Irrigation canals of Kaminaljuyú
Canales de riego de Kaminaljuyú
- Date
- c. 400 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Kaminaljuyú, Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Credited to
- Preclassic society of Kaminaljuyú
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Excavations in the 1960s and 1970s documented Preclassic earthen canals in the Guatemala Valley, interpreted as irrigation for maize in a dry-season climate. It is one of the few indications of large-scale irrigation in the Maya highlands.
The irrigation function of the ditches is debated: some researchers see them as drains or canals for other uses. They date to the Middle or Late Preclassic, without greater precision.
What it led to
- agricultural surpluses that supported the growth of Kaminaljuyú
- concentration of population and political power in the Guatemala Valley
- a theoretical debate on irrigation and state centralisation in Mesoamerica