Pollen evidence for early settlement and agriculture in northern Belize
- 1 December 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Palynology
- Vol. 18 (1) , 205-211
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.1994.9989445
Abstract
Analysis of fossil pollen from the Maya site of Colha, Belize, revealed a complex history of human‐caused forest and land modification. Evidence of forest clearing, irrigation canal and raised field construction, and prehistoric domesticated plant use are apparent in the fossil pollen assemblages. Radiocarbon dates attest to a widespread clearing and the early cultivation of manioc (Manihot esculentum) and probably maize (Zea mays) by 2500 BC, with later Maya populations growing cotton (Gossypium) and chilies (Capsicum). The use of pollen analysis at this tropical archaeological site provides a wealth of data unavailable through other means.Keywords
This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
- Pollen Stratigraphy of Laguna de CocosPublished by Taylor & Francis ,2019
- Holocene Palaeosalinity in a Maya Wetland, Belize, Inferred from the Microfaunal AssemblageQuaternary Research, 1994
- A Dream of Maya: Augustus and Alice Le Plongeon in Nineteenth-Century Yucatan. Lawrence Gustave Desmond and Phyllis Mauch Messenger. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1988. xxi + 147 pp., biblio., index. $19.95 (paper). - Travels and Archaeology in South Chile. Junius B. Bird. John Hyslop, editor. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, 1988. xxxi + 246 pp., biblio. $25.00 (cloth).American Antiquity, 1990
- 7. Analysis of Pollen from the Fields at Pulltrouser SwampPublished by University of Texas Press ,1983
- Pulltrouser SwampPublished by University of Texas Press ,1983