Prehistoric Maya wetland agriculture and the alluvial soils near San Antonio Rio Hondo, Belize

Abstract

The prehistoric Lowland Maya supported an elaborate civilization, which reached peak population densities in the tropical forests of Guatemala, Belize and southern Mexico during the Classic period between AD 300 and 900. It has been proposed that the Maya turned to labour-intensive construction of raised planting platforms in wetlands for year-round cultivation. Excavations at San Antonio Rio Hondo, northern Belize¹, provided the first archaeological data for this hypothesis. In our analysis of data from the San Antonio site, we conclude that the only indisputable evidence that prehistoric wetland cultivation occurred comes from a time before peak population of the Classic period, and that the technique required less labour than previously envisioned. Exploitation of swampy terrain initially involved dry-season cropping without extensive ditching and later ditching, probably for soil drainage.