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

博士论文改进补助金：亚拉豪地区湿地调查；

• 批准号: 1003930
• 负责人: Scott Fedick
• 金额: $ 2万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-05-01 至 2012-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1003930&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Yalahau

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.

湿地是地球上生物生产力最高、最多样化的生态系统之一。 古玛雅人重视湿地的有机土壤，全年供水，水生动物和植物。 湿地被选为最早的农耕地点，也是集约农业发展的地点。 由丹尼尔伦纳德在斯科特·L.费迪克将调查古代玛雅人对墨西哥尤卡坦半岛东北角湿地的利用。 在干旱的尤卡坦北方地区，亚拉豪地区以其广泛的淡水湿地网络和高度的生物多样性而引人注目。 该项目将评估湿地耕作的范围，并在整个Yalahau地区湿地生态系统变化的背景下对其进行评估。 墨西哥低地的玛雅农民所处的环境错综复杂，为土地利用和粮食生产创造了各种机会，也造成了各种限制。 该项目将促进对古代玛雅湿地农业的了解，特别是在使用的不同技术和开发的环境范围方面。 此外，这项研究将有助于人类与环境相互作用以及气候变化和地下水位波动对农业战略，定居模式和人口变化的影响的数据库不断增长。 Yalahau玛雅人在公元前100年至公元450年之间建造了他们最大的城市，并在湿地上耕种。 古代玛雅人对亚拉豪湿地的使用可以通过之前在位于埃登生态保护区的湿地中记录的许多人工岩石排列来证明。 岩石排列代表了玛雅农业工程的一种新形式，但目前尚不清楚这项技术是否会延伸到埃登以外的亚拉豪系统的其他173个湿地中的任何一个。 这项研究提出，玛雅人从事粮食生产的湿地具有特殊的土壤特性和洪水制度。 有人进一步建议，在湿地内，岩石线是建立在某些位置根据其功能和使用时序。 调查包括25-30个湿地样本，代表湿地大小和植物群落的范围。 伦纳德先生将利用卫星图像绘图和地面勘测，收集关于岩石排列、植被群落、土壤类型和深度以及地形的数据。 将岩石对齐与不同的环境参数相关联将有助于识别对齐的可能功能（例如，土壤陷阱，鱼堰，水转移，堤坝保护种植区）。 该项目的更广泛影响包括对来自墨西哥和美国的本科生和研究生进行考古调查和绘图方面的培训。 该项目推进了与墨西哥几所大学的植物学家、土壤科学家和生态学家的持续合作。 伦纳德先生还将与保护生物学家和几个当地玛雅生态旅游机构密切合作，这些机构对保护自然和文化资源不受与坎昆-图卢姆旅游走廊有关的土地开发和蓄水层抽水的影响感兴趣。 目前正在努力提名将亚拉豪湿地系统列入《拉姆萨尔公约》的国际重要湿地名单，该项目产生的环境和考古数据将大大有助于这些保护工作。