Long before the ancient Maya constructed their iconic temples, their predecessors were already reshaping the landscape of Central America’s Yucatán Peninsula. Archaeologists, using drones and Google Earth imagery, have uncovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in present-day Belize. The discovery, published in Science Advances on Friday, sheds new light on the region’s early civilizations.
“The aerial imagery was crucial to identifying the distinctive zigzag pattern of linear canals,” said Eleanor Harrison-Buck, study co-author from the University of New Hampshire. These canals stretch for miles through wetlands, channeling freshwater species such as catfish.
Subsequent excavations at the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize revealed that the canals, combined with holding ponds, were designed for fish trapping. “Barbed spearpoints” discovered nearby suggest the early inhabitants may have used these tools to spear fish, said Marieka Brouwer Burg of the University of Vermont, another co-author of the study.
The canal system, which dates back as far as 4,000 years, was built by semi-nomadic people along the Yucatán coastal plain. According to the study, the canals functioned for over a millennium, even during the formative period when the Maya began transitioning from nomadic to permanent farming settlements.
“It’s fascinating to see such large-scale modifications of the landscape at such an early stage — it shows people were already engaging in construction projects,” said University of Pittsburgh archaeologist Claire Ebert, who wasn’t involved in the study.
While the Maya civilization later flourished, building temples, pyramids, roads, and developing sophisticated systems of writing, mathematics, and astronomy, the study reveals a deeper connection to the people who lived there thousands of years before them. These ancient fish-trapping canals may have provided a crucial resource that helped sustain a growing population, laying the foundation for the Maya’s monumental achievements.
“These findings show a clear continuity,” said University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Jeremy Sabloff, who was not part of the research.
In practical terms, the fish-trapping canals not only diversified the early diet but also supported a growing population, contributing to the rise of Maya civilization in the Yucatán.
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