Investigaciones Geográficas (Mx) ISSN: 0188-4611 [email protected] Instituto de Geografía México

López Recéndez, Rubén Relations between man and environment in the development of precolonial settlements in the basin of Investigaciones Geográficas (Mx), núm. 50, abril, 2003, pp. 166-172 Instituto de Geografía Distrito Federal, México

Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=56905015

How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín del Instituto de Geografía, UNAM No. 50, 2003, pp. 166-172

Rubén López Recéndez, geomorfólogo formado en Francia, fue director del Instituto de Geografía entre 1977 y 1983. Estableció el primer laboratorio de muestras de suelo y agua en la dependencia para apoyar las investigaciones en geografía física.

Relations between man and environment in the development of precolonial settlements in the basin of Mexico*

Rubén López Recéndez

For about 25,000 years, the basin of Mexico The analysis of this cultural evolution shows has been a scenary for human activities. us that the transition from savagery to Only the two last millenia of this period have barbarism, and from barbarism to civilization been trascendental in the form of clear traces was very slow, as a derivation from cultural of such activities. The balance of the time, practices from hunters to hunter-pickers, an which make up the proto and prehistory of finally, to picker-farmers. The latter paved the human settlements in the basin is not well way to the development of urban nucleuses. known. Thus, the temporary campings of the pickers and hunters from the Pleistocene, are The present breakthroughs of archaeological followed by the first permanent settlements, research prove the human presence since between the years 7,000 and 2,000 B.C. the late Pleistocene, that is to say, 20,000 These setlements were composed by groups years B.C. The findings of Tlapacoya belong that could cultivate several vegetal species to this cultural horizon, called "archaeolitic" such as amaranth, pumpkin, a small by J. L. Lorenzo. tomato (Physalis sp.), pulpy leaf plants of Portulacaceae family, e.g. teosinte (Zea These first testimonies exemplify cultural mexicana), very similar to maize. By studying remains of lithic industries and their related the pollen grains, it is assumed that they Pleistocene fauna. They contain chips, practiced certain degree of an incipient scrapers, and scalers, as well as knives that gardening activity with some of these plants. provide information on carving of hunted This fact gave a great boost to population animals and work performed on hides and and even so, and despite the importance of furs. this cultural stage, we have to acknowledge that it is the less known in the history of the The first settlements on the basin were small valley. temporary campings. They were followed, many thousands of years later, by more The traces collected in the beaches of permanent settlements, such as San Vicente Tlapacoya-Zohapilco date back to this stage, Chicoloapan, and fixed locations, such as and prove that human communities settled El Arbolillo, Zacatenco, Tlatilco, Ticoman, around the lakes somewhere in the year , Chimalhuacan, , which, 5,000 B.C. during the Playa cultural phase, even with certain intermittence, left clear and with a sedentary life either pre o pro- signals to trace the history of the life in the toagricultural. The remains of these sites are basin since some 4,000 years ago. made up by bones of Cervidae, birds, dogs and fish scales.

*Publicado en: "Interaction of the prehistoric man and his environment". V Symposium of the Commission on Environment Problems, International Geographical Union. Instituto de Geografía, UNAM, Mexico, 1981. Relations between man and environment in the development of precolonial settlements in the basin of Mexico

The development of these first villages and fertile lowlands of San Juan river, but it the boom achieved by some of them, at the soon exceeded these limits and extended end of the first millenium B. C. allows us to troughout the valley on land with less agri- assume the consistency of a settlement cultural possibilities -little more than 700 mm system not only adapted to the ecologic of average anual rainfall, which meant a risk conditions of the valley, but also capable of for rain-fed crops. This resulted in the deve- rationally using and exploiting the agricultural lopment of elaborated irrigation patterns, and fishery resources that marked the which allowed the growth and evolution of transition from subsistence activities to the metropolitan area of the city of Teoti- production tasks. huacan. The phenomenon was also spurred by the domain and exploitation of the vast That is why this stage, known as Manantial deposits of obsidian in Otumba, which (spring water) phase, was characterized by allowed the urban center to handle strate- an outstanding development of agricultural gically the trade of such valuable raw production and population growth, as well as material in the pre-Spanish world. by the intensification of inter-regional trade and irreversible colonization in the central For about one thousand years, since 200- and southern parts of the basin. 100 B. C. to 650-700 A. D., was the major metropolis, not only in the basin of The colonizing expansion placed itself within Mexico, but in all Central America. Its cultural a corridor located in Lake Chalco, and the spread reached the high lands of Guatemala, lower slope of the Sierra Nevada range, as the Gulf coast, Oaxaca, and the west, center well as in the valleys pouring to San Juan and north of Mexico. Teotihuacan river. Important settlements were also established on the river-lacustrian Since year 0 of our age, with the erection of plains of and the lower slopes its largest monuments: the of the of Sierra de Guadalupe. Cuicuilco belongs to Sun and the pyramid of the Moon, this stage; this city is located to the Teotihuacan was the core of a great urban southwest of the basin, and reached an and ceremonial center. The population esti- exceptional development towards the year mated for this stage amount 30,000 inhabi- 300 B. C. We may still see its remains, in tants throughout a suface of 17 km2. During spite of the layer of lava that destroyed the the following years and up to 650 A. D., old city around the years 100 or 200 B.C. Teotihuacan kept a salient population due to the eruption of the volcano. growth: for the late classic, 450-650 A. D. the population is calculated in 100,000 inhabi- The first expressions of the monumental tants, and the urban extension in more than architecture took place in Cuicuilco. The trun- 25 km2. The existence of a city with such cated cone pyramid represents the remains dimensions proves the strength of the socio- of a ceremonial architecture complex, whose political and economic system that sustained shapes were inspired and adapted within the this urban population, which brought about surrounding natural environment. the blossoming of Teotihuacan culture.

