Christian Isendahl

The Domestication and Early Spread of Manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz): A Brief Synthesis.

Owing to poor preservation of organic remains in humid environments, direct evidence of early manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cultivation is exceptionally rare in datable archaeological contexts. ...

Agro-urban landscapes : the example of Maya lowland cities

The author sets out to explain why Maya cities are so dispersed, with a ceremonial core surrounded by spacious neighbourhoods. Using the case study of Xuch, and the judicious application of phosphate analysis, he shows that these were clusters of farmsteads, growing food. Tackling the apparent confrontation of town and country in the same settlement he urges us to reconsider ‘urbanism’ as being too narrow a term in archaeology. Solutions that combine food production and ritual can be seen as increasingly diverse. The paper provides valuable reflections for archaeologists studying settlement evolution the world over.

THE WEIGHT OF WATER: A NEW LOOK AT PRE-HISPANIC PUUC MAYA WATER RESERVOIRS

Abstract In the Maya lowlands ancient water management was multi-componential, diverse across space, and shifted over time. In the seasonally dry Puuc region of the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula, large reservoirs dominated water management during the Late Classic to Early Postclassic periods (a.d. 600–1250). Research reported here suggests that reservoirs were central components of Puuc urban settlements and that natural depressions—from which water reservoirs could be made in the Puuc terrain—were key settlement attractors in the region. In particular, new evidence of the pre-Hispanic construction of a berm of monumental proportions along the perimeter of a water reservoir at Xuch—a Late Classic to Early Postclassic Puuc Maya agro-urban settlement in Campeche, Mexico—stresses the political, economic, and symbolic importance of water and water reservoirs in pre-Hispanic Maya communities, previously demonstrated by colleagues working elsewhere in the Maya lowlands. This article discusses the “weight” of water reservoirs in Classic period Puuc Maya landscapes, adds to the literature on water management in other regions of the Maya lowlands, and explores aspects of economy, power, environment, and cosmology in water management systems of the dry regions of the northern Yucatan Peninsula.

A distribution analysis of the central Maya lowlands ecoinformation network: its rises, falls, and changes

We report a study of central Maya lowland dynastic information networks, i.e., six cities’ external elite ceramic influences, and how they reflect the decision-making practices of Maya elites over 3000 years. Forest cover, i.e., Moraceae family pollen, was added to the network analysis to provide ecological boundary conditions, thus ecologically moderated information networks. Principal components analysis revealed three dominant patterns. First, the networking of interior cities into powerful polities in the Late Preclassic and Classic periods (400 BCE-800 CE). In a second pattern, coastal cities emerged as key entrepôts based on marine navigation (Terminal and Postclassic periods, 800-1500 CE). Climate dynamics and sustainability considerations facilitated the transition. Forest cover, a measure of ecosystem health, shows interior forests diminished as interior cities networked but rebounded as their networks declined. By contrast, coastal forests flourished with networks implying that the marine-based economy was sustainable. Third, in the Classic, the network-dominant coast, west or east, changed with interior polities’ political struggles, the critical transition occurring after 695 CE as Tikal gained dominance over the Calakmul-Caracol alliance. Beginning with the Late Preclassic about 2000 years ago, it is possible to assign names to the decision makers by referencing the growing literature on written Maya records. Although the detectable decision sequence evident in this analysis is very basic, we believe it does open possible avenues to much deeper understanding as the study proceeds into the future. The Integrated History and Future of People on Earth–Maya working group that sponsored the analysis anticipates that it will provide actionable social science intelligence for future decision making at the global scale.

Review of Scarborough, Vernon L. (2003) The Flow of Power: Ancient Water Systems and Landscapes. Santa Fe: SAR Press.

Review of Scarborough, Vernon L. (2003) The Flow of Power: Ancient Water Systems and Landscapes. Santa Fe: SAR Press.