Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Yalahau Regional Wetland Survey; Ancient Maya Land Use in Northern Quintana Roo, Mexico

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Wetlands represent some of the most biologically productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet. The ancient Maya valued wetlands for their organic soils, year-around water supply, and aquatic animals and plants. Wetlands were selected as some of the earliest farming locations, and also sites where intensive agriculture was developed. The Yalahau Regional Wetland Survey, conducted by Daniel Leonard under the supervision of Dr. Scott L. Fedick, will investigate ancient Maya use of wetlands in the northeastern corner of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. In the context of the dry northern Yucatán, the Yalahau region stands out with an extensive network of freshwater wetlands and high levels of biodiversity. This project will assess the extent of wetland farming and evaluate it in the context of wetland ecosystem variation across the Yalahau region. Maya farmers in the lowlands of Mexico were presented with a mosaic of environments creating various opportunities and constraints for land use and food production. This project will advance understanding of ancient Maya wetland farming, especially in terms of the different techniques used and the range of environments exploited. Additionally, this research will contribute to a growing corpus of data on human-environmental interaction and the effects of climate change and water table fluctuations on agricultural strategies, settlement patterns, and demographic shifts. The Yalahau Maya built their largest cities and farmed the wetlands primarily between 100 B.C. and A.D. 450. Ancient Maya use of the Yalahau wetlands is indicated by numerous constructed rock alignments previously documented in a wetland located in the El Edén Ecological Reserve. Rock alignments represent a new form of Maya agro-engineering, but it is unknown whether this technology extends beyond El Edén to any of the other 173 wetlands in the Yalahau system. This study proposes that Maya engaged in food production in wetlands with particular soil characteristics and flooding regimes. It is further proposed that within wetlands, rock alignments were built at certain locations in accordance with their function and chronology of use. The survey includes a sample of 25-30 wetlands representing the range of wetland sizes and plant communities. Through use of satellite image-based mapping and ground survey, Mr. Leonard will collect data on rock alignments, vegetation communities, soil types and depths, and topography. Correlating rock alignments with different environmental parameters will help identify possible functions of alignments (e.g., soil traps, fish weirs, water diversions, dikes to protect planting areas). The broader impacts of this project include the training of undergraduate and graduate students from Mexico and the United States in archaeological survey and mapping. This project advances ongoing collaboration with botanists, soil scientists, and ecologists from several universities in Mexico. Mr. Leonard will also work closely with conservation biologists and several local Maya ecotourism outfits interested in protecting natural and cultural resources from land development and aquifer pumping associated with the Cancun-Tulum tourist corridor. Efforts are underway to nominate the Yalahau wetland system for inclusion in the Ramsar Convention's List of Wetlands of International Importance, and the environmental and archaeological data generated by the project will contribute substantially to these conservation efforts.