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Swamps, canals, and the locations of ancient Maya cities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

R. E. W. Adams
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Extract

The recent radar mapping discovery of widely distributed patterns of intensive agriculture in the southern Maya lowlands provides new perspectives on classic Maya civilization. Swamps seem to have been drained, modified, and intensively cultivated in a large number of zones. The largest sites of Maya civilization are located on the edges of swamps. By combining radar data with topographic information, it is possible to suggest the reasons for the choice of urban locations. With the addition of patterns elicited from rank-ordering of Maya cities, it is also possible to suggest more accurate means of defining Classic period Maya polities.

Type
Articles
Information
Antiquity , Volume 54 , Issue 212 , November 1980 , pp. 206 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1980

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