Food-Producing Systems Available to the Ancient Maya

Discussion on the subsistence base of the ancient Maya has centered mainly around the potentialities and limitations of shifting cultivation. The case for alternative and more intensive food-producing systems warrants serious consideration. Reports and personal observation reveal that techniques of terracing, irrigation, drainage, gardening, and tree culture, plus gathering and intensified shifting cultivation were likely known and used. Like other high cultures in America, the Maya probably employed a number of food-producing systems to exploit the rich variety of environments found in their region.