Lidar, Landscape Engineering, and Landscape History at Chan Chich, Belize

Although archaeologists have long recognized Chan Chich as a major ceremonial center in northwestern Belize, recently acquired lidar data reveals new information about the extent of the site and degree of landscape modification surrounding it. The data reveal extensive terraces, field walls, canals, wetland channels, and other enduring landscape modifications still visible 1,200 years after the Maya abandoned the site. Some of the modifications represent landesque capital, or permanent agricultural improvements that, once built, only required maintenance to endure, while others are more extensive landscape engineering features that may have been centrally coordinated. By the Late Classic period, Chan Chich and its peri-urban sprawl formed an arc of dense settlement around a large bajo at the base of the La Lucha Escarpment. Five minor centers with ball courts likely represent district nodes within the larger polity. Situated at the headwaters of the Rio Bravo, Chan Chich’s success may have related to its location, which was well-suited to facilitate trade between sites in Petén and the Caribbean coast.