Unexpected Agriculture and ‘invisible’ crops found on Maya Village

A news research on an ancient Maya Village which was destroyed by a Volcano about 600 AD, brought up some interesting results. Ceren which is a Unesco World Heritage Site is known as the Pompeii of Central America, destroyed in the same way as Pompeii and preserved under many meters of ash.

Professor of biology David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati, who is specialized in paleoethnobotany, along with his team, have discovered things at the site that they have never encountered before at any Mayan site. And because of the ash they are preserved in an excellent way.

The things discovered include huge quantities of root crop, grasses that no longer exist in El Salvador, raised paved pathways, large plots of rowed land, more than 70 ceramic pots used to store beans, peppers and other seeds and a complete planted household garden. Those discoveries go against the mainstream theory that the Mayans employed a slash and burn agricultural method and that they were more advanced in agriculture than what was previously believed.

You can read more here.