Supports· strongAMZ-E014
Casarabe: engineered year-round maize monoculture documented by phytoliths and hydraulic infrastructure
- what the source states
- "…the Casarabe culture invested heavily in landscape engineering, constructing a complex system of drainage canals (to drain excess water during the rainy season) and newly documented savannah farm ponds (to retain water in the dry season). Phytolith analyses of 178 samples from 18 soil profiles… record the singular and ubiquitous presence of maize (Zea mays)… our findings show how the Casarabe culture managed the savannah landscape for intensive year-round maize monoculture that probably sustained its relatively large population."
- limitations
- Casarabe florescence (500–1400 CE) ends before European contact.