Prehispanic water pressure: A New World first

French, Kirk D.; Duffy, Christopher

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.12.003

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In contrast, at Palenque the goal was drainage of excess water. This city had elaborate drainage systems in this wet region of Chiapas (French and Duffy, 2010;French et al, 2012).…”

Section: Water Management Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

Beach

Luzzadder–Beach

Cook

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

138

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tThe measure of the "Mayacene," a microcosm of the Early Anthropocene that occurred from c. 3000 to 1000 BP, comes from multiple Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental records. We synthesized the evidence for Maya impacts on climate, vegetation, hydrology and the lithosphere, from studies of soils, lakes, floodplains, wetlands and other ecosystems. Maya civilization had likely altered local to regional ecosystems and hydrology by the Preclassic Period (3000-1700 BP), but these impacts waned by 1000 BP. They altered ecosystems with vast urban and rural infrastructure that included thousands of reservoirs, wetland fields and canals, terraces, field ridges, and temples. Although there is abundant evidence that indicates the Maya altered their forests, even at the large urban complex of Tikal as much as 40% of the forest remained intact through the Classic period. Existing forests are still influenced by ancient Maya forest gardening, particularly by the large expanses of ancient stone structures, terraces, and wetland fields that form their substrates. A few studies suggest deforestation and other land uses probably also warmed and dried regional climate by the Classic Period (1700-1100 BP). A much larger body of research documents the Maya impacts on hydrology, in the form of dams, reservoirs, canals, eroded soils and urban design for runoff. Another metric of the "Mayacene" are paleosols, which contain chemical evidence for human occupation, revealed by high phosphorus concentrations and carbon isotope ratios of C 4 species like maize in the C 3 edominated tropical forest ecosystem. Paleosol sequences exhibit "Maya Clays," a facies that reflects a glut of rapidly eroded sediments that overlie pre-Maya paleosols. This stratigraphy is conspicuous in many dated soil profiles and marks the large-scale Maya transformation of the landscape in the Preclassic and Classic periods. Some of these also have increased phosphorous and carbon isotope evidence of C 4 species. We synthesize and provide new evidence of Maya-period soil strata that show elevated carbon isotope ratios (d 13 C), indicating the presence of C 4 species in typical agricultural sites. This is often the case in ancient Maya wetland systems, which also have abundant evidence for the presence of several other economic plant species. The "Mayacene" of c. 3000 to 1000 BP was thus a patchwork of cities, villages, roads, urban heat islands, intensive and extensive farmsteads, forests and orchards. Today, forests and wetlands cover much of the Maya area but like so many places, these are now under the onslaught of the deforestation, draining, and plowing of the present Anthropocene.

show abstract

“…In contrast, at Palenque the goal was drainage of excess water. This city had elaborate drainage systems in this wet region of Chiapas (French and Duffy, 2010;French et al, 2012).…”

Section: Water Management Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

Beach

Luzzadder–Beach

Cook

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

138

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2.2 km 2 ) constrained by the limited space available for urban development . This confinement created a much more chaotic and crowded layout than that of most other Maya centers and, when compared to other Maya centers with similar influence such as Tikal, exhibit remarkably different water management strategies . These topographic differences also enabled the Palencanos to live in close proximity to their agricultural resources versus the more dispersed layout found at Tikal.…”

Section: The Ancient Mayamentioning

confidence: 95%

Understanding ancient Maya water resources and the implications for a more sustainable future

French

Duffy

2014

WIREs Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Archeological research often provides a glimpse into the daily lives and generational outcomes of our collective past, but rarely does it lead to significant effects on living (and possibly future) populations. Understanding the impact early civilizations had on their environment has been an active area of study since the 1950s. As one of the most vital resources, water is central to many of these scholarly endeavors. Research has shown that land use is a primary factor on the functionality of a watershed. Our hypothesis is that simulating past climate and hydrology of a watershed with probable land use scenarios can create a virtual experiment to explore a range of conditions for water availability and use in prehistoric landscapes. The ancient Maya lived in a varied environment with highly seasonal precipitation and landscapes that required vastly different water management strategies. Many of these ancient centers maintained dense populations that ultimately forced unsustainable land use practices. Our approach is to apply simulated climate projections to evaluate the hydrologic performance of watersheds surrounding the Classic Maya sites of Palenque, Mexico and Tikal, Guatemala. An important conclusion from our work at Palenque is that virtual data can provide a plausible framework for assessing the sustainability of water use strategies, past and present. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change Science of Water > Water Extremes

show abstract

“…However, the recent discovering and description of a pressurized conduit by French and Duffy [37] in Palenque, from the Classic Maya period (ca. 250-600 AD), does not rule out the technical knowledge of the Mayans and their ability to build toilets.…”

Section: Pre-columbian America (Ca 2000 Bc-1500 Ad)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Maya had to deal mostly with seasonal lack of water and they needed to build storage reservoirs, but the people of Palenque had to cope with an excess of water on a limited terrain with steep slopes. Several technical solutions were applied, i.e., expanding the size of their plazas by 23% [37]. They had the ability to design and construct structures as pressurised conduits (aqueducts) and fountains.…”

Section: Pre-columbian America (Ca 2000 Bc-1500 Ad)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Toilets Worldwide through the Millennia

Antoniou

Feo

Fardin³

et al. 2016

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Throughout history, various civilizations developed methodologies for the collection and disposal of human waste. The methodologies throughout the centuries have been characterized by technological peaks on the one hand, and by the disappearance of the technologies and their reappearance on the other. The purpose of this article is to trace the development of sewage collection and transport with an emphasis on toilets in ancient civilizations. Evolution of the major achievements in the scientific fields of sanitation with emphasis on the lavatory (or toilets) technologies through the centuries up to the present are presented. Valuable insights into ancient wastewater technologies and management with their apparent characteristics of durability, adaptability to the environment, and sustainability are provided. Gradual steps improved the engineering results until the establishment of the contemporary toilet system, which provides a combined solution for flushing, odor control, and the sanitation of sewerage. Even though the lack of proper toilet facilities for a great percentage of the present day global population is an embarrassing fact, the worldwide efforts through millennia for the acquisition of a well-engineered toilet were connected to the cultural level of each period.

show abstract

Prehispanic water pressure: A New World first

Cited by 15 publications

References 5 publications

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

Understanding ancient Maya water resources and the implications for a more sustainable future

Evolution of Toilets Worldwide through the Millennia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About