Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

LATE CLASSIC MAYA DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL AT COPAN, HONDURAS

2006; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0956536106060019

1469-1787

Karla L. Davis‐Salazar,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

Recent research on pre-Hispanic Maya water management has revealed a diverse array of water-control techniques that were employed in the Maya Lowlands. Since much of this research has focused on water management for consumption and agriculture, other forms of water management—namely, for drainage and flood control—remain poorly understood. This report describes the various water-control techniques dedicated to drainage and flood control at Late Classic Copan, Honduras ( a.d. 600–900), and explores the social implications of this form of water control. Technological variation in water control throughout urban Copan and between Copan and Palenque, the other major Maya center where drainage and flood control have been investigated, suggests that water management at Copan may have been organized differentially across the urban center.