Maya agriculture

Milpa

slash and burn, assumed that modern larger practice meant ancient roots, but that would not have supported large urban populations

Houselot cultivation

High levels of input and close by

Ramon hypothesis

Grad student Puleston documented features like chultuns, noticed abundant ramon trees on Tikal house mounds. Ramon was modern famine food but Puleston theorized the chultuns were for food storage and that ramon used to be staple food in Tikal. Challenge to Milpa myth

Ceren

Village in El Salvador covered in ash, allowing archaeologists to document plants. Archaeology at Cerén shows that houselot gardens contributed diverse crops to the diet, and that manioc (drought resistant plant) was a previously unrecognized staple crop for the Maya

Caracol

Demonstrate ancient urban agriculture with lidar. Terraces for intensive agriculture, urban agriculture was key subsistence strategy. Low density agro-urbanism.