The Nature and Origins of Linear Features in the Bajo de Azúcar, Guatemala: Implications for Ancient Maya Adaptation to a Changing Environment

Abstract

Scholars have long puzzled over the ancient human use of swampy depressions (bajos) in the interior part of the Maya Lowlands. Part of this debate has centered on the reputed, but undocumented, existence of canals in the bajos of the northeastern Peten District of Guatemala. We report on the use of satellite imagery along with fieldwork to reveal numerous linear features in the Bajo de Azúcar, the largest bajo in the northeast Peten. We conducted ground‐truthing and excavation at three linear features in two separate trips into the bajo. We also calculated sinuosity of channel segments using IKONOS and QuickBird satellite images. Our investigations indicate that the linear features are partly natural in origin, but some segments were either modified or are solely the product of human activity. We surmise that the canals most likely functioned principally to facilitate transportation across the bajo, though other uses are also possible, including drainage, water storage, and aquaculture. These uses were likely devised as responses to environmental change, population growth, and associated rising economic demands.

Zeolite water purification at Tikal, an ancient Maya city in Guatemala

“…The Corriental water filtration system was composed of clinoptilolite, mordenite, and coarse to very coarse sand-sized euhedral quartz crystals. These zeolites and macro-crystalline quartz are likely derived from a coarsely crystalline Upper Cretaceous tuff stratum exposed along lower margins of deep scarps defining the Bajo de www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Azúcar located ~ 30 km northeast of Tikal, where it forms an aquifer known locally for its clean water 24 (Sections S4, S8). The filtration system was likely held behind dry-laid stone walls with the zeolites and macrocrystalline sand-sized quartz crystals further constrained with woven petate (woven reed or palm fiber matting) or other perishable porous material positioned just upstream of, or within the reservoir ingresses, which were periodically ejected into the reservoir during flash floods caused by tropical cyclones [12][13][14]17 (Section S9).…”

“…While clinoptilolite and mordenite are not locally available at Tikal, they occur in volcanic rock cavities in western Guatemala where there are active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes 19 , 21 , 22 . Clinoptilolite and mordenite have also been discovered in a coarse crystalline Cretaceous-Tertiary tuff exposed northeast of Tikal where clean potable water discharges 23 , 24 . The co-occurrence of macro-crystalline euhedral quartz, zeolite, and clean drinking water was likely the symbolic connection and empirical basis for the Maya choosing to mine this resource 24 , 25 .…”

“…Clinoptilolite and mordenite have also been discovered in a coarse crystalline Cretaceous-Tertiary tuff exposed northeast of Tikal where clean potable water discharges 23 , 24 . The co-occurrence of macro-crystalline euhedral quartz, zeolite, and clean drinking water was likely the symbolic connection and empirical basis for the Maya choosing to mine this resource 24 , 25 .

Figure 3 Chronostratigraphy of the Corriental reservoir.

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The Development of Landesque Capital in the Maya Lowlands During the Middle Preclassic

“…Agricultural features are difficult to identify in general and especially difficult to date, and those dated to the Middle Preclassic, through either ceramic identifications or radiocarbon dating, are particularly scarce. What we do know is primarily derived from excavations in the Southern Lowlands (Beach et al 2008; Dunning and Beach 2010; Dunning et al 2008; Hansen et al 2002; Jacob 1995; Pohl et al 1990, 1996).…”

La supervivencia y desarrollo de plántulas de Brosimum alicastrum (Moraceae) y Psidium sartorianum (Myrtaceae) difieren en condiciones de inundación

“…En el sur de Campeche, México, Brosimum alicastrum es abundante en los lomeríos rocosos y bien drenados en donde se desarrollan rodales de selva mediana subcaducifolia, mientras que Psidium sartorianum es abundante en las depresiones o bajos inundables conformados por rodales de selva baja subperennifolia o selva baja inundable (Miranda y Hernández X., 1963;Vega-López et al, 2003;Pennington y Sarukhán, 2005). Ambas unidades del paisaje están separadas por distancias menores a 250 metros y pueden ser claramente identificadas y delimitadas por sus atributos topográficos, geomorfológicos y edáficos (Duch-Gary, 1989;Beach et al, 2008Beach et al, , 2016Dunning et al, 2016). La escasa distancia que separa dichas unidades del paisaje posibilita la dispersión de semillas desde los bajos hacia los lomeríos circundantes y viceversa; en consecuencia, brinda la posibilidad de que las especies se establezcan en el hábitat vecino o que su establecimiento pueda ser limitado por la acción de un filtro ambiental.…”