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Mesoamerica Ecological Characteristics of Agricultural Systems: Barbecho or Tlacolol |
29th October 2009, 08:40 |
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 This is similar to slash-and-burn agriculture to the extent that it also involves cutting down the trees, shrubs, and other vegetation in a designated plot, which then are burned off, followed by planting. It is typically employed in cool or temperate zones and differs from the tropical variant insofar as the amount of time required for fallowing. This period is generally shorter in the highlands, and the forest does not regenerate. This type of cultivation is normally rainfall dependent. Like tropical slash-and-burn, it is also extensive in that at any given time most of the total amount of land available to a farmer will be in different stages of fallowing and a large amount of land is necessary in order to sustain each family. The major problem this system has faced is increased population growth, which leads to reductions in the fallowing period and the consequent decrease in soil fertility. Want research paper written? Buy Research paper writing! Educated writers deliver customized research papers! Frosts are problematic at higher elevations, and torrential seasonal rains also may pose risks for crops at certain stages of their development. In general terms, barbecho is characterized by a lower level of diversity than swidden agriculture, mainly because it is employed primarily for the cultivation of maize at the expense of other crops; however, this practice may be a reflection in part of changes in indigenous agricultural practices following the Conquest.
Many forms of intensive agriculture developed in specific zones where the combination of sui soils and humidity permitted. In the Río Candelaria Basin and the Rio Bec region of Campeche, and the Río Hondo of Quintana Roo, evidence of raised fields and other variants are additional examples of specific agricultural systems designed by the ancient Maya for humidity control in order to maximize productivity. Humidity control undoubtedly was practiced in areas where runoff from rains or nearby seasonal streams could be diverted to hillside plots or terraces. Terrace systems also were utilized widely throughout Mesoamerica, extending from the central highlands to the Maya lowlands.
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Mesoamerica: Ecological Characteristics of Agricultural Systems |
29th October 2009, 08:39 |
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 Piedmont and forested areas generally were cultivated using different variants of itinerant slash-and-burn cultivation depending upon the climate. Land was cleared and excess vegetation usually burned off, followed by planting. The annual cycle of agricultural activities was programmed according to the variability of factors such as local soil characteristics, potential humidity, slope, temperature, and isolation. Several years of annual planting were followed by a longer period during which the plot was left fallow. In tropical areas, regeneration of vegetation is more rapid, but soil nutrients are not restored until several stages of succession have been completed. Thus, a large area is necessary in order for a farmer to allow enough time for specific plots to recover their fertility. In temperate zones, similar procedures were followed, differing mainly in the number of years during which cultivation was alternated with fallowing. In alluvial plains or sui flat deep-soil areas, cultivation was continuous, on an annual basis or at more frequent intervals in zones where irrigation could be employed to increase productivity.
In addition to extensive maize plots (milpas), household gardens were undoubtedly important sources of fruits and herbs as well as other edible plants, particularly in dispersed communities and villages. In dense urban settlements, intensive as well as extensive agriculture systems were developed in the surrounding territories.
This form of cultivation is practiced in tropical areas and consists of cutting down the vegetation within a defined plot, which is then allowed to dry and later burned off. Need research paper done? Get Research paper writing services! Qualified writers deliver customized research papers! The plot is cultivated for several seasons, after which it is abandoned for a number of years during which the vegetation is allowed to regenerate and natural fertility is restored. Meanwhile, the same process is repeated in another plot. The length of the cultivation period is usually short (1 to 4 years) relative to the amount of fallowing required (10 to 20 years), depending upon specific local conditions. The system requires that a broad area be available for each farmer in order to harvest sufficient maize and other products. It is highly efficient and quite productive when the optimal ratio of cultivation and fallowing is respected and when sufficient land is available to the population.
In ecological terms this technique emulates the biological diversity characteristic of the tropical forest in Mesoamerica through the cultivation of numerous species in a single plot and the succesion of vegetative communities during the fallow period. Although it has been branded as a highly destructive practice in modern times because of its relationship to deforestation in tropical areas and the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced as a result of burning off the vegetation, these are largely consequences of modern social, economic, and political factors external to the agricultural system as traditionally practiced.
