Classic Tikal and Slash and Burn Agriculture: Population and Subsistence in a Prehistoric Maya Center in the Department of Peten, Guatemala
Abstract
The question whether Prehistoric Tikal was agriculturally self-sufficient based on slash and burn agriculture is proposed. The problem is evaluated from the standpoint of its four most fundamental components: (1) Peten ecology; (2) Tikal population studies; (3) slash and burn agriculture; (4) the modern Haya diet. A computer simulation of Tikal's prehistoric population and agricultural production is made based on present population size. Estimates offered by Haviland (1969) and data from agricultural studies conducted by Cowgill (1961 and 1962) in the Peten. It is concluded that Tikal was not agriculturally self-sufficient using the slash and burn method of farming. Several alternative solutions to their subsistence problem are advanced.
Description
Program year: 1976-1977Digitized from print original stored in HDR
Subject
TikalPeten ecology
population studies
slash and burn agriculture
Maya diet
agricultural production
Citation
Sanabria, Laura (1977). Classic Tikal and Slash and Burn Agriculture: Population and Subsistence in a Prehistoric Maya Center in the Department of Peten, Guatemala. University Undergraduate Fellows. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /CAPSTONE -SanabriaL _1977.