Abstract
On the coast of Peru farming in mahamaes or sunken gardens fed by ground water offers an alternative to canal irrigation. The possibility that mahamaes were influential during the early stages of farming is examined and rejected on theoretical and empirical grounds. The possible significance of farming in sunken gardens during later pre-Columbian times is briefly examined. It is suggested that mahamaes were important mainly as a supplemental form of farming in areas immediately adjacent to the coast.

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