User:Deesguy1/Maya Raised-Field Agriculture

Raised-field agriculture was a strategy used by ancient Mayas to produce various kinds of foods, such as maize, beans, and squash. Since the Spanish Conquest, this methodology has also been used to produce cotton and rice.

Definition

Raised fields are artificial platforms of soil created to protect crops from flooding. They are generally found in areas of permanent high water table or seasonal flooding. The addition of mounded soil together with canals for drainage increases the depth of the rich topsoil available to plants. In the process of building raised fields, canals are excavated adjacent to and between fields. These depressions fill with water during the growing season and provide irrigation when necessary. Decomposing aquatic plants and nutrients captured in the canals provide a fertile muck or green manure for periodically renewing the soils of the platforms. Raised fields are highly productive and, if managed properly, can be planted and harvested for many years. The benefits of raised-field agriculture are that they represent renewable resources, allow for better conservation of these resources, play a critical role in the management of ecological relationships, and empower farmers to manage whole systems and maximize long-term benefits.

Ecology

Mayas built raised field systems in various wetland environments in Belize, the Petén Basin, and coastal regions of southeastern Mexico. These areas are subjected to long rainy seasons with intermittent dry periods. Although the higher elevations in these regions are 100 m or less above sea level, most rainwater runs into the low lying drainage basins, supplying a constant source of irrigation to the fields. This allows for two to four harvests a year, depending on the crop.

The annual precipitation for the Yucatán Peninsula is 2000 millimeters, 76% of this coming between May and October. Management of the wetland systems requires limiting water in times of inundation and extending the cropping season in times of drought.

Quintana Roo, Mexico

In the lowland region that includes Bajo Morocoy, in Quintana Roo, Mexico, remnants of ancient canals and raised gardens have been found that demonstrate techniques sustained from 800 BC to AD 200. The majority of the terrain lies at elevations ranging from 0 to 150 m above sea level.Using canals , raised gardens and other water management structures, the Maya were able to turn 20,000 ha of marsh and swamp into productive farm land.

Pulltrouser Swamp, Belize

Three settlements have been discovered at Pulltrouser Swamp, Belize, in a lowland region in which raised fields were used between at least 400 BC and AD 850. There are three different size canals that run around these raised gardens:

• Large Canals (7-10 m wide)
• Medium Canals (4 m wide)
• Small Canals (2-3 m wide)

The development of the Pulltrouser field network coincides with the growth of the Maya population and presumably, with the demand for agricultural production throughout northern Belize. Several habitation sites, such as Kokeal, are located adjacent to the swamp. The specifics of the temporal relationships between the population sizes associated with these sites and the development of the depression require refinement. The raised-field system at Pulltrouser was probably abandoned some time in the Terminal Classic about AD 850.

Construction

Traditional Methods

Raised fields are essentially big piles of soil. They are created by raising large, low platforms of topsoil flanked by water. Ditches were excavated around an area and the soil pitched up to form a mound surrounded by a canal for irrigation. Mayas excavated canals down to the bottom of the topsoil layers and formed platforms by mounding the removed soil to create a planting surface between the canals.

Sustainability

This system is sustainable because the soil is replenished with green manure. This is generated from cleaning the canals that flank the raised garden. The silt and decomposing vegetation serves as a natural fertilizer, which enhances and prolongs the productivity of the garden. Periodic cleaning of canals returns rich soils to the planting platforms. Soil studies demonstrate that nitrogen levels were highest on the platforms and dropped off rapidly with increased depth. Maize yields are over four times greater in these traditional indigenous farming systems compared to adjacent fields that have been cleared, drained and farmed using modern techniques. This method is practiced to this day.