Preservation, Rehabilitation, and Management of Heritage Wetlands in Mexico - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 171

FIGURE 11.11 Walkways and crocodiles at the visitor center. (Continued )

extensive evapotranspiration (ET), a characteristic of such hot and dry climates (see
chapter 18). This was a lacustrine and wetland-based civilization much like Sumeria
(Pournelle 2003) and different from most of the rest of ancient cultures, which were
predominantly maritime based.
One particularly interesting feature of the peoples in the Central Valley from
ancient to recent times is the chinampas , raised beds of matted organic matter and
sediment from wattle built in shallow water and bordered by anchoring trees. This
represents the birth of hydroponic cultivation, which has been called the greatest
technological invention of the pre-Columbian New World (Coe 1964; Armillas 1971;
Outerbridge 1987; Duffetel 1992). Chinampas began in 1000 bce and were expanded
by the Aztecs until they covered an area of more than 120 km 2 . Drawings from later