ThePARIJournal A quarterly publication of the Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute Volume VII, No. 3, Winter 2007 Rivers Among the Ruins: The Usumacinta In This Issue: RONALD L. CANTER Cartographer, Federal Aviation Administration Rivers Among the Ruins: The Usumacinta watershed includes two Nile was modified with wing dams, portage The Usumacinta extensive systems of navigable rivers: an roads, and forts to make it safely navigable enclosed interior basin above the Boca del year round for ships 30 m long. The Ch’ang by Ronald L. Canter Encajonado, and a large part of the Grijalva- Chiang (Yangtze), backbone of China, and the Usumacinta compound delta below the Boca Missouri River of the western USA are also PAGES 1-24 del Cerro (Figure ). Between them are a se- analogous in many ways. By examining the ries of eight swift canyons. Most are naviga- documented workings of rivers that posed Special insert map: ble with skill and care. similar transport benefits and challenges, it Río Usumacinta Usumacinta, written phonetically as “Usu- should be possible to better understand the Navigation Survey matsintla” by Teobert Maler (90), is a com- past use of the Usumacinta. pound place name formed from the Nahuatl The huge meander loops in the lowlands roots osomahtli “monkey,” -tzin “small” or of Tabasco, a long portage past several can- Joel Skidmore “revered,” and -tlan “place where X abounds” yons, and the strong current all combine to Editor (Herrera 2004; Karttunnen 983). Thus, make the Usumacinta a less than ideal route
[email protected] osomahtzintla(n) can be literally translated as from the Gulf of Mexico to the Río Pasión.