PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 1 of 297 UNCORRECTED PROOF Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 2 of 297 UNCORRECTED PROOF PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 3 of 297 Ideology, Ritual, and Power Lisa J. Lucero and Barbara W. Fash The University of Arizona Press Tucson UNCORRECTED PROOF Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 4 of 297 The University of Arizona Press © 2006 The Arizona Board of Regents All rights reserved This book is printed on acid-free, archival-quality paper. Manufactured in the United States of America 111009080706654321 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Precolumbian water management : ideology, ritual, and power / edited by Lisa J. Lucero and Barbara W. Fash. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-2314-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8165-2314-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Indians of Central America—Antiquities. 2. Indians of North America—Southwest, New—Antiquities. 3. Water-supply—Central America—Management—History. 4. Water-supply—Southwest, New—Management—History. 5. Water—Symbolic aspects—Central America. 6. Water—Symbolic aspects—Southwest, New. 7. Central America—Antiquities. 8. Southwest, New—Antiquities. I. Lucero, Lisa Joyce, 1962– II. Fash, Barbara W., 1955– F1434.2.W38P74 2006 333.91009720902—dc22 UNCORRECTED2006008686 PROOF Publication of this book is made possible in part by the proceeds of a permanent endowment created with the assistance of a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency. Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 CONTENTS Precolumbian Water Management: An Introduction 3 Lisa J. Lucero and Barbara W. Fash PART 1 EARLY DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERED SYSTEMS 1 Cosmological and Sociopolitical Synergy in Preclassic Architectural Complexes 17 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 5 of 297 Ann Cyphers, Alejandro Hernández-Portilla, Marisol Varela- Gómez, and Lilia Grégor-López 2 A Land That Tastes of Water 33 Ann Cyphers and Judith Zurita-Noguera 3 Water Management and Political Economy in Formative Period Central Mexico 51 Deborah L. Nichols, Charles D. Frederick, Luis Morett Alatorre, and Fernando Sánchez Martínez 4 Water Management at Kaminaljuyu: The Beginnings of Power and Ideology in the Guatemalan Highlands 67 Juan Antonio Valdés PART 2 CLASSIC WATER SYSTEMS 5 Environmental Variability among Bajos in the Southern Maya Lowlands and Its Implications for Ancient Maya Civilization and Archaeology 81 Nicholas P. Dunning, Timothy Beach, and Sheryl Luzzadder- Beach 6 Water Management, Ritual, and Community in Tropical Complex Societies 100 Julie L. Kunen 7 The Political and Sacred Power of Water in Classic Maya Society 116 Lisa J. Lucero UNCORRECTED8 Copan Water Ritual and Management: Imagery PROOF and Sacred Place 129 Barbara W. Fash and Karla L. Davis-Salazar Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 vi Contents 9 Archaeological and Epigraphic Evidence for Water Management and Ritual at Palenque 144 Kirk D. French, David S. Stuart, and Alfonso Morales PART 3 WATER SYSTEMS IN POSTCLASSIC MESOAMERICA 10 Hydraulic Elements at the Mexico-Texcoco Lakes during the Postclassic Period 155 Margarita Carballal Staedtler and María Flores Hernández 11 Water Sources at Mayapán, Yucatán, Mexico 171 Clifford T. Brown PART 4 WATER SYSTEMS IN THE SOUTHWEST 12 Animated Waters: Ritual Technology at Casas Grandes, 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 6 of 297 Chihuahua 189 William H. Walker and Gaea McGahee 13 Mirror of the Earth: Water, Landscape, and Meaning in the Precolumbian Southwest 205 James E. Snead PART 5 SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSION 14 An Overview of Mesoamerican Water Systems 223 Vernon Scarborough Notes 237 References Cited 241 About the Contributors 287 Index 293 UNCORRECTED PROOF Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 7 of 297 UNCORRECTED PROOF Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 8 of 297 UNCORRECTED PROOF Precolumbian Water Management An Introduction . . When we think of ancient Mesoamerica and the Southwest, images of temples, monuments, maize, tropical forests, and arid landscapes come to 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 9 of 297 mind; the image of water does not. Yet water was every bit as essential as maize for sustenance and was a driving force in the development of com- plex society throughout the region, whether in a desert or in the jungle. No settlement could be without it, and every geographic zone adapted procurement and storage systems to suit local conditions. But because of its basic nature water is often overlooked in importance if not forgotten al- together in Precolumbian studies. This is not to say that water has not cap- tured the attention of many archaeologists and historians. This has been especially true since the publication of works such as Oriental Despotism (1957), in which Karl A. Wittfogel argues that complex societies or civili- zations are underwritten by an agricultural base supported by irrigation. Since then, anthropologists have realized that it is much more compli- cated than a simple formula wherein irrigation equals civilization. Thanks to archaeological research throughout the globe, we know not only that water systems have a long history but that they come in diverse forms with varied purposes (e.g., Scarborough 2003). In addition to traditional reli- gious uses, water sources and systems had numerous practical functions, from irrigation to water storage. Not surprisingly, water symbolism and ritual are prevalent throughout Mesoamerica and the Southwest. In this volume our goal is to present the varied aspects of water and a unified perspective of how water was conceived, used, and represented in ancient Mesoamerica and the Southwest as well as what mechanisms were used to build upon its sacredness to enhance political authority. The diverse chapters in this volume underscore the importance of water-management UNCORRECTEDresearch and its need to be included in archaeological research. PROOF Given current and critical issues regarding the growing scarcity of freshwater, it is surprising that we as anthropologists do not study water Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 4 Lucero and Fash more. In the recent United Nations World Water Development Report, World Water Assessment Programme the secretary general of the UN, Kofi Annan, states, ‘‘The centrality of freshwater in our lives cannot be overestimated. Water has been a major factor in the rise and fall of civili- zations.’’ Adequate water supplies are essential for food production and health. Keeping water clean and free from waterborne and vector-borne diseases is also of vital importance, especially since humans need 20–50 liters of water per day for various uses. Food and agricultural production require even more water. Further, ‘‘the circulation of water powers most of the other natural cycles and conditions the weather and climate,’’ and the effects of floods and drought can have devastating impacts (United Nations 2003:xix, 6, 103–8, 123, 192, 65, 272–75). While the situation may be worse at present than in ancient times, issues revolving around water management continue to be of vital importance for social, political, and 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 10 of 297 religious life. The Present Work The primary focus of the present book is water management in Precolum- bian Mesoamerica and the Southwest (fig. I.1). We thought it important to provide contrasting environments, from desert to highland and lowland Mesoamerica, using Vernon Scarborough’s definition: water management ‘‘is society’s interruption and redirection of the natural movement or col- lection of water’’ (2003:39). The control of water, a material and spiritual resource, shaped the political, economic, and religious landscape of the ancient Americas. Expressed through ritual, iconography, and site plan- ning, water and subsistence management legitimized claims to power and integrated people around a vital element of the natural and social worlds. Focusing on prehistoric water-management facilities, settlement patterns, shrines and water-related imagery, and associated civic-ceremonial and residential architecture clearly can contribute much to the ways that ar- chaeologists study ancient societies. Evidence suggests that ritual activi- ties and iconography associated with water management, the built envi- ronment, and sacred places were critical elements in the manifestation of political ideologies throughout Mesoamerica and neighboring areas, par- ticularly the Southwest. The themes of ideology, ritual, and power reflect the fact that water systems pervade all aspects of society and are thus key not only in provid- UNCORRECTEDing water for people, fields, livestock, and so on but as a means PROOF to support a political system, whether it be hierarchical (e.g., large Maya centers), communal (parts of the Southwest), or heterarchical (e.g., smaller Maya Tseng 2006.6.21 09:30 Introduction 5 7687 Lucero / PRECOLUMBIAN WATER MANAGEMENT / sheet 11 of 297 Fig. I.1 Greater Mesoamerica with areas covered in text. centers and communities). Although this may seem obvious, it should not be taken for granted, or we risk missing data reflecting the manipula- tion and consequences of this major resource in the political economy