ceramic-lined wells in eighth-century Quiriguá, however, constituted household facilities of standardized form, distributed widely in a community where water supplies were always readily available. These wells both expand our knowledge of specialized Maya hydraulic technology and remind us that such inventions are not always the result of threats to survival.

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Sposoby gromadzenia oraz magazynowania zasobów wodnych w klasycznej kulturze nizinnych majów (iii–ix/x wiek n.e.)

Studia Europaea Gnesnensia ◽

10.14746/seg.2014.10.2 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 31-52

Author(s):

Kajetan Jagodziński

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Central America ◽

Indigenous Population ◽

Water Storage ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Main Task ◽

Ancient Maya ◽

Normal Functioning ◽

Water Lily ◽

Short Supply

Ththe Maya, Central America, water, water management, aguadas, chultunes, water lily, ancient civilisations e main task of this paper is to demonstrate how the ancient Maya solved the problem of collecting and storing water, which due to geological and hydrological conditions was in very short supply at a certain period. For this reason, the indigenous population developed a range of methods which enabled them to resolve the problem; for instance, they built reservoirs or utilised natural hollows to increase the capacity of water storage. This study aims to present their major hydrotechnological measures, which permitted normal functioning of a society in the very demanding climatic conditions.

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