A pre-Mayan system of canals used to direct and catch fish was found in Belize, establishing “continuity” between the Mayans and a predecessor as they continued to use them.
First believed to have been a Mayan construction, after running numerous radiocarbon dates, archaeologists from the University of New Hampshire made an astonishing discovery that these fish-trapping canals predate the mythic and powerful ancient civilization.
From what researchers gather, they may have even assisted the Mayans’ flourishing growth as the impressive design allowed their predecessors to feed 15,000 people a year, according to Eleanor Harrison-Buck, professor of anthropology and director of the Belize River East Archaeology (BREA) project.
The Mayans capitalized on the ingenious zigzagging network, and with an abundant food source, they built one of the largest and most significant ancient cultures in the world.
An ingenious pre-Mayan zigzagging system of canals to trap fish
In the largest inland wetland in Belize, Central America, with drones and Good Earth, New Hampshire researchers conducted tests on a large-scale pre-Columbian fish-trapping facility. At first, they never expected that anyone but the Mayans could have constructed such a sophisticated means of catching fish.
The research used 26 radiocarbon dates from test excavation sites in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (CTWS). The presence of the canals extended over a thousand years in the past, before the Mayans began to emerge, which “surprised” researchers due to its massive size. Late Archaic hunter-gatherer-fishers developed this system, which worked so brilliantly that the Mayans later adopted it.
“For Mesoamerica in general, we tend to regard agricultural production as the engine of civilization, but this study tells us that it wasn’t just agriculture—it was also potential mass harvesting of aquatic species,” Harrison-Buck stated in a press release.
Collecting sediment samples along the walls, they were investigating nitrogen and carbon levels to determine “environmental changes over time,” according to the press release. With no evidence of crop production in sight, they deduced that these channels served as large-scale fish trapping facilities.
The network directed the annual flood waters into a source pool where they could trap thousands of fish, able to feed a growing population, as the Mayans, it has been estimated, exceeded eight million people. This gave archaeologists a rare first link that connected a predecessor to the grand empire.
“It seems likely that the canals allowed for annual fish harvests and social gatherings, which would have encouraged people to return to this area year after year and congregate for longer periods of time,” said Marieka Brouwer Burg, professor of anthropology at the University of Vermont and BREA co-director.
“Such intensive investments in the landscape may have led ultimately to the development of the complex society characteristic of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, which subsequently occurred in this area by around 1200 BCE.”
Wetlands, one of the most significant ecosystems on Earth
Always a critical ecosystem across the globe, wetlands play a critical role in the environment, Samantha Krause, professor of geography and environmental studies at Texas State University explained in a recent press release.
“Knowing how to manage wetland resources responsibly is essential for the continued resilience of these ecosystems both in the past and today.
The Archaic hunter-gatherer-fishers knew how to protect their resources and use them in a way that could sustain these habitats, not exhaust them, which explains their long-lasting occupation in this area,” a press release concludes.
The team, bolstered by the support of the local community, plans to investigate further, “hoping to more fully understand the complexity of human-wetland interactions in the past.”
