Hydraulics, Cacao, and Complex Developments at Preclassic Chocolá, Guatemala: Evidence and Implications

Abstract

Investigations begun in 2003 and continued through 2005 at Chocolá, in Southwestern Guatemala, have determined the existence of an extensive Preclassic network of well-engineered subterranean canals. The hydraulics discovered at the site, as well as other findings, add to long-standing evidence of Preclassic developments in the site's immediate region. While I consider an impressive Preclassic hydraulic system proven for Chocolá, a similarly early industry of cacao—a high-water demand plant of pan-Mesoamerican importance and native to the region—is discussed here admittedly only as a plausible hypothesis, based on copious ethnohistoric attestation but also on the long-known but disparate evidence of a temporal priority to many developments considered key to later Classic Maya civilization that are found in the Southern Maya area.

The Izapa Kingdom's Capital: Formative Period Settlement Patterns, Population, and Dating Low-Relief Stelae

“…There are no low-relief stelae at El Ujuxte, and Kaminaljuyu has few such sculptures, such as Stelae 8, 10, 11, and 19 and Monument 65. Takalik Abaj also has a few sculptures, such as Stelae 1 and 4; Chocolá (Kaplan 2008) and El Jobo (Shook 1965) each have one. In contrast, at Izapa, there are dozens and dozens of carved stelae in this style in various states of disrepair.…”

Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century: A Review

“…Kaminaljuyu, a close political and economic ally of Teotihuacan in highland Guatemala, also adopted an irrigation system (Popenoe de Hatch et al., 2002). Irrigation was also important in other areas including the Pacific piedmont of Guatemala and Chiapas, where it was used to facilitate cacao cultivation (Kaplan, ).…”