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In this paper we present a brief summary of prehistoric agricultural develop­ ments as they are presently understood in the New World. Constraints prevent detailed evaluation of all of the cultural areas defined in the New World. Emphasis is placed, therefore, on Mesoamerica and the Central Andes, where aboriginal high cultures were found. The American Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Eastern Woodlands are not treated even though agriculture was an important part of cultural development in those areas. The fact that many important cultigens now shared by the world came from the Mesoamerican and Central Andean areas places a priority on understanding something about food production of the American past. Within these cultural areas we attempt to show research trends that have occurred over the past two decades. Since more intensive work has been done in Mesoamerica, it receives the greatest attention. The central question for Mesoamerica and the Central Andes has been the relationship of food produc­ tion to the rise and fall of the state ( 15, 57, 73, 108, 1 17). Over the past decade the question has been redefined in terms of a significant increase in information obtained from an extensive amount of fieldwork.

Obsidian artifacts from Edzna, Dzibilnocac, and Santa Rosa Xtampak in northern Campeche, Mexico, have been analyzed by means of X-ray fluorescence in order to determine their trace element composition. The results are compared to the trace element composition of obsidian sources in Guatemala and Mexico. It is postulated that the obsidian from the three sites in northern Campeche came from highland Guatemala, mostly from El Chayal. Our data are compared to the published data of other archaeological sites in Mesoamerica from which obsidian samples have been analyzed. Finally, obsidian transport routes are postulated between northern Campeche, Mexico, and highland Guatemala.

Heavy jungle growth prevented economical surveying of Aguacatal (Campeche, Mexico) and the adjacent area despite the efforts of two brief seasons in the field. Aerial photography was used to supplement and expeditiously complete the ground survey work. The operation was inexpensive and utilized readily available equipment such as the K-20 aerial camera. Super-XX, infrared, and color films were used on an experimental basis to determine which film was best suited for archaeologic purposes. All films were found to have special values: Super-XX — the best general film for gray tonal renditions of vegetal differentiation; infrared — for the delineation of wet areas and water courses; and color — for the maximum readability of color differences. Photographic interpretation proved reliable and allowed the archaeologist to extract topographic, ecologic, and archaeologica data from the photographs with little laboratory study.

Test excavations at Aguacatal, located on the Xicalango peninsula, western Campeche, revealed chultuns (water cisterns) of the Late Classic period. Modern chultun construction by Chontal Indians, as late as the 1940's, followed the Late Classic period methods and style. First hand descriptions of the construction and use of chultuns by the Chontol is an aid in archaeological interpretation. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology Brigham Young University December, 1970 The site of Aguacatal is located on the Xicalango peninsula, western coast of Campeche, about 20 km east of Atasta, and about 15 km west of the Laguna de Terminos. The peninsula is built up of recent alluvial and eaty recently enacted b twe n th United tates and Mexico which may result in a mar n sediments which are only 3 m above sea level at the highest point. Ground water is high, fluctuating with the tides, and is brackish. Vegetation is tropical, bordering to a rainforest type on the highest points of land, changing to a swamp type where the land is low. Modern wells, which are necessarily shallow, supply water for cattle, gardening, washing clothes, and for drinking in time of drought. Most households obtain drinking and cooking water from above-ground, concrete cisterns, built next to houses. These cisterns collect rainwater from grass and palm frond thatched roofs by means of board gutters temporarily placed under the eaves. Cisterns are 2-3xlxl m or smaller, holding potentially up to about 30001 of water. Rains, occurring from the end of May through September, usually provide enough water to fill the cisterns plus take care of normal needs for drinking and cooking for much of the year. However, cisterns are dry or nearly dry the following April unless a tropical storm occurs which temporarily replenishes the water supply. Some cisterns are capped with planks, or concrete slabs; others are left open. All have a heavy growth of algae a few months into the rainy season and provide a hatching place for many visible forms of animal life. Test excavations at Aguacatal in mound structures revealed several Late Classic period chultuns. These chultuns are always located on earthen constructions well above ground level and probably were adjacent to house structures. Chultuns are often found close to one another. Some are built over others, or show evidence of rebuilding, using the same excavation. Chultuns are always constructed in earthen mounds, none being found in limestone as are found elsewhere on the Yucatan peninsula (Thompson, PMAAE HARVARD, MEM. 1, 1897:3; Pollock, PMAAE HARVARD, PAPS. 61, 1970). The latter chultuns of the Yucatan peninsula are carved in solid limestone bedrock with walls curving outward, permitting a huge volume of space below the neck (Fig. 1). The Aguacatal chultuns, being excavations in soil, do not permit much expansion below the neck because of a lack of strength in the soil and in cross section, some are bottle-shaped, that is, have a restricted neck, a larger volume of space below, but with interior walls tapering inward or i are o l 3 above sea i t. round ater is high, i es, a d is brackish. i l, eri g to a rainforest i ts of land, changing to e la is lo . odern ssa il s a lo , supply i , ashing clothes, i i e of drought. ost i i a d cooking water , c ete cisterns, built 473 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.35 on Thu, 01 Sep 2016 05:34:21 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms [Vol. 36, No. 4, 1971 nearly vertical (Fig. 2). In plan form, some of the chultuns are clover-shaped (Fig. 2), probably to increase the strength of the earthen structure. The Aguacatal chultuns are small in comparison to those found on the Yucatan peninsula. Dimensions of the former constructions will have interior walls 70-120 cm in diameter and 150-180 cm deep, giving a potential capacity for the larger type of about 1600 1. The Yucatan chultuns have huge capacities, ranging from 7 m3 to over 50 m3 of space and having the potential of holding from 71,000 to over 500,0001. The Aguacatal chultuns are lined with clay 20-25 cm thick which has been fired. The clay was fired in place on the interior walls showing gray colors and pieces of charcoal imbedded into it. Earth behind the clay liner is bured. Mollusk shells used in mound construction are often reduced to lime concretions, indicating considerable heat generated during the firing process. In 1 instance, lime cement was used to form the rim, which probably supported a protective cap, at the mouth of a chultun (Fig. 2). Chontal-speaking Indians were employed in excavation at the site. When asked whether or not they recognized the structure that was being excavated, they all agreed and called it a chultun. Then 2 men in their late thirties related the following experience with chultuns: In their youth (late 1930's, early 1940's), they had helped their fathers construct chultuns similar to those being excavated. First, the excavation was made on high ground at a suitable location for a