El urbanismo de baja densidad en las Tierras Bajas Mayas: El caso de El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala

Abstract

Como ejemplos clave del urbanismo en el Nuevo Mundo indígena, las ciudades mayas son temas de gran trascendencia antropológica. A pesar de su importancia comparativa, durante gran parte del siglo veinte los centros mayas del Clásico (ca. 250-950 d.C.) han sido vistos como “no-ciudades”, capitales de entidades complejas, pero marcadas por la ausencia de una densidad característica de lugares puramente urbanos. Fletcher propuso que el urbanismo maya corresponde a un tipo urbano que denomina “urbanismo agrario de baja-densidad”; aunque, como todas las categorías tipológicas, también tiene debilidades. Este artículo presenta los resultados de más de diez años de investigación de la ciudad maya clásica de El Perú-Waka’, en Guatemala, con el fin de evaluar el modelo de Fletcher en el área maya. Los datos procedentes de Waka’ sugieren que, a pesar de que en general el modelo de Fletcher es ampliamente aplicable a las Tierras Bajas, es necesario volver a examinar diversos supuestos sobre las ciudades mayas.

Combining Survey, Soil Coring, and GIS Methods to Improve Reservoir Capacity Estimates in the Maya Lowlands

“…Survey data describe a midsize monumental core embedded within a dense residential matrix, enveloped by a ring of periurban settlement and basins, and surrounded by a broader area of dispersed rural upland settlement dotted by satellite centers of mid- to small-sized monumental architecture (Marken, Ricker, et al 2019). This general characterization of the regional settlement is confirmed by ground verification of a recent lidar survey of the area (Canuto et al 2018; Marken et al 2020).…”

“…The most striking aspect of Waka’ as a Maya city, however, is the dense clustering of its residential surface remains (Marken 2015; Marken and Maxson 2017; Marken and Pérez 2018); few Classic Maya sites exhibit such a high structure density (Canuto et al 2018). Moreover, a variety of landscape features, as identified by archaeological survey and mapping, spill out from the urban core and clearly integrate the city's hinterland settlement into the urban fabric of Waka’ (Marken 2015).…”

“…Recent fieldwork has investigated the coupled nature of how this modified ecological landscape developed through the combined study of topography, archaeological stratigraphy, and soil morphology within nonarchitectural landscape features, particularly where water collects, as suggested by hydrologic analysis of water flow—that is, reservoirs (Marken, Ricker, et al 2019; Maxson and Marken 2018). These dual goals were accomplished by acquiring data from (1) detailed topographic mapping with a Total Station, (2) soil core transects and test excavations within six previously identified reservoirs, and (3) archaeological excavation of engineering features adjacent to these reservoirs (Marken 2011; Marken, Austin, et al 2019; Marken and Cooper 2018; Marken and Ricker 2018; Ricker et al 2017, 2018, 2019).…”

“…With no easily accessible natural potable water resources to support the 2,800–4,500 people living within the Classic period Waka’ urban core (Marken 2011; Marken et al 2020), inhabitants modified naturally occurring karst depressions across their urban landscape into reservoirs to capture rainwater for household and community use. Surface hydrology indicates that an additional management function of this built landscape was to prevent the flooding of public and residential spaces during periods of intense rainfall by engineering urban surfaces to direct rainwater either into these catchment features or out of the city core entirely (Maxson and Marken 2018).…”

UNDERGROUND PITS (CHULTUNES) IN THE SOUTHERN MAYA LOWLANDS: EXCAVATION RESULTS FROM CLASSIC PERIOD MAYA SITES IN NORTHWESTERN PETÉN

“…The third chultun from this site was located in association with Group LDT 108, circa 0.70 kilometers south from the main site (Marken 2009). The group consists of five structures, which together form a small hamlet or residential unit.…”