essay
Project Acalches: reconstructing the natural and cultural history of a seasonal swamp at El Mirador Guatemala; preliminary results
el mirador, peten, guatemala: an interim report • (45) • Published In 1980 • Pages: 37-57
By: Dahlin, Bruce H., Foss, John E., Chambers, Mary Elizabeth.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Bajos are seasonal swamps and are a major feature of the Peten landscape. The El Mirador site is built on the sides of a large bean-shaped body of water 6 x 1.5 kms and no more than 20 cm deep. What significance is the bajo to Mayan adaptation in the region? The bajo was clearly a source of water. Was it ever a lake? It could have been used for floating gardens similar to the highland chinampas. Scholars theorize that the organization of communal labor to collect, store, distribute, and drain water resources was a stimulus for state development and the bajos may have served this role for the lowland Maya. Dahlin et al. studied the sedimentary history and lithology of the El Mirador bajo to try and answer these questions. In one operation they took 29 soil profiles, which revealed that the bajo was never a lake, nor suitable for farming, except on the margins. Evidence of high concentration of salts in Late Preclassic layers is evidence of desiccation, which may have lead to the site's eventual abandonment.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Topography and geology
- Soil
- Water supply
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Preclassic Maya
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2001
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Maya Area
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1977-1979 (Project Acalches)
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 2500-1450 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Bruce H. Dahlin, John E. Foss, and Mary Elizabeth Chambers
- For bibliographical references see document number 13: Anonymous
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 60041468
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Mayas--Antiquities