Maya Settlement Patterns and Land Use in Buena Vista, Cozumel, México

Research Design and Methods

The theoretical emphasis of "settlement agriculture" is to strengthen our understanding of the archaeological record as a consequence of the organization of the agricultural production in and around settlements. Settlement pattern analysis includes architectural remains, agricultural facilities, and field features of the core settlement and its adjacent zones. Archaeological remains are examined as diagnostic indicators of agricultural activities and soil analysis is utilized to help identify the use of settled and cultivated spaces. This project involved students from the University of Yucatán as well as hired persons from Cozumel. Tape and compass were used in the elaboration of the map and GPS (geographical positioning system) was used in selected forest cleared areas to correct and georeference our map in the UTM coordinate system. First we began with a systematic survey of the site’s central area, based on the map elaborated by Sabloff and Rathje in the 1970s. West of the main platform, we found masonry structures not recorded in the draft, which we measured and GPS-georeferenced. In addition, we detected several Karstic features (rejolladas, cenotes, hills, and bajos) closely related with the distribution of structures. All of them were registered with the same techniques to complement the map of the site center.

As a second step, we delimited the total area to be surveyed during this field season. Four transects of brecha were opened, beginning from a datum located in the southeast corner of the altar in the center of the main plaza. Stakes were set every 50 m.  Transects 1000 m long were run in the direction of the four cardinal points. All archaeological and natural features along the brechas were registered, including caves, rejolladas, cenotes, akalches, and wells. Following the same method of registration, we opened 8000 m of brechas to bound our study area in four quadrants. A quadrant denotation was assigned to differentiate them as Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest quadrant respectively.

After mapping a total of 12 km transects bounding quadrants, we surveyed inside each quadrant along transects distributed every 200 meters, to register additional features and search for sample areas to map in detail.

Due to time constraints, we selected some representative areas to map intensively. Four hectares were selected in the Northeast quadrant, and two hectares in the Southeast. In addition, to gather information about agricultural potential in Buena Vista, we chose different microenvironments to sample soil profiles, and we constructed a complete soil map of the four hectares selected in the Northeast quadrant.

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