Simultaneously with the end of Cuicuilco, the We may infer, then, that rural population, development of Teotihuacan started in whose work sustained the great urban the center-northeast section of the basin. center, must have amounted several hun- This city delimited the foundation for the dreds of inhabitants subject to a theocratic cultural development of Central America. In political system. Economy was then based its initial stage, the city was erected on the on intensive agriculture with irrigation and

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 50, 2003 167 Rubén López Recéndez

terracing, and rain-fed extensive crops. The former crisis implied that during the early Besides, the city counted upon handcraft post-classic no centers were established specialization and an important commercial outside the limits of the basin of Mexico. The system. flourish of two cities: Tula in the northwest and Cholula in the southeast, rescue the As the settlement network became more importance of the basin's urban and cere- dense and complex, population growth exer- monial centers, and they would exercise an cised a strong pressure on the environment, outstanding influence within the country. In only bearable and explicable by the adap- this way, though Tula was smaller than tation of a rational and consistent technology Teotihuacan, either in population and in of appropiation and exploitation of the natural surface, its cultural influence spread to the environment. center of the country and reached the Yucatan peninsula, on the east, as well as to Thus, the population growth meant the the southwest of United States towards the intensification of food production, which in north. Cholula on the other hand was less turn, brought about labor division among the important than Tula and its influence sphere population and favored the selection of only reached the villages settled in the settlements on those sites with larger center-south of the national territory. potential resources. Again, during the Xllth and Xlllth centuries, Nevertheless, in the late classic, this growth the erratic rainfalls and the progressive overcame the optimum capacity of support of sequence of the climatic change to more arid the environment, and thus generated its slow phases, curb the development of Tula and progressive degradation, worsened by and take it to a crisis. Tula is gradually the aridity created by minor climatic changes. abandoned and later occupied and destroyed This critical factor put too much stress on the by new Barbarian groups that came through stability of the productive systems and as a the central section of the plateau from the consequence, the political stability collapsed. north. Otomis, Culhuaques, Cuitlahuacas, Xochimilcas, Chalcas, Mixquicas, Tepane- The food crisis was the bone of contention cas, Acolhuacas, and finally, Mexicas, among social classes, who struggled to occupied the basin, dominated local peoples treasure more food and to own more and and settled around the great lake. Some better productive spaces. With the loss of years later, the development or decline of the political authority, community production these peoples and their towns and cities was forms were often abandoned and most of the conditioned to the military triumph or defeat. rational techniques were left aside, resulting in serious and irreversible deterioration And this is how during the two centuries prior processes in agricultural and forestry lands. to the conquest, a social structure evolved, In turn, this meant a substantial reduction of fitting within a theocratic-military system that land capacity to sustain population. reached its highest point in the Mexica empire. This was the last to achieve a These population and ecologic phenomena political, economic, and cultural penetration and their political and economic consequen- in a major portion of the present national ces were the seed of the social crisis that territory and part of Central America. The eventually, in the middle of the Vllth century, Mexica city of , center of caused the destruction and exodus of the empire, was founded around 1324 A. D. Teotihuacan. on a small islet. At the beginning, life con- ditions of Mexicas were rather precarious;

168 Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 50, 2003 Relations between man and environment in the development of precolonial settlements in the basin of Mexico their development depended on fishery, border of the lake, human activities flourished hunting, dugout manufacture, and mainly, on in different uses of the land, hunting, fishing, warfare. and picking up forestry and lacustrian products, as well as in the delivery of various Since the vital space was very limited for this goods and services and productive, con- people, they resorted to "chinampas" (large sumption, and management activities. All this woven basquest filled with dirt) to increase action took place within an ecologic environ- their territory. This land, artifically claimed, ment that did not suffer from any irreversible was devoted to housing and to crops. deterioration. Nevertheless, agriculture was not a major activity, because the tributes paid by con- Salient hydraulic works were also part of quered peoples and trade were the main the scenary -dams, gates, reservoirs, aque- ingredients of the total splendor of the ducts- and improved life, despite the limita- Mexicas. tions imposed by the virtually neolithic tech- nology. In such a way, from the initial shelter for Mexicas, the city of Tenochtitlan became the Communications were done by means of strategic site from where this people expan- roads and channels running east-west or ded their conquest throughout the valle of north-south, in different sizes according to Mexico, and, later, to all the Meso-American their importance and function. The possibility zone. of navigating on rafts favored trade within the basin, being Tlatelolco the most importante The micro-climatic adversity of the basin and and wealthiest marketplace of the region. its surrounding favored the existence of a great variety of products for trade. The From the onset, and during the history of settlements established on the basin availed Tenochtitlan, Mexicas had to struggle against themselves of a permanent source of biolo- flood of salt water from , gical and mineral products for construction, particularly during rainy seasons, and thus, household, transportation, medicine, and great dikes were built, such as the earthen food. barricade of Nezahualcoyotl, cutting through one end of the lake. At the end of this work, The blossoming of the Mexica empire was Lake Texcoco was divided into two sections: intimately related to the climatic change that one to the east with salt water, and one to favored adequate humid periods for the the west with fresh water. These dikes were regeneration of rain-fed agricultural areas, also used as roads, and their bridges were lost time ago. Likewise, this condition was strategically raised to cut off the entrance to determinant for the regeneration of forests, the metropolis. Since the aquatic communi- and lakes. That is why, the panorama was cation system was so important, besides a magnificent at the arrival of the Spaniards. A great amount of boats, strategically located huge lake extended from Chalco to Zum- wharves were abundant. pango, with a maximum width of 30 km. Small villages were found around the lake, The drinking water was obtained from water and even larger towns such as Tenochtitlan, springs and was brought to the city, from Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Tacuba, etc., all of them Chapultepec, by aqueducts. The wells and organized within a complex settlement and gutters provided the water for land irrigation natural resource exploitation system. purposes.

From the hills to the plain lands, right to the The compressible nature of the soil and

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 50, 2003 169 Rubén López Recéndez subsoil forced this people to execute special were used in construction works, mining, foundation works and correction of sinking charcoal production, and as fuel. As a conse- sections of the urban area. quence, the altitude strip between 7,600 and 9,500 ft which used to be an important area Society was clearly divided into strata, with of forests and housing, in now a cleared and nobility and pesantry. The state was authori- eroded zone. tarian. The administration and political control was exercised from a power center that The depressed central sections were cove- prevailed over others of the kind. The state, red by shallow and vast lakes, crowded with in turn, exercised absolute control over land rich aquatic flora and fauna. Though colonial granting and exploitation, water usage, and documents some times refer to three lakes labor. This control played a paramount role in and others to six ( based on artifical divisions the development of the empire, since posse- or dikes), during the rainy season all lakes sion of land, water, and labor allowed the made up a single body with different levels. State a total control of production means. Lake 's level was three meters higher than that of Texcoco, and poured on With the conquest, economic, political, and the latter. The numerous streams flowing into ideological institutions were broken, and thus this section of the basin kept the water fresh the hegemonic production mode collapsed. It and covered by vegetation, and they were was substituted by the colonial system of the major supply of water during the dry production, that was a vital factor for the season. irrational exploitation of the basin's natural resources, resulting in an irreversible ecolo- Even during the XlXth century, the lakes gic unbalance. This unbalance put an end to covered an area of about 1,000 km2, that is, the magnificiency of the natural framework in a ninth part of the total surface of the basin. which pre-colonial peoples lived. They were all shallow lakes, one to three meters deep. CONCLUSIONS The impressive richness and variety of biotic During pre-colonial times, the mountain area resources from the fresh water lakes marked, of the basin was covered by dense forests; since its original colonization, the location of the lower slopes of inner valleys and part of settlements on the plains of the lacustrian plain lands were areas of high agricultural environment. Naturalists from the last century fertility. It is noteworthy to point out that wrote that free navigation was impossible in palynologic record data do not show any certain areas, and that waterways had to be indication that pre-Spanish cultural practices opened through the vegetation. This gigantic have created a negative impact on forestry vegetal mass was used as base material for biotic communities; rather, their degradation the construction of "chinampas", as well as to starts after the conquest. That is why, the coat house walls and roofs; for improvement oak and pine tree mixed forest still in exis- of agricultural land, as raw material for the tence in the basin represent only the remains manufacture of basquets and mats, as fuel, of huge forestry zones, whose destruction, and as a source of medicine substances and though started before the XVIth century, was a miriad of edible plants. a very violent one from the onset. The lacustrian fauna abunded in fish, rep- In 1870, Manuel Payno estimated that just tiles, amphibians, and invertebrated and was during the first century of the Colony (1524- also an important food resource. The most 1624), some 80 million trees of the basin representative group of fish in the basin are

170 Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 50, 2003 Relations between man and environment in the development of precolonial settlements in the basin of Mexico the atherines and "charales" (Chirostoma From the pre-classic, the economy of these sp.). A second group was made up by groups was founded on the practice of an cyprinids, such as the "xohuil" (Algansea sp.) intensive agriculture whose major feature that used to be sold in the marketplaces of was the "chinampa" system. In those times, until the beginning of this the plain lands to the south of Lakes Chalco century. Thirdly, it should be mentioned the and Xochimilco were completely inhabited, yellow fish (Girardinichthys sp.). and therefor people devoted to "chinampa" crops with an irrigation and drainage system, Sahagun left picturesque descriptions of by taking advantage of the periferic lacustrian the lacustrian fauna composed by reptiles, areas. The construction of "chinampas" was amphibians and invertebrated which served possible thanks to a network of drainage as food for the inhabitants of the basin. dikes, that gradually reduced the amount of The fresh-water shrimps, the tadpoles, the water and so the big woven basquets filled different species of frogs, the aquatic with earth settled on the ground. The expan- "worms" such as the "ocuiliztac" - today iden- sion process started at natural islets and tified as the larvae of coleopterus from the solid ground peninsulas. The largests dikes, family of disticidous -the "water toy" or used to drain the area, were also used as axolotl (Ambystoma sp.)- curios neotenic roads. At the end, huge dikes were built amphibian, very tasty, described by Sahagun to regulate water distribution and probably to as a gourmet's delight. Besides all this reduce floods during the rainy season. variety, it should be mentioned the different species of aquatic snakes and fresh water The "chinampa" crop system is probably the turtles of the Kinosternon gender. most intensive and productive agricultural technique during pre-Spanish times, and The first settlements were conditioned to the covered -in the late post-classic horizon- an existence of farming land, water supply, extension of 12,000 hectares: 9,000 of them nearness of fuel, and they separated and as farm land and 3,000 as water. differentiated functions as a consequence of the different exploitation of resources. The In other sites of the alluvial plains, agri- population was spread in sites of several culture evolved on fertile soils and farming categories, though the lake system did not land -using neolithic tools- that were able to allow a regular distribution of population support permanent crops with simple resto- centers throughout the valley. Nevertheless, ration techniques such as animal and vegetal nowadays it is possible to identify, in the fertilization, crop rotation, floodings, perma- space distribution, certain distance constants nente irrigation, terracing, etc. On the plain linked to their hierarchy. lands, the fragile topsoil was easily controlled by means of rustic tools. In areas where Other constants in certain sections of the water was available, a permanent irrigation valley show us that all high density, compact system was established and many of the settlements were established at the edge of gorges allowed irrigation by flooding, which the fertile aluvial plains; those of low density was a major solution to solve problems of dispersed in less productive hills and in mar- frost and lack of rain. ginal areas. Settlements on the hill slopes are more spread than those on the edge of In the alluvial plain, where the water table the plains. The good agricultural lands were was rather high, drainage was a serious seldom used for dwelling and villages were problem. It was solved by means of the erected on poor soil. construction of gutters linked with the natural streams of the area.

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 50, 2003 171 Rubén López Recéndez

In those lands with a marked slope, erosion - gardening; they could retain and regulate, by which was a relevant problem- was alleviated means of gates, the water level and its move- with retaining walls, banks, and terraces. ment from one lakelet to the other, according to its seasonal inflow; they guided fresh Finally, during the apogee of Tenochtitlan, water from Chapultepec to the city in better the performed great hydraulic en- conditions, as well as the water from gineering works based on a system of Coyoacan and ; they laid out gutters, dikes, earthen walls, roads and ample navigation channels for the internal aqueducts that allowed them a proper transportation of goods towards ports that hydraulic control of the basin: thus they delivered them into several regions, and this increased the construction of "chinampas" was a basic feature in the economic develop- within the city, either for housing or for ment of the Mexica (Aztec) empire.

172 Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 50, 2003