Cropscapes in the eye of the beholder: a time/space lens of the Maya Forest as a garden

The landscape of the ancient Maya flourished with investment in the dynamic resources of tropical Maya forest of lowland Mesoamerica. Unfamiliar to the Western eye, Maya traditions were literally overlooked at the time of the brutal conquest and have been degraded as primitive and destructive since. Far from simple, this sophisticated system is one of keen observation of nature and the structuring of human needs in tune with the nature of the forested landscape. At the crux of the problem of understanding the nature of the Maya forest is the imposition of the Eurocentric view without regard for the Indigenous knowledge. The Maya cultivated nature, embedding their needs by observing nature, demonstrating a mastery of nature and cultivating the biological capital as a product of their culture. The result is a landscape with cycles from productive poly-cultivated fields and varied regenerative and marure forest habitats that sustained everyday life.