Milpas and Milperos: Implications for Prehistoric Times¹

It has been stated that shifting agriculture among the Maya of the Classic Period could have been expected to produce an adequate supply of maize to support their complex civilization, and that its collapse could not have been due to the inadequacies of the method of production. This article presents a study of the contemporary milpa system among descendants of the Itzá of Petén, Guatemala: first, a description of the basic Maya approach to the elements of nature; second, their sociological accommodations; third, economic factors; and fourth, the conclusions and implications for Maya cultural history. If the case at hand is relevant, food shortages were involved in the economic and social collapse of many independent religious centers of the Southern Lowland Maya. I do not question the potentials of the environment for greater or more constant food supply. My emphasis is rather on the sociocultural response to the environment, which continues to direct their agricultural activities.