Ingenious Fish-Trapping System: The Remarkable Engineering of Ancient Central Americans

A recent study reveals that approximately 4,000 years ago, ‍a sophisticated fish-trapping system supported the growth of human populations in lowland Central ‌America. This remarkable construction project suggests that aquatic resources played a‍ crucial role in the development of Maya civilization around a thousand years later.
It ⁤is believed that ⁣the population near these fish traps did not significantly increase until the ‍establishment of major Maya ceremonial and urban centers about 3,000 years ago. Utilizing drone technology and ⁢Google Earth imagery, Harrison-Buck’s‌ team identified 167 shallow channels spanning nearly 42 square kilometers within Belize’s Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. During their survey in ‍the‍ peak of summer dry season in ‍2017, they also ‍observed close to ⁣60 ponds adjacent to these interconnected channels.
Through ‍radiocarbon dating ⁢of materials from three excavated channels, it was ⁤determined that hunter-gatherers initially built this fish-trapping system around 4,000 years ago. Geological evidence points to a drought occurring⁤ between approximately 4,200 ‌and 3,900 years ago which transformed the ‌area from year-round marshland to seasonal wetlands. This environmental change prompted a shift in ⁣diet from ‌cultivated maize to aquatic‌ foods (Source: www.sciencenews.org).

2024-11-22 14:00:00‍
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