Were the ancient Maya an agricultural cautionary tale? Maybe not, new study suggests

!

The researchers surveyed an area in the Western Maya Lowlands. Credit: Andrew Scherer/Brown University

For years, climate scientists and ecologists have held up the agricultural practices of the ancient Maya as prime examples of what not to do.

"There's a narrative that depicts the Maya as people who engaged in unchecked agricultural development," said Andrew Scherer, an anthropologist at Brown University. "The narrative goes: The population grew too large, the agriculture scaled up, and then everything fell apart."

But a U.S. National Science Foundation-supported study, co-authored by Scherer and others, suggests that narrative doesn't tell the full story.

Using drones and lidar, a remote sensing technology, a team led by Scherer and Charles Golden of Brandeis University surveyed an area in the Western Maya Lowlands situated at today's border between Mexico and Guatemala.

Scherer's lidar survey -- and later boots-on-the-ground surveying -- revealed extensive systems of sophisticated irrigation and terracing in and outside the region's towns, but no huge population booms to match. The findings demonstrate that between A.D. 350 and 900, some Maya kingdoms were living comfortably, with sustainable agricultural systems and no demonstrated food insecurity.

"It's exciting to talk about the really large populations the Maya maintained in some places; to survive for so long with such density was a testament to their technological accomplishments," Scherer said. "But it's important to understand that that narrative doesn't translate across the whole of the Maya region. People weren't always living cheek to jowl. Some areas that had potential for agricultural development were never even occupied."

The findings were published in the journal Remote Sensing.

Scherer said he hopes the study provides a more nuanced view of the ancient Maya -- and perhaps even offers inspiration for members of the modern-day agricultural sector who are looking for sustainable ways to grow food for an ever-growing global population.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from U.S. National Science Foundation. Published by the U.S. National Science Foundation and, as a work of the United States government, in the public domain; material credited to others is left out.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.