Tibaat is a Preclassic and Classic period Maya residential complex located in Pulltrouser Swamp, a raised- and drained-field agricultural site in the Orange Walk district of northern Belize. The swamp's relic agricultural system and adjacent settlement areas, including Tibaat were investigated by a two-year National Science Foundation-supported archaeological project, the first intensive examination of the cultural remains and ecology of a large Prehispanic Maya wetland farming system Mapping and excavation at Tibaat's seven occupation groups revealed a combination of traits unique among lowland Maya settlements documented to date, including extremely economical domestic construction and an unusual segmented distribution pattern. Excavation also revealed an almost exclusively utilitarian ceramic inventory, a probably agrarian-associated lithic complex, and evidence for long-term Classic period residential continuity of Maya social groups Tibaat's unusual settlement character is significant because of its association with the raised- and drained-fields in Pulltrouser East and the swamp-wide subsistence system of which they were a part. Archaeological evidence suggests that the swamp's planting platforms were part of a large Classic period intensive agricultural system distributed through much of the eastern lowland wetlands. Productivity data from modern mesoamerican aboriginal and experimental raised-field complexes suggests that this large farming system may have provided significant amounts of food for residents of the eastern lowlands, perhaps supporting several hundred thousand inhabitants in the Late Classic period when the system was probably at its peak. Because of its potential productivity this widespread intensive agricultural system provides new perspectives on issues concerning prehispanic Maya society, such as cultural origins, ecology, settlement structure, trade, and the Classic collapse / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_26155 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Contributors | Walling, Stanley Lenox, Jr (Author), Andrews, E. Wyllys, V (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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