what is a chinampas
Chinampa (Nahuatl: chinÄmitl [tÊiËnaËmitÉ¬]) is a method of Mesoamerican agriculture which used small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico.urther reading [edit]. 1  Blanton, Richard. 2  Calnek, Edward E., Settlement Pattern and Chinampa Agriculture, American Antiquity 1972, 37(104-15). 3  Chapin, Mac. 4  Cline, S.L., Colonial Culhuacan, 1580-1600: A Social History of an Aztec Town. 5  Parsons, Jeffrey R. The Role of Chinampa Agriculture in the Food Supply of Aztec Tenochtitlan, in Cultural ...