page_title: Blue Creek (Belize)
section_title: Agriculture
hierarchical_section_title: Blue Creek (Belize) / Agriculture
caption_attribution_description: Español: Esta es una toma de un paisaje ubicado en la frontera Guatemala-Mexico. El lado izquierdo de la linea fronteriza es Guatemala. English: Photo of a landscape of Mexico-Guatemala border, at the right hand Mexico Deutsch: Mittelabschnitt des Río Suchiate (links Guatemala – rechts Mexiko)
context_page_description: Blue Creek is a riverine system and major archaeological site located in North-Western Belize, Central America. It is situated geographically on the Belize–Mexico border and then continues south across the Guatemala–Mexico border. The river is commonly known as the Rio Azul or ‘Azul River’ in Spanish, which translates to ‘blue river’ or ‘blue creek’ in English.
  It flows south-west as a tributary from its larger body known as the Rio Hondo or ‘Hondo River’. Its unique lowland environment facilitated the agricultural and economic growth of an Ancient Maya Civilization and has been a source of attention over many years, for numerous specialized archaeologists. The site boundary stops short of the Bravo Escarpment, which is a naturally occurring cliff also located in North Western Belize.
  A range of artifacts recovered from the site reveal that Blue Creek was inhabited by many ancient Maya communities from the middle pre-classic period to the late-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.
context_section_description: As Blue Creek exists in an area with multiple environmental ecotones, it has significant variation in types of land and soil, which historically provided the Maya people with constancy in their food production throughout the year. In particular, the fertile soil above the Bravo escarpment where Blue Creek is located, has been commended by modern farmers who have consistently harvested successful dry-farming crops. Pollen samples from Laguna Verde, at the Blue Creek site, and their position in the pollen spectrum, have allowed historians to reconstruct past vegetation the environmental conditions of Blue Creek periodically (Morse, 2009). 
  The Mayan ‘terracing' technique has provided the foundations for contemporary sustainable farming. The primary purpose of the terracing technique is to limit the erosion of soil to provide a solid foundation for planting, as well as maximizing soil moisture, but also utilized the available land in areas with steep slopes that would ordinarily be unsuitable for planting. This technique began in the early classic period at Blue Creek as a response to the occurrence of increased soil erosion evident in the pre-classic period, and utilized check dams and naturally occurring canals. It later developed in the late classic period into dry slope terracing, which may have facilitated Blue Creek’s urban growth. Many of these ancient terraces are still functioning today. 
  Furthermore, archaeological remains uncovered in the upland terrain of Blue Creek, show that the Ancient Maya people used solar observation, water management, and the manipulation of soil fertility to their gain. Knowledge about the sun and its place in the solar system was a vital factor in food production for the Maya people. Ethnographic accounts of Maya culture show that Mesoamerican communities deeply ingrained rituals in their agricultural practices. Sacrifices and offerings were made in a ceremony to guarantee rainfall and successful crops. The Quincunx group in the hinterland, just 2.5km behind Blue Creek, is an architectural design consisting of five structures placed in a strategic square, with one construction in the middle. This design facilitated a widely used agricultural ritual used by people to determine cosmological patterns and solstices during the late classic period. Access to the river was a vital asset to engaging in successful agricultural practices.
caption: Frontera Guatemala Mexico
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