Maya Water Engineering: Reservoirs, Canals, and an Empire's Lifeline
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Long before the classic collapse, Maya cities like Tikal and Calakmul thrived in the seasonal dry tropics thanks to ingenious water management. This episode dives into the engineered reservoirs, raised causeways, and filtration systems that sustained millions. We explore the discovery of zeolite in the Tikal reservoir, the massive canal at Edzná, and the hydraulic knowledge encoded in the landscape. Drawing on recent LiDAR scans and sediment cores, we see how water storage shaped Maya politics, warfare, and daily life — and how the eventual failure of these systems may have accelerated the collapse. Hosts Lucas and Luna unpack the myths of 'lost cities in the jungle' and reveal a civilization that literally remade its environment to survive.
#MayaWater #Tikal #Calakmul #Edzná #LiDAR #Zeolite #WaterEngineering #Reservoirs #Canal #Hydrology #MayaCollapse #TerminalClassic #Petén #Paleoclimate #Mesoamerica #Archaeology #History #FexingoHistory
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