ASSESSING THE BIRDS OF PARADISE MODEL OF ANCIENT MAYA WETLAND FIELD SOIL AND WATER MANAGEMENT

Ancient Maya wetland field management studies go back to the late 1960s in Mexico’s State of Campeche and in Belize, and 2003 at the Birds of Paradise (BOP) wetland field system in northwestern Belize. Prior studies indicate the system began as early as ~2,000 BP persisting through two major droughts in the Late Preclassic (~1700 BP) and in the Terminal Classic (~1,000 BP). These studies also indicate that BOP was a polycultural system with multiple types of crops and protein production. We present here the first multiproxy study of a field and canal system in the northeast corner of this sprawling, 5 km2 agroecosystem. This remote field complex sector is important because of its well-developed hierarchy of canals, its nearness to the eastern causeway that marks the edge of the complex, and its distance from the two Maya sites anchoring BOP’s western edges. We evaluate previous models by analyzing canal hydrology through remote sensing based on new Lidar analysis and we analyze field and canal formation over time through our 2023 excavations to depths of ~2 m, just below the water table, into two ancient fields and canals. We first develop a preliminary hydrologic model for water flow through a major and minor canal from the water sources of the wetland complex, the Rio Bravo, Cacao Creek, and Akab Creek. The second part compares the previous BOP formation, use, and chronology model with multiproxy evidence from the 2023 excavations to assess if this zone has a similar chronology despite a recently uncovered nearby Postclassic (~700 BP) village and its remoteness from other excavations. We present evidence from mapping, stratigraphy, chronology, hydro- and geochemistry, artifacts, preserved wood, and pollen to make our comparisons within the system and other wetland complexes. This research evaluates the broader theory of resilience in ancient complex societies regarding diverse strategies in natural resource management that challenge assumptions and beliefs about Maya water use, wetland habitation, and orchestrated conservation practices, and challenges the reductive narrative of abrupt collapse.