The Monumental Aquascape of Kaminaljuyu
The Monumental Aquascape of Kaminaljuyu
Water in the Archaeology of an Early Highland Site
In Chapter 7, Arroyo and Henderson introduce the monumental aquascape of Kaminaljuyu, a site located in the Valley of Guatemala, occupying a strategic position that connected several important cultural regions, including the Pacific Coast, the northern highlands, and the Maya lowlands. In this chapter, the authors outline a new understanding of the complex, multifaceted, and monumental hydraulic landscape of Kaminaljuyu. They argue that previous assumptions related to the footprint and timeline of Lake Miraflores, the body of water around which the site’s first occupants originally settled, need to be reassessed. They also expand the site’s monumental hydraulic landscape to consider the massive, snaking “Montículo de la Culebra” aqueduct, which served to fill Lake Miraflores with water from the nearby Río Pinula. Lastly, in addition to the system of agricultural canals that brought lake water to the site’s southern sector, they describe a recently discovered system of ritualized waterways that channeled water through the site’s civic center, transforming the civic landscape into a complex network of artificial rivers, ponds, and lagoons.
Keywords: Maya lowlands, Hydraulic landscape, Lake Miraflores, Montículo de la Culebra, Aquascape
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