DID THE ANCIENT MAYA PRACTICE PERMACULTURE? (YES.)
A guest post by Gavin Mounsey about how ancient permaculture techniques can inform the burgeoning discourse of Ethnogenesis
Hey Folks,
What you about to read is a guest post by Gavin Mounsey about how he ancient Maya developed techniques of altering their environment in ways that today we would call permaculture.
Given that the Maya have been kicking it in the same spot for millennia without depleting their land base, they might even be the O.G. permanent culture.
But before we get into that, you may be wondering:
WHO IS GAVIN MOUNSEY?
Gavin Mounsey is a Canadian anarchist permaculturist who began contributing to Nevermore late last year.
Lest We Forget... War Is Still A Racket
HEY GANG, As regular readers of this blog will know, we have been posting a ton of anti-war content lately. Yesterday, which was Remembrance Day / Veterans Day, we published two different reflections about the horrors of war.NEVERMORE MEDIA is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subsc…
Gavin is part of the New Wave of Anarchists and seems to embody the attitude of this movement, which is big on synthesizing different schools of thought.
He focuses on ecology and is passionate about indigenous rights, but also draws on the economic analysis more common amongst anarcho-capitalists, Agorists, and American libertarians.
Recently, he responded with excitement to a post called What is Ethnogenesis?, which makes the case that the reason that certain ethnic groups are culturally anarchist is due to a process of cultural inversion known in anthropology as schismogenesis. This occurs when one group of people consciously chooses to refuse the values of another group and begins to define a new group identity defined in contrast to another group.
David Graeber formulated schismogenesis succinctly: “That’s what culture is,” he said. He laid out these ideas in many places, notably in an 2013 essay called Culture as Creative Refusal.
WHAT IS ETHNOGENESIS?
WALKING AWAY FROM CAHOKIA NOTE: The following is a slightly abbreviated version of an article by Crow Qu’appelle discussing “ethnogenesis”—that is, the formation of a new culture and people by those who abandon a way of life they can no longer accept.
In response to my essay, Gavin wrote:
Well I do not know if the Mayans were anarchists or not, but here is some information on something I do know about their culture which I would suggest is worth consciously integrating into our modern day process of Ethnogenesis.
The post above shares a recipe from my book and some information about the Mayan Milpa crop rotation system, their forest gardens and other soil regeneration techniques developed by indigenous peoples.
I think we have a lot to learn from long term food cultivation systems that align with knowledge of the succession of forest ecosystems and work with fire as a regenerative force of nature.
The Mayan Milpa crop rotation system could be adapted to help accelerate the succession of presently degenerated landscapes and bring them into full level food forest production here in Canada where we have millions of acres of monoculture farmed land that is barely producing now due to the stupidity and arrogance of modern agriculture methods.
It is my pleasure to print his essay, although I’ve opted to publish the recipe part separately. Here’s a teaser to pique your appetite, though:
The ensuing exchange on Notes was very interesting, so I’ll embed that thread here:
I also encourage to check Gavin’s Substack, which you can find here:
IS THE ANARCHIST VICTORY HYPOTHESIS FOR THE FALL OF TONINA BETTER SUPPORTED THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED?
Please forgive for indulging in a brief aside, because I recently came across a tantalizing tidbit buried in the footnotes of The Dawn of Everything which is directly relevant to my theory.
It turns out that my Anarchist Victory Hypothesis for the collapse of Mayan city-states is not nearly so novel as I had thought.
, Graeber and Wengrow explain:
In the absence of definitive evidence, theories of