Recentering the rural: Lidar and articulated landscapes among the Maya

• Published in: Journal of anthropological archaeology Vol. 53; pp. 133 - 146
• Main Authors: Garrison, Thomas G., Houston, Stephen, Alcover Firpi, Omar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-03-2019
• Subjects: Conurbation; Landscape control; Lidar technology; Maya; Pedestrian vagility; Redefining rurality; Conurbation; Maya; Landscape control; Lidar technology; Pedestrian vagility; Redefining rurality
• ISSN: 0278-4165; 1090-2686
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaa.2018.11.005

•Lidar at El Zotz revealed a spatially integrated, continuously occupied landscape.•Evidence suggests that, for the Classic Maya, ‘rurality' shifted over time.•Dynasts built regional, landscape infrastructure, with high degrees of ‘vagility’.•Features identified include fields, fortifications, and possible cacao groves.
The concept of the “rural” may, for the ancient Maya, need “recentering,” an acknowledgement that “rurality” as a lifeway insufficiently describes the integrated landscapes with high pedestrian “vagility” that were dominated by dynastic centers. Large-scale lidar captures reveal special-purpose facilities for defense, surveillance, possible chocolate plantations under close supervision, orderly if defensible landscapes, agricultural works of landesque scope, and overall regional articulations with variable intensity of settlement. If there were “rural” zones, they existed in coordination with centers. There was no exclusive dichotomy between inner and outer zones nor were there distinct populations, one acutely centered, the other dispersed. A conurban pattern applies to the evidence, with multiple, overlapping foci, gradients of drop-off, complex interactions over time, and a continuous use-surface.