Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Pulltrouser Swamp AI simulator
(@Pulltrouser Swamp_simulator)
Hub AI
Pulltrouser Swamp AI simulator
(@Pulltrouser Swamp_simulator)
Pulltrouser Swamp
Pulltrouser Swamp is a wetland area located in northern Belize, between the New River (Belize) and Hondo River (Belize). This area contains numerous archaeological sites belonging to the Maya civilization, the most studied features of which are the raised field structures. Three of these sites, called Raised-Field Site I, Raised-Field Site 2, and Raised-Field site 3, were excavated by archaeologists B.L. Turner and Peter D. Harrison.
Located north of Orange Walk in Belize is a Y-shaped settlement that makes up a series of complex elongated depressions. In Pulltrouser there were three different immediate settlements that surrounded the swamp equalling 8.5 km. In these settlements the key to organization was the utilization of hillsides and slopes for the raised fields. The people of Pulltrouser built their small living structures on terraces 2–3 meters above the swamp. There was also a hard platform composed of hard limestone and plaster built within the housing structure area. Within the settlement areas there was evidence of both ceramic and stone artifact production and use.
There are four different vegetation types that occur at Pulltrouser Swamp; botan forest, escoba forest, saw grass community and grass savannah. Each of these appears to be spatially related to fluctuations of water in the area.
The botan and escoba forest have been expanded as a result of the construction of fields and canals. Logging that has taken place over the last three hundred years has also altered the landscape and vegetation of the depression. The saw grass zone occurs at the center surrounded by the escoba then botan forest respectively. The grass savannah occurs in the western portion of the swamp.
During construction of the canals and raised field system, it is believed Pulltrouser was simply a wet, non-forested area containing large amounts of water lilies. However, raised fields were constructed in marshlike environments since they are easier to channelize to construct raised fields. Archaeobotanical evidence suggests that several arboreal crops such as hog plum and avocado were evident at Pulltrouser Swamp as well as other evidence including maize and cotton. Pineapple, tobacco, vanilla were also found at the swamp most likely for the easy transportability and market value.
People likely settled around swamps because of the rich faunal, plant, soil and water resources this environment made available. Maize appears at the site around 890 cal BP. Pollen records show mass forest disturbance around 2500 B.C., this coincides with the appearance of maize pollen, a decline in tree pollen and an increase in charcoal. This is evidence for a rapid and extensive expansion of agriculture with maize as an important crop. Further charcoal indicates that agriculture was expanded in the area between 1500 and 1300 B.C. and squash and bottle gourd were cultivated as well as maize. Evidence of what was originally thought to be canals at the site were found to be natural hummocks with no evidence of excavation. Pohl et al. (1996) suggest that the adoption of wetland agriculture was not a response to increases in population growth that created the need for more resources but instead a reaction to the changes in groundwater levels they believe to have occurred around 1500–1300 B.C.
Aerial photography of ground patterns in Pulltrouser swamp has revealed that the Maya were utilising raised field agriculture in the area. Raised field agriculture is a form of hydraulic cultivation using raised and canalized fields creating conditions in which the earth is above its natural height. It has been suggested that these fields were in use from 400 BC-600AD, however this date could be biased due to repositioning of artifacts during the shifting of material in construction. The Pulltrouser swamp sites are often used as representative of this agricultural type in interpretations of the use of raised-field agriculture in Maya culture. The investigations at the site have involved both coring and excavations.
There are two distinct ground patterns observed in Pulltrouser: "quadrilateral shapes in paired rows and quadrilateral to amorphous shapes in sectional or group patterns". There are approximately 311ha of well-defined patterns located along the mainland edge, which have been measured to be 1m above the surrounding depressions. There are also 357 ha of less distinct patterns seen in both the East and West interiors of the site. Running around these platforms are systems of different sized canals. There are three main categories of canals:
Pulltrouser Swamp
Pulltrouser Swamp is a wetland area located in northern Belize, between the New River (Belize) and Hondo River (Belize). This area contains numerous archaeological sites belonging to the Maya civilization, the most studied features of which are the raised field structures. Three of these sites, called Raised-Field Site I, Raised-Field Site 2, and Raised-Field site 3, were excavated by archaeologists B.L. Turner and Peter D. Harrison.
Located north of Orange Walk in Belize is a Y-shaped settlement that makes up a series of complex elongated depressions. In Pulltrouser there were three different immediate settlements that surrounded the swamp equalling 8.5 km. In these settlements the key to organization was the utilization of hillsides and slopes for the raised fields. The people of Pulltrouser built their small living structures on terraces 2–3 meters above the swamp. There was also a hard platform composed of hard limestone and plaster built within the housing structure area. Within the settlement areas there was evidence of both ceramic and stone artifact production and use.
There are four different vegetation types that occur at Pulltrouser Swamp; botan forest, escoba forest, saw grass community and grass savannah. Each of these appears to be spatially related to fluctuations of water in the area.
The botan and escoba forest have been expanded as a result of the construction of fields and canals. Logging that has taken place over the last three hundred years has also altered the landscape and vegetation of the depression. The saw grass zone occurs at the center surrounded by the escoba then botan forest respectively. The grass savannah occurs in the western portion of the swamp.
During construction of the canals and raised field system, it is believed Pulltrouser was simply a wet, non-forested area containing large amounts of water lilies. However, raised fields were constructed in marshlike environments since they are easier to channelize to construct raised fields. Archaeobotanical evidence suggests that several arboreal crops such as hog plum and avocado were evident at Pulltrouser Swamp as well as other evidence including maize and cotton. Pineapple, tobacco, vanilla were also found at the swamp most likely for the easy transportability and market value.
People likely settled around swamps because of the rich faunal, plant, soil and water resources this environment made available. Maize appears at the site around 890 cal BP. Pollen records show mass forest disturbance around 2500 B.C., this coincides with the appearance of maize pollen, a decline in tree pollen and an increase in charcoal. This is evidence for a rapid and extensive expansion of agriculture with maize as an important crop. Further charcoal indicates that agriculture was expanded in the area between 1500 and 1300 B.C. and squash and bottle gourd were cultivated as well as maize. Evidence of what was originally thought to be canals at the site were found to be natural hummocks with no evidence of excavation. Pohl et al. (1996) suggest that the adoption of wetland agriculture was not a response to increases in population growth that created the need for more resources but instead a reaction to the changes in groundwater levels they believe to have occurred around 1500–1300 B.C.
Aerial photography of ground patterns in Pulltrouser swamp has revealed that the Maya were utilising raised field agriculture in the area. Raised field agriculture is a form of hydraulic cultivation using raised and canalized fields creating conditions in which the earth is above its natural height. It has been suggested that these fields were in use from 400 BC-600AD, however this date could be biased due to repositioning of artifacts during the shifting of material in construction. The Pulltrouser swamp sites are often used as representative of this agricultural type in interpretations of the use of raised-field agriculture in Maya culture. The investigations at the site have involved both coring and excavations.
There are two distinct ground patterns observed in Pulltrouser: "quadrilateral shapes in paired rows and quadrilateral to amorphous shapes in sectional or group patterns". There are approximately 311ha of well-defined patterns located along the mainland edge, which have been measured to be 1m above the surrounding depressions. There are also 357 ha of less distinct patterns seen in both the East and West interiors of the site. Running around these platforms are systems of different sized canals. There are three main categories of canals: