Current Considerations

With this information, scholarly debates have turned to the social organization of agricultural production (Demarest 2004:148-174; Dunning 2004; Kunen 2004;

Scarborough et al. 2003). Questions that are still unanswered include: did agricultural specialists produce food for elite or craft specialists? Did urbanization at large sites (e.g. Tikal and Calakmul) necessitated reorganization of agricultural production in

surrounding rural villages? Did smaller settlements specialize in certain forms of agricultural production, with goods being exchanged through a regional marketing system? (Fedick 2010:48). These questions can be aided by the use of modeling and analysis of spatial relationships between farmers and the land resources they utilize, as well as the relationship between agricultural producers and consumers. Demographic and political change generally result in the necessity to reorganize agricultural production, and diachronic studies of agricultural techniques in conjunction with longitudinal research related to changing social and political structures in the Maya Lowlands could

be particularly fruitful. In addition, natural climate cycles or environmental changes induced by human impact require reorganization, including alterations in agricultural techniques (Beach et al. 2003; Dunning and Beach 2000; Gill 2000). It is also important to consider how well-suited a particular area of land is for production crops as well as where crops are grown in relation to the consumers of food production - are they being grown in larger fields outside of the site core? To what extent are crops (and which crops) are grown in proximity to households (see below; Robin 2012, 2013). Are decisions concerning agricultural land made by independent farming households seeking to fulfill their own subsistence needs (i.e. are there any social or economic forces beyond the needs of household subsistence that shape the relationship between farmers and the landscape in which they live and work? (LeCount, upcoming paper)

Other considerations include larger anthropological issues such as gender division and household and community diversity (Kunen 2004; Neff 2002; Robin 2002, 2003, 2006). In her 2006 article, for instance, Robin reassesses ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological data in order to challenge previously held notions of ancient Maya gender and in-field/out-field dichotomies based on biased ethnographic analogies. The in-

field/out-field system (Chase and Chase 1998; Robin 2012, 2013) refers to the spatial distribution of different types of agricultural production, in which it has been argued that more intensive agriculture (i.e. the main source of subsistence for a population, such as the milpa) are located in the hinterlands (out-field) while less intensive agricultural production (e.g. kitchen gardens) occur close to the household. More specifically, Robin attempts to deconstruct the importance placed on segregated spaces in past research,

which she argues assumes specific home/private and work/public spheres and the presumed necessity for standardization in these spheres. This argument echoes her 2003 article, in which she argues that that it is important to understand social diversity apparent among households (and presumably their agricultural strategies) in order to further

understand ordinary people, and thus get a more holistic view of ancient Maya society in general (2003:307). Neff (2002) also pushes against the generalization that work routines differ between men and women in the agricultural domain, and attempts to clarify

division of agricultural labor in Maya Lowland terrace agriculture, but comes to a different conclusion.

Using ethnohistoric, ethnographic, and archaeological data, Neff (2002) finds that the modern and ancient Maya gender ideology associating men with agricultural work occurring away from the household existed in the archaeological past for over 1,000 years, and argues that cultural tradition with respect to family size and child care systems within an intensive agricultural setting has defined the role of women’s work, particularly in reference to working near the home. Thus, while noting women still performed a great deal of agricultural work, Neff posits that agriculture occurring away from the home was and still is symbolically and ideologically associated with men. Other authors have taken a broader approach by conducting regional investigations of ancient Maya land and water management strategies and applying it to larger social problems, such as Kunen and her work on the Far West Bajo in northwestern Belize. Research relating to agriculture in wet environments leads Kunen to introduce the concept of “resource-specialized

specializing in the extraction and use of resources concentrated in the bajo landscape (i.e. soils and water).

Land evaluation is also particularly important in understanding agricultural strategies, especially in reference to describing, quantifying, and classifying elements of the landscape important to plant growth. Topography, for instance, influences soil development, often in the form of basins in which disintegrating bedrock, sediments and organic debris can accumulate. Sloping surfaces from which potential soil-forming materials may collect at a slower rate or are subject to erosion, making the rate of soil formation and depth of soils formed to vary closely with topography. The use of terracing and water channeling (as is evident at Actuncan) is particularly important in reference to the topography of the area. Climate studies also provide information on the biotic

component of soil formation, which allows for an understanding of the rate at which plant matter is added to developing soil, though, as will be discussed further, questions

regarding climate and plant matter is difficult to answer in contexts related to later time periods still associated with humus layers.

In addition, with the emergence of global warming and the continued increase in the world population, resource management and the development of better agricultural techniques have become topics of considerable research interest more generally, and archaeology provides a unique perspective on such issues (e.g. Faust 2001). Researchers investigating ancient Maya agriculture have been particularly interested in studying the multiple agricultural technologies utilized in different parts of the Maya area, often with the explicit goal of aiding modern-day populations living in the tropics (e.g. Dahlin et al.

2005; Fedick and Morrison 2004; Goméz-Pompa and Kaus 1992; 1999; Whitmore and Turner 1992). While tropical regions contain a diverse mosaic of natural resources including vegetation and water sources, they are also very fragile environments, subject to intense weather patterns (including torrential rainfall and periods of drought) and environmental degradation. In the Maya lowlands, for instance, hillslope soils are generally well-drained and fertile, but shallow and subject to erosion, particularly when cleared of vegetation (Turner 1979:106). Over time, cultivation of these soils reduces nutrient levels, which must be maintained if successful cropping is to continue. Regulation of soil moisture levels is also necessary, and includes both management of runoff during heavy rains and conservation of soil moisture during periods of dryness. As a result, it has become imperative for scholars, including those studying the ancient Maya, to understand the effects of anthropogenic change and agriculture on different environments.

The study of traditional soil knowledge, or ethnopedology, has also proven useful (Niemeijer and Mazzuccato 2003; Pawluk et al. 1992; Winklerprins 1999). The Maya Lowlands contain different soil classification schemes (Barrera-Bassols 2004; Carter 1969; Dunning 1992; Isendahl 2002; Winklerprin 1999), as is evident in the classification of yeso – a soft, white gypsum-laden clay found at Actuncan, which is discussed in more detail in other chapters. It is also important to connect these soils with modern

classification of soils that see focus on soils as the end products of soil formation processes. Ethnobotanical studies have proven to be highly productive within Mexico, and the diverse biology, ecology, and culture seen in Mexico can be applied to other

areas (like the Maya Lowlands) in Central America. While a long history of ethnobotany can be traced back even to Colonial texts (Guevara et al. 1993), Mexican scholars have also implemented ethnography in order to understand traditional tropical agricultural technology – a science referred to as applied ethnobotany (Barrera 1979; Goméz-Pompa 1993; Goméz-Pompa et al. 2003), which also has its roots in Ecuador and Peru.

Information regarding botanical studies has also been used in a database, with a list of Mexican plants that can be accessed throughout the world (Goméz-Pompa 1993; Toledo et al. 1995).

Archaeologists have also begun to implement new analytical methodologies. Paleoethnobotany, generally described as the study of the interrelations of humans and plants in the past (Jones 1941:220; Pearsall 2015:27), has undergone rapid development in recent decades, due in large part to the emergence of new scientific techniques.

Increasingly, the impact of humans on landscapes is studied directly, through the analysis of pollen, phytoliths, and charcoal, especially preserved in lake cores. New ways of using archaeological plant remains to elucidate the nature of human-plant relations have also been developed, such as the use of wood charcoal to indicate environmental disturbances and as a source of data for vegetation reconstruction (Pearsall 2010:6). The geographic origin of plant remains found in archaeological deposits also provides a potential source of information on cultural contacts (see below), including trade relationships. In terms of new field and laboratory techniques, macroremain analysis has become increasingly important due to innovations and refinements in recovery techniques. Analyses of organic residues, starch grains, and DNA have also become more common, including trace

element analysis of charred cooking residues to determine food source. Hall et al. (1990), for example, were able to find cacao residues in ancient Maya vessels from Rio Azul in Guatemala. Chemical residues in soils have also been utilized in order to find evidence of food, and thus possible Maya marketplaces, in open areas (Dahlin et al. 2007), and a timeline of vegetation and erosion (Beach et al. 2011).

Pollen analysis has also come to the forefront of paleoethnobotanical studies, particularly in the application of sedimentary pollen data (i.e. pollen from lakes or other naturally accumulating sediments) to questions of anthropological significance. Examples of these applications include the antiquity of settlement by humans in certain areas (e.g. Jones 1994) and the documentation of the timing and nature of human disturbance of vegetation in relation to the origins and intensification of agriculture (Fedick 2010; McNeil et al. 2010). Both Fedick (2010) and McNeil et al. (2010), for example, have utilized pollen analysis to examine the possibility of deforestation at Copan during the Late Classic period. Evidence of an increase in pollen from pine trees during the Late Classic population has provided strong evidence that the Copan Maya were managing those trees, most likely as a valued source of firewood, thus arguing against the common misconception that the Late Classic Maya at Copan foolishly stripped away the forest, leading to collapse (Fedick 2010:953; McNeil et al. 2010:1017).

The maturation of phytolith analysis, and the identification and interpretation of plant silica bodies as a paleoethnobotanical approach, is one of the most significant developments in the field recently (Pearsall 2010:8). The last 10 years in particular have seen the development of both more standardized approaches for extracting, scanning, and

quantifying phytoliths, and an increasing awareness of the need to adapt procedures to particular soil and depositional conditions (Piperno 1998). As Cummings and Magennis (1997) have shown, ancient Maya diet can be reconstructed through the use of phytolith analysis on the food particles trapped in tooth tartar. In their article on ancient Maya soil resources at the site of Piedras Negras, Fernandez and colleagues (2005) used

paleoethnobotanical techniques like phytolith analysis to discuss the role of agricultural practices and exhaustion of natural resources in the ancient Maya collapse in the

Lowlands. In particular, phytolith analysis was able to indicate that in the past, grasses were dominant in the soil, which provided evidence that the forest around Piedras Negras was cleared for maize agriculture (Fernandez et al. 2005:2010).