Yucatan Soils contain evidence of Ancient Maya Market Economy

By John Noble Wilford Published: January 8, 2008Scientists using improved methods of analyzing the chemistry of ancient soils have detected where a large marketplace stood 1,500 years ago in a Maya city on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.
 
The findings, archaeologists say, are some of the first strong evidence that the ancient Maya civilization, at least in places and at certain times, had a market economy similar in some respects to societies today. The conventional view has been that food and other goods in Maya cities were distributed through taxation and tributes controlled by the ruling class.

Dr. Terry’s team took several hundred samples of soil from the clearing and adjacent areas. Food and other organic matter might decay, but they leave chemical traces that survive in the soil. All food materials contain phosphorus, a particularly durable marker of food from long ago.

The
Chunchucmil region was first settled by around 300 BC but flourished
during the Early and Late Classic periods (AD 250-900). The site is
unique in its layout, as every home is found within large yards bounded
by boulders. This practice of marking yards with stone fences is common
in Yucatán today, but was not previously thought to extend back to the
Classic period. Even more fascinating, the mapping project has found
that the walls join to form small streets for foot traffic throughout
the city.      
The ancient inhabitants of Chunchucmil were very
concerned about delimiting their territory from their neighbors. This
may have been because, in addition to being one of the largest Maya
sites, Chunchucmil was once one of the most densely populated sites in
the Maya area. It is estimated that the urban core of Chunchucmil may
cover 14 square kilometers, and contain nearly 600 structures per
square kilometer, creating population estimates as high as 46,650
inhabitants for just the urban core.      
The city likely thrived
as a trade center. It was strategically located at the edge of western
resources (wetland products and salt pans), and was likely tied into a
vigorous maritime canoe trade route that went right by Celestún
bringing products in from central Mexico and Guatemala. Archaeologists
have found an extremely high number of knives made from obsidian
(volcanic glass) that came from areas as far away as Mexico City.