Chinampa

Modern chinampas
The lake system within the Valley of Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest, showing distribution of the chinampas.

Chinampa (Nahuatl: chināmitl /tʃiˈnaːmitɬ/) 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.

Description

Sometimes referred to as "floating gardens," chinampas were artificial islands that usually measured roughly 30 m × 2.5 m (98.4 ft × 8.2 ft).[1] Chinampas were used by the Aztecs.[2] In Tenochtitlan, the chinampas ranged from 300 ft × 15 ft (91.4 m × 4.6 m)[1] to 300 ft × 30 ft (91.4 m × 9.1 m)[1][3] They were created by staking out the shallow lake bed and then fencing in the rectangle with wattle. The fenced-off area was then layered with mud, lake sediment, and decaying vegetation, eventually bringing it above the level of the lake. Often trees such as āhuexōtl /aːˈweːʃoːt͡ɬ/ (Salix bonplandiana)[2] (a willow) and āhuēhuētl /aːˈweːweːt͡ɬ/ (Taxodium mucronatum)[4] (a cypress) were planted at the corners to secure the chinampa. Chinampas were separated by channels wide enough for a canoe to pass. These "islands" had very high crop yields with up to 7 harvests a year. Chinampas were commonly used in pre-colonial Mexico and Central America.

History

The earliest fields that have been securely dated are from the Middle Postclassic period, 1150 – 1350 CE. Chinampas were used primarily in Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco near the springs that lined the south shore of those lakes. The Aztecs not only conducted military campaigns to obtain control over these regions but, according to some researchers, undertook significant state-led efforts to increase their extent.[5] Chinampa farms also ringed Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, which was considerably enlarged over time. Smaller-scale farms have also been identified near the island-city of Xaltocan and on the east side of Lake Texcoco. With the destruction of the dams and sluice gates during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, many chinampas fields were abandoned, although remnants are still in use today in what remains of Lake Xochimilco.

Among the crops grown on chinampas were maize, beans, squash, amaranth, tomatoes, chili peppers, and flowers.[6] It is estimated that food provided by chinampas made up one-half to two-thirds of the food consumed by the city of Tenochtitlán.

Chinampas were fertilized using lake sediments as well as Night soil and rich earth from the bottom of lakes.[7]

Maize was planted with digging stick huictli /wikt͡ɬi/ with a wooden blade on one end.[7]

The word chinampa comes from the Nahuatl word chināmitl, meaning "square made of canes".

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jorge, M et al. (2011). Mathematical accuracy of Aztec land surveys assessed from records in the Codex Vergara. PNAS: University of Michigan.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jeanne X. Kasperson, ed. (1995). "Chapter 7: The basin of Mexico". the basin of mexico Regions at risk: Comparisons of Threatened Environments. United Nations University Press. ISBN 978-92-808-0848-3.
  3. ↑ Tompkins, P. (1976). Mysteries of the Mexican pyramids. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited: Toronto. pp. 299 ISBN 0-06-014324-X
  4. ↑ "Taxodium mucronatum". The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  5. ↑ Since many of the chinampas regions show a uniformity of size and orientation, researchers such as Townsend assume they were constructed by "a planned program . . . over a short period of time". (p 167)
  6. ↑ Van Tuerenhout, Dirk R. (2005). The Aztecs: New Perspectives, p. 106. ABC-CLIO, Inc.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Baquedano, E. (1993). Aztec Inca & Maya. A Dorling Kindersley Book: Singapore. ISBN 0-679-83883-X

References

External links

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