Hydrological Innovation: The Evolution of Human Ecology and Water Management at Tikal
Innovations in water management contributed to the monumental success of the Classic Maya kingdom of Tikal in a region that would otherwise be considered a marginal environment unfavorable to socio-political growth and complexity. At Tikal, extreme variability in access to water created both a challenge and a stimulus to growth. Engineering ingenuity specifically designed to optimize the capture of seasonal rainfall increased the supply and consistency of water allowing demographic growth and economic stability. While water management has been well documented at Central Tikal, the hinterlands have received only minimal attention until recently.
New data from the hinterlands indicates that the earthworks of Tikal, previously believed to have been primarily defensive in nature, are actually an example of hydrological engineered limestone filtration trenches that exploited the unique character of the Peten's aged karst geomorphology and the seasonal rainfall pattern. The Limestone filtration trenches of Tikal represent a technological innovation corresponding to the florescence of the kingdom. It appears that the use of limestone filtration trenches faded from the technological regimen of the Maya with the fall of the Tikal kingdom; however, the true spatial and temporal extent of this recently identified innovation has yet to be explored.
