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Study shows ancient Mayas had greater environmental impacts than previously believed
Published on October 17, 2019 at 12:36 am
BY AVERY WOHLEB
Geographical research conducted by University researchers in Belize found that the ancient Mayan civilization had a greater environmental impact than previously believed.
The Maya were likely responding to environmental hardships, including harsh droughts, when they created expansive wetlands for farming, according to the study.
Timothy Beach, author of the study and leader of the Soils and Geoarchaeology Lab, said the research began in the early 1990s as part of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project. He said at that time, a multidisciplinary team discovered there was significantly more ancient Mayan settlement in Belize, including canals and wetland fields, than they had previously believed.
“We did 15 to 20 years of slogging through trails doing excavations,” Beach said. “And through that work, we developed a hypothesis that perhaps there’s a lot more of these wetland canals and fields.”
In 2016, Beach said researchers were able to shoot laser pulses through a dense forest canopy and produced a high-resolution recording of the forest floor. He said this technology revealed more of the canal features and the canal system surrounding the fields.
More:
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2019/10/17/study-shows-ancient-mayas-had-greater-environmental-impacts-than-previously-believed