With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Mary Pohl and her colleagues will conduct two field seasons of multidisciplinary research on Albion Island, Belize. The goal of the work is to understand the development of Mayan civilization in this area. Previous work has demonstrated that in several regions of Middle America, prehistoric peoples have used a form of wet field agriculture. This involved building systems of raised fields with intervening canals which provided the right amount of water for crop production. Such fields are known to exist in the Albion region. Dr. Pohl and her collaborators will use aerial data to delineate such features. This will be combined with research on the ground to provide ground truth. Soil cores will also be collected to trace changing landforms over time and archaeological excavations conducted. On this basis, it should be possible to determine how environment changed over time, how agricultural practices were altered accordingly, and how this affected Mayan social organization. The Mayan Indians of Middle America developed complex societies with writing, monumental architecture and centralized political hierarchy. They were able to subsist in tropical areas which can today support only very small populations. Archaeologists wish to understand both how these groups subsisted and what processes led to the emergence of such complex civilizations. Evidence of such a development can be observed on Albion Island. The exceptional preservation of remains from ancient agriculture in water-logged conditions there, together with a wealth of previous archaeological research, makes this an ideal place to examine such issues. Pohl believes that fluctuations in sea level were responsible for changes in which farmers were forced to invest additional labor in their fields. This, in turn, made them much less mobile and ultimately dependent on elite military strength for protection of these improved lands. This research will allow her to evaluate this hypothesis. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of how complex societies develop and provide data of interest to Mayan archaeologists. It is also technologically innovative since it makes archaeological use of an advanced Geographic Information System. Hopefully, it will serve as a model for future work in other areas. Finally, the insights gained into Mayan raised field agriculture may prove of use in developing new agricultural techniques third world areas.