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Mesoamerica: Agricultural Technology |
29th October 2009, 08:39 |
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 The distribution of archaeological sites in relation to types of land and their potential agricultural suitability suggests the use of particular techniques, although a large part of the information available about pre-Hispanic agriculture is based on descriptions from sixteenth-century documents. (Some ethnographic examples still exist that substantiate the long tradition reflected in colonial period descriptions.) Often, archaeological remains of drainage or irrigation canals, dams, or terrace retaining walls would seem to be of preHispanic origin but cannot be dated with confidence as a result of continual reuse or cycles of abandonment, erosion, and subsequent reuse over centuries. In some regions, modern land divisions (such as the household lots or solares in Yucatán) may be prehistoric in origin; in most cases such evidence is obscured.
The technology associated with soil preparation, planting, and harvesting was simple, based on the use of a digging stick (coa) and a hoe. Human and animal fertilizers were employed in addition to composted vegetal material. Specialized systems such as the chinampas (so-called floating fields) also incorporated elements that included mud and vegetation from adjacent canals. Need research paper done? Get Research paper no plagiarism! Educated writers deliver customized research papers! Crop rotation may have been practiced in some cases, although the simultaneous planting of complementary species that replaced nutrients depleted from the soil by other plants at the same time was probably more frequent.
The use of more specific technology such as draft animals or the plow did not develop in Mesoamerica, partly because of the absence of animal species of a size and behavior adequate to be domesticated for that purpose, as well as the absence in many areas of large extensions of flat agricultural lands that could be exploited successfully by such techniques. Climatic conditions often favored sloped piedmont plots and simple terraces as more sui for cultivation, particularly among small self-sufficient communities. This was especially true in higher elevations, where both unpredic frosts and torrential seasonal rains represented significant threats to crop yields. In some areas, however, irrigation systems or other drainage techniques permitted more effective exploitation of lower elevations.
The social organization of prehistoric agricultural activities is only briefly described in sixteenth-century sources, although some references mention the participation of both men and women and the assistance of children; labors related to land preparation were generally male activities, while planting, weeding, harvesting, and seed selection could be divided or shared depending upon local traditions. Rites were performed in association with different stages of the agricultural cycle to ensure productivity, and these are amply described. The mythical beliefs surrounding human origins and the roots of particular cultural groups also were related closely to critical domesticated plants such as maize. Finally, organized collective labor was undoubtedly required for some kinds of community activities, such as the construction of terraces or irrigation systems, in addition to civic-ceremonial structures, but there is no clear archaeological evidence beyond the extension of historical analogies to earlier periods.
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Mesoamerica: Food Production |
29th October 2009, 08:38 |
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 Although food production does not necessarily involve the cultivation of specifically domesticated plants, these usually are preferable because of their greater yields and other benefits such as sturdier parts that facilitate harvesting by reducing breakage and consequent seed loss. Domesticated grains (such as maize) and so-called pseudo grains (amaranth, for example) also adapt better to storage conditions. In Mesoamerica food production may have begun very early, as a logical consequence of tolerance of certain edible plants that adapted well to habitats disturbed by human activities. Certain plants may have been brought into settlements, where they were intentionally sown for food or for medicinal or ornamental uses; others found their own way.
The principal plant species that formed the basis of Mesoamerican agricultural systems include maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus spp.), squash (Cucurbita spp.), chili peppers (Capsicum sp.), ground cherry (Physalis sp.), and avocado (Persea americana). Different species or varieties were adapted to particular regions. Professional essay writing on the net.Request help by Custom essay writers. Custom essays of adequate quality! Plants needing little water, such as prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) and maguey (Agave spp.), were important as well. A large number of additional species also were cultivated, depending upon regional availability and preferences, including amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri spp. nuttalliae), purslane (Portulaca oteraceae), chia (Salvia sp.), and numerous fruit trees such as the so-called Mexican cherry (Prunus capuli), hawthorn (Crataegus mexicana), ciruela (Spondias mombin), ramón (Brosimum alicastrum), and palm (Acrocomia mexicana), among many others.
Botanical remains from archaeological sites suggest that regional specializations may have been present from early times. For example, squash (c. 7000 b.c.) and beans (c. 4000-2300 b.c.) seem to have been cultivated before maize in Tamaulipas, whereas maize was earlier in Tehuacán (c. 5000 b.c.) than elsewhere. On the other hand, squash (specifically Cucurbita pepo, c. 8000 b.c.) may have been a very early cultigen (cultivated plant) in the Valley of Oaxaca. The group of plants considered to be basic components of the prehistoric Mesoamerican diet all were represented by cultivated or domesticated forms by around 2000 b.c., although in some cases particular species or varieties were domesticated much later. Our understanding of the chronology of early plant domestication in Mesoamerica undoubtedly will change greatly once the results of ongoing reanalyses of specific botanical materials are available.
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