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

湿地代表了地球上一些最具生物生产力和多样性的生态系统。古玛雅人珍视湿地，因为它有有机土壤、全年供水和水生动植物。湿地被选为最早的农业地点，也是集约化农业发展的地点。由丹尼尔·伦纳德在斯科特·l·费迪克博士的监督下进行的亚拉豪地区湿地调查将调查古玛雅人对墨西哥Yucatán半岛东北角湿地的利用。在干旱的北部Yucatán的背景下，Yalahau地区因其广泛的淡水湿地网络和高水平的生物多样性而脱颖而出。本项目将评估湿地养殖的范围，并在整个雅拉豪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面临着各种各样的环境，为土地利用和粮食生产创造了各种机会和限制。该项目将促进对古玛雅湿地农业的了解，特别是在使用不同技术和开发环境方面。此外，这项研究将有助于增加关于人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。雅拉豪玛雅人主要在公元前100年至公元450年间建造了他们最大的城市，并在湿地上耕种。古玛雅人对Yalahau湿地的利用，可以从先前在El ed<s:1>生态保护区的湿地中记录的大量建造的岩石排列中得到证明。岩石排列代表了玛雅农业工程的一种新形式，但目前尚不清楚这种技术是否会延伸到埃尔埃德萨姆以外的其他173个亚拉豪湿地。这项研究表明，玛雅人在具有特殊土壤特征和洪水状况的湿地从事粮食生产。进一步提出，在湿地内，根据其功能和使用年代，在某些位置建立岩石排列。该调查包括25-30个湿地样本，代表了湿地大小和植物群落的范围。通过使用基于卫星图像的测绘和地面调查，伦纳德先生将收集有关岩石排列、植被群落、土壤类型和深度以及地形的数据。将岩石排列与不同的环境参数相关联将有助于确定排列的可能功能（例如，土壤陷阱、鱼堰、引水、保护种植区的堤防）。这个项目的更广泛影响包括对墨西哥和美国的本科生和研究生进行考古调查和制图方面的培训。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正在进行的合作。伦纳德还将与自然保护生物学家和几个当地玛雅生态旅游组织密切合作，这些组织对保护自然和文化资源不受坎昆-图卢姆旅游走廊相关土地开发和含水层抽水的影响感兴趣。目前正在努力将雅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对这些保护工作作出重大贡献。

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.