What Is The Maya Civilization?

The Maya civilization was located in an area that included Guatemala, Belize, southeastern Mexico, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. Even though archeologists have constructed evidence of large collapses in the Maya population, these regions contain some of the world’s most organically rich lands which helped contribute to the success of the Maya people (Toledo). The area that the Maya consumed is sometimes called the Yucatán Peninsula and expands from low coastal plains with everlasting rivers, and even into higher elevated uplands, where drainage is mostly in the ground itself and water is seasonally sparse. There are many coinciding lines of evidence that show that dry conditions split up the Maya Lowlands and match with significant …show more content…
This areas purpose as a rural architectural community was mostly occupied during the Classic Period (AD 250-900). On the outer edges of the major ancient Maya site of La Milpa is where you can find The Medicinal trail. In Brewer’s studies he found that Medicinal Trail did not have the “monumental architecture and population density typically associated with the major Maya sites”, but it did show almost identical smaller scale water conservation practices. Medium slopes, imitation terraces and water reservoirs were some ways this smaller site would have been put to use for farming and water management. In Brewer’s research he discovered topographical depressions that were coated with clay to make a basin that would not allow water to be absorbed easily. This showed how the Maya conserved water from the heavy rainfall from December to spring. These were the reasons why they got through the region’s extreme dry spells that lasted from summer to winter. “They also controlled the vegetation directly around these reservoirs at this hinterland settlement,” says Brewer. “The types of lily pads and water-borne plants found within these basins helped naturally purify the water. They knew this, and they managed the vegetation by these water sources that were used for six months when there was …show more content…
Back then, water was a major mode of traveling and transportation and with extensive progress and development, the water became a precious source of food as well as trade and business. India has some of the biggest volumes of river flow and rainfall at around 2,000 million cubic meters and 4,500 millimeters, more than that of the entire continent of Europe put together (Chatterjee). The monsoons provided these civilizations with the resource for water harvesting and water storing. These civilizations were located on the embankments of the Indus River or within a suitable distance of the ocean to make sure a lasting supply of water for everyday activities was readily available. The Indus Valley civilization had one of the most advanced municipal water supply and sewage systems in the world with some of them even still operating today