6 A Reassessment of Water and Soil Resources in the Flatlands of the Northern Maya Lowlands

ABSTRACT Often characterized as a low, flat, limestone shelf with thin soils and restricted water resources, the northern lowlands are now proving to have supported high population levels and complex social development from the earliest Preclassic times through the Postclassic, though striking differences in developmental trajectories exist. The karstic plain of the north‐central portion of the Yucatán Peninsula is characterized by the presence of dry depressions or rejolladas with wells, cenotes, and caves with water. The spatial distribution of these hydrological features played a key role in the occupation of the region since the Late Preclassic period, while the archaeological data suggest population growth during the eighth and ninth centuries C.E., reaching its peak in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Various agricultural technologies provided adaptations to the resource base, while the general settlement history may be linked to the dynamics of water‐table fluctuations and resulting suitability of the wetlands for subsistence production.