Untitled Flashcards Set
What is terracing?
Terraces are soil platforms, often built on slopes and appearing step-like in the landscape. Frequently terraces were constructed by removing soil down to limestone bedrock and then constructing rubble walls, behind which soil was built up for planting, to a level generally far thicker than the natural soil of the area84.
Fig. 5.1: Terrace profile (adapted from Harrison 2000: fig. 119).
Terraces are identified as human-made by the soils – which do not have the same layers as natural soils – stone walls, and often artefacts85. Archaeologists have to be careful, however, as some natural features can mimic terraces, for example when trees fall perpendicular to a slope or where limestone naturally weathers into a step-like shape86.
Fig. 5.2: Detail of a terrace (adapted from Harrison 2000: fig. 120).
Terraces functions
Terraces were varied depending on their function or location on the landscape87. One main function was that they allowed the ancient Maya to control the flow of water over the landscape88.
Water that originated at the top of a slope as rainwater would be diverted downhill via walls and channels. Some of the reasons that terraces were built could have included that they:
Improved soil moisture by retaining water, even with minimal rainfall
Reduced erosion
Diverted storm water to other locations, to avoid flooding and destruction, or to reservoirs or fields for storage or hydration
Accumulated soils, to build suitable planting surfaces
Made impractical slopes easier to use89
Fig. 5.3: Terracing provide better water retention and thus reduced soil erosion.
Terraces, and increased terracing, is generally thought to have been a response to population increase because it allowed more crops to be grown90.
Terracing at Caracol (Belize)
Like most ancient Maya cities, the site of Caracol was truly “green” with intermixed buildings and agriculture91. The agricultural land meant that households were generally around 100 to 150 metres apart92. Although this dispersed layout was similar at other Maya cities, Caracol was more extensive than the majority known at this time93.
As LiDAR cartography has shown (Fig. 5.4 and 5.5), there was around 160 square kilometres of terracing in total – some individual terraces up to 1 kilometre – and the city was developed alongside its terracing94. The scale of the terracing would have required a lot of labour and shows the importance placed on large scale agriculture95.
Fig. 5.4: Image taken from LiDAR data showing part of the site of Caracol and the extent of its agricultural terracing.
The bottom and slopes of the valley, and occasionally the hilltops, were terraced96. Ground was cleared to bedrock97 and then rock, soil and household waste were transported from other locations to build the terrace98. It is thought that the terraces were actively upkept and the soils fertilised (including with night soil). It is likely that a variety of crops were grown, and every year the crops grown in a location were changed to keep soils healthy99.
Although the Macal and Chiquibul Rivers are to the west and east of Caracol, there is no running water within the area of the site, so solutions for water were needed100. The terracing controlled water as well as increased the available area for agriculture in the rough and hilly landscape101.
Fig. 5.5: Image taken from LiDAR data showing part of the site of Caracol and the extent of its agricultural terracing.
Alongside reservoirs, terracing was used to manage rainfall runoff and store rainwater. Walls directed water moving downhill towards more favourable locations for storage102. Computer models have shown that Caracol’s terracing increased soil moisture, which benefited agriculture, and also reduced the power of flowing water (e.g. from large storms), which, in turn, reduced soil erosion103.
Terracing was built early in Caracol’s history, first in the valleys and then on the hillsides104. The extensive terracing that is shown by LiDAR dates to around the height of Caracol’s population, as dated by pottery found in the soils of terraces; approximately 115,000 people over 177 sq km in A.D. 650105.
By modifying the landscape, the Maya were able to increase the intensity of agriculture and support a large urban population106. Caracol’s inhabitants likely provided most of their own food107.
Since terracing was near houses, it is likely that households focused on terracing rather than kitchen gardens, although animals such as rabbits, dogs, deer, pigs, armadillos, and agoutis might have been kept in pens near to the house108. Caracol, therefore, probably did not receive much basic food through trade, but speciality items would still have been obtained this way109.