12 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists uncover 4,000-year-old earliest large-scale Archaic fish-trapping facility recorded in ancient Mesoamerica

Archaeologists, using drones and Google Earth imagery, have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what is now Belize that were once used by the predecessors of the ancient Mayans to catch freshwater fish.

The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, highlight the creativity of the semi-nomadic people who built the system long before the rise of the iconic civilization of the Maya predecessors.

Using drones and Google Earth imagery, researchers identified miles-long zigzagging canals through wetlands in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary.

“The aerial imagery was crucial to identify this really distinctive pattern of zigzag linear canals running for several miles through wetlands,” Eleanor Harrison-Buck, co-author of the study, stated, as reported by The Guardian.

The team then conducted digs in Belize’s Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. The ancient fish canals, paired with holding ponds, were used to channel and catch freshwater species such as catfish.

The canal networks were built as early as 4,000 years ago in the Yucatán coastal plain, surprising researchers who initially assumed the ancient Maya made these constructions.  The canals date back to a semi-nomadic period, predating the Maya by millennia, and were in use for about 1,000 years.

Cross section showing associated calibrated radiocarbon dates and photos of excavations with geomorphological descriptions. Image credit: BREA project- Journal Science Advances
Cross section showing associated calibrated radiocarbon dates and photos of excavations with geomorphological descriptions. Image credit: BREA project– Journal Science Advances

“The early dates of the channels surprised us at first because we all assumed these huge constructions had been made by the ancient Maya living in the nearby urban centers,” Eleanor Harrison-Buck explained.

“This is the earliest large-scale Archaic fish-trapping facility recorded in ancient Mesoamerica,” the study authors wrote in Science Advances, adding that “such landscape-scale intensification may have been a response to long-term climate disturbance recorded between 2200 and 1900 BCE.”

“Barbed spearpoints” found nearby may have been tied to sticks and used to spear fish, said study co-author Marieka Brouwer Burg of the University of Vermont.

This early large-scale landscape modification suggests a foundation for the complex society that later built temples, pyramids, and advanced systems of writing and astronomy.

“This shows continuity,” said Jeremy Sabloff, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, explaining how the resourceful strategies of these early communities likely supported the cultural and architectural achievements of the Maya.

E. Harrison-Buck, S. M. Krause, M. Brouwer Burg, M. Willis, A. Perrotti, and K. Bailey,  2024, “Late Archaic large-scale fisheries in the wetlands of the pre-Columbian Maya Lowlands,” Science Advances, Vol. 10, No. 47 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adq1444

Related Articles

Bronze Age and Roman-era settlements unearthed in Newquay

10 April 2023

10 April 2023

Archaeologists from the Cornwall Archaeological have uncovered ancient dwellings from the Bronze Age and a Roman period settlement in Newquay,...

Archaeologists discovered 130 dwellings around the Ringheiligtum Pömmelte monument “German Stonehenge”

15 June 2021

15 June 2021

Archaeologists have unearthed 130 dwellings at an Early Bronze Age monument in Germany, indicating that the ‘Stonehenge’ was once home...

Archaeologists Discovered a New Pyramid Resembling Teotihuacán in Tikal

17 April 2021

17 April 2021

Researchers discovered a new pyramid complex in the Tikal in Guatemala. About 65 km south of El Mirador in the...

Archaeologists uncover ancient mosaic of the living room of brutal Publius Vedius Pollio

13 December 2022

13 December 2022

In the Pausilypon Archaeological Park, archaeologists from the University of Naples’ “L’Orientale” uncovered an ancient mosaic. The park is located...

Archaeologists Discover 8600-year-old Bread at Çatalhöyük May be the Oldest Bread in the World

5 March 2024

5 March 2024

Archaeologists have discovered about 8,600-year-old bread at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement in central Turkey. Çatalhöyük is noteworthy because it is...

The Stolen Frescoes were Returned to the Pompeii Archaeological Park

20 May 2021

20 May 2021

Six frescoes ripped from the remains of ancient Roman villas years ago have been returned to the Pompeii archaeological site,...

2600-year-old Med period artifacts found in Oluz Höyük, in Turkey

17 October 2022

17 October 2022

During the Oluz Höyük excavations in Amasya, artifacts dating back to the Med Kingdom period were found, dating back to...

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

23 March 2023

23 March 2023

Significant prehistoric rock art has been discovered in La Febro, in southwestern Catalonia. The team that discovered the art inside...

After 150 years, Schliemann’s destruction in Troy was repaired

8 August 2021

8 August 2021

Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman, excavated the ancient city of Troy in northwest Canakkale province 150 years ago. Archaeologists are...

People may have been cooking curries in South-East Asia for at least 2000 years

22 July 2023

22 July 2023

Archaeologists have found remnants of eight spices on a sandstone slab from an archaeological site in Vietnam, showing the early...

Ancient settlements that challenge traditional thinking “Karahantepe and Taş Tepeler”

5 December 2021

5 December 2021

After Göbeklitepe in Şanlıurfa, which sheds light on 12,000 years ago in human history and is considered one of the...

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

14 September 2021

14 September 2021

Excavations continue in Kültepe, the starting point of Anatolian written history. During the excavations, a 4,000-year-old lion jawbone was unearthed....

Bidnija olive trees have seen medieval, not the Roman period

13 July 2021

13 July 2021

The olive trees in the Bidnija grove on the island of Malta are believed to be 2000 years old. But...

The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: The Dark Age of Ancient Scrolls Ends

2 May 2025

2 May 2025

Artificial intelligence, often envisioned for future applications, is now playing a pivotal role in unraveling the mysteries of the past....

Bronze Age family systems deciphered: Paleogeneticists analyze 3,800-year-old extended family

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

A Bronze Age family living 3,800 years ago in the Southern Urals may have taken a flexible approach to marriage,...