Home »
Audio en maya
La chinampa, the living heritage of the water culture inherited from the pre-Columbian peoples
Parte 1
Parte 2
Parte 3
Parte 4
By José Luis Martínez Ruiz
English translation: Rubén Marrufo García León
Hydraulic works, aqueduct construction, and agricultural irrigation systems are part of the Mesoamerican hydro-agricultural tradition, which the anthropologist Miguel León Portilla called the jade tradition. Chinampa is one of his extraordinary achievements, and he still survives.
In the ancient lakes of the basin of Mexico -where now stands the gigantic city of Mexico City -for better use of their hydrographic environment, the pre-Columbian peoples developed methods to form artificial soils that they used to cement their buildings, expand their farmlands and as a base to build hydraulic works. The handmade constructions of farmland were erected on the banks of the lakes and in the shallow parts of the lake area, and they were called chinampas, which in the Nahuatl language means “hedge of engraved reeds” or “fence of interwoven rods.” This technology, which is more than 2000 years old, was one of the basic foundations that helped the ancient Mexicans develop a unique hydraulic and lake culture worldwide.
Chinampas in San Gregorio Atlapulco, in Xochimilco, Mexico City. Photo by José Luis Martínez Ruiz
Tenochtitlan, Lake Town, planted with chinampas and navigation canals
During the consolidation of the Mexica Empire (1428-1521), the Chinampero system intensified and expanded in the freshwater lagoons of Mexico, Xochimilco, and Chalco. This apogee is also due to the lake’s geological conditions that conditioned the formation of extensive and shallow lakes, mainly fed by the rich and sweet springs of the south.
The growth of the Chinampas is directly related to the construction and operation of a complex infrastructure of hydraulic works that, through dams, navigation channels, causeways, drainage works, freshwater conduction, gates, and a network of canals and ditches, exercised control of the lake bodies for the benefit of the Chinampero agriculture.
This hydraulic system prevented flooding and mixing saltwater from Lake Texcoco with freshwater lagoons, had river and land communication routes, water supply for human consumption; and ensured adequate water levels for the Chinampero system. In the valley of Mexico, the hydraulic control of lake bodies favored the growth and creation of a hydro-agricultural Chinampero system with the highest rate of agricultural productivity ever seen in the history of Mesoamerica.
To understand the success of the Chinampas, it is not enough to associate it with the development of hydraulic technology; for such a high level of production to have been achieved, it was necessary to have a social organization of work and a deep agri-environmental knowledge of its environment.
This entire hydraulic and social complex made Tenochtitlan and its adjacent cities an original lake civilization that has marveled the world to this day.
The Chinampas in the present
The still preserved Chinampas are built with organic soil and settled on the banks of the lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco, in shallow areas, usually rectangular. The best-preserved areas’ dimensions are variable; the largest can be a hundred meters long by ten or twenty wide. Between one Chinampa and another, there are small canals or ditches of one or two meters of amplitude that, in turn, are crossed by acalotes or wide navigation channels.
The Chinampas in the present
The still preserved Chinampas are built with organic soil and settled on the banks of the lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco, in shallow areas, usually rectangular. The best-preserved areas’ dimensions are variable; the largest can be a hundred meters long by ten or twenty wide. Between one Chinampa and another, there are small canals or ditches of one or two meters of amplitude that, in turn, are crossed by acalotes or wide navigation channels.
Conservation of the wetland ecosystem and coal reservoir
I consider the Chinampa an agroforestry unit since it is surrounded by trees called ahuejotes that play a significant role in conserving forest biomass. The hollows prevent the crumbling of the edges of the Chinampas; their roots retain the sides of the plots; they give light shade to the crops and serve as a wind barrier. It is an essential source of coal and contributes to conserving the biotic richness of wetland ecosystems.
Chinampas in Xochimilco in the 1930s. Source: Schilling, 1938.
Lettuce cultivation in a chinampa. Photo by José Luis Martínez Ruiz
Back to the lake town?
It is surprising that in the present day, south-east of Mexico City -one of the most populated metropolises in the world- the Chinampas are preserved, a fact that can only be explained by the tenacity of the chinampers who preserve the agrohydrological knowledge of the original peoples and, of course, by their high productivity. A Chinampa of San Gregorio Atlapulco is five and a half times more productive per unit of surface than a storm land; in addition, its canals serve for the traditional walks of the citizens in the boats called trajineras.
Growing in a chinampa. Photo by José Luis Martínez Ruiz
Trajineras at the jetty, Xochimilco. Photo by Indira Franco.
The Chinampas, by favoring the conservation of the wetlands, protect and stimulate the biotic richness of the lake environments; they are a source of work that preserves the culture of the water; they constitute a natural barrier against the advance of the urban march; and they avoid the deterioration of the wetlands, vital for the purification and recharge of the aquifer mantles of the ecosystems.
