Ancient Maya Agriculture: Technologies and Strategies for 3000 Years of Survival in a Tropical Forest
Gender and Cultural Studies Program presents
Dr. Scott L. Fedick, University of California, Riverside Ancient Maya Agriculture: Technologies and Strategies for 3000 Years of Survival in a Tropical Forest
One of the mysteries of ancient Maya civilization is how they managed to produce enough food for the millions of people that inhabited the tropical lowlands for thousands of years. Academic opinion has generally characterized the Maya Lowlands as a hostile environment, poorly suited to agriculture and susceptible to degradation if overused, which the Maya are often accused of having done. Alternatively, popular imagery of the ancient Maya often portrays them as living in a rain forest paradise with their temples nestled protectively among verdant, towering trees. How has academic and popular imagery of the lowland Maya environment shaped public policy decisions on forest conservation and the rights of modern Maya farmers? Recent findings suggest that the Maya Forest was manipulated and managed by humans from its very beginning, using a wide variety of agricultural technologies and cultivation strategies. The Maya Forest of today might best be characterized as a garden gone to seed.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 4:00PM - 6:00PM Kidde 228
December 9, 2009 
