Newly revealed Maya farming hotspots hold key to ancient culture
Newly revealed Maya farming hotspots hold key to ancient culture
Surprising location may help scientists better estimate ancient population
Yahoo! News
June 25, 2013
BYU researchers have dug up new evidence from an ancient Maya city that may help solve the mystery of just how many people lived in the civilization.
Using soil chemistry, combined with advanced remote sensing and satellite imagery, the researchers have pinpointed for the first time where Maya farmers in Tikal, Guatemala, carried out some of their most significant crop production.
The location of the prime farmland indicates that the Maya population at Tikal may have been much different than previously thought.
“Our soil analysis is finding that Mayas did not grow maize heavily on the hillsides, but rather along the borders of the low-lying wetlands called bajos,” said BYU soil scientist Richard Terry. “Knowing where they grew corn gives us a clearer picture about their civilization unknown until now.”
The finding in Guatemala comes at the same time separate researchers have discovered a lost Maya civilization in the Mexican jungle.
More:
http://news.byu.edu/archive13-jun-mayafarming.aspx