Three major Maya centers recently discovered in the northern part of the uninhabited Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in eastern Campeche, Mexico, provided the first archaeological information obtained in an extensive, formerly unexplored area in the central lowlands of the Yucatán peninsula. Based on ALS (lidar) data, which were acquired for a broader area of 230 km² and revealed a thoroughly modified and undisturbed archaeological landscape, and on additional information provided by subsequent field surveys and test excavations, we focus on the techniques of water management and agricultural intensification reflected in specific types of landscape modifications. By analyzing their characteristics, distribution and chronology, we discuss their practical functions, which in the region characterized by the lack of permanent water sources were of foremost importance, and further infer the sociopolitical structures involved in their construction and maintenance. We also interpret the significance of these features in Maya worldview and ritual and their role in landscape construction and conceptualization, and show their potential for addressing other fundamental questions of archaeological relevance, including population estimates, settlement dynamics, and the processes that led to the final demise of Classic Maya culture in the central lowlands.

最近在墨西哥东部坎佩切州无人居住的卡拉克穆尔生物圈保护区的北部发现了三个主要的玛雅人中心，这是在尤卡坦半岛中部低地广泛的，以前未被开发的地区获得的第一批考古信息。基于ALS（激光）数据，该数据是在230 km ²的更广范围内获取的并揭示了经过彻底改造和不受干扰的考古景观，以及随后的野外调查和试验发掘提供的其他信息，我们将重点放在反映在特定类型的景观改造中的水资源管理和农业集约化技术上。通过分析它们的特性，分布和时间顺序，我们讨论了它们的实际功能，在缺乏永久性水源的地区，这一功能最为重要，并进一步推断出涉及其建造和维护的社会政治结构。我们还解释了这些特征在Maya世界观和仪式中的重要性以及它们在景观构建和概念化中的作用，并展示了它们在解决考古相关性的其他基本问题方面的潜力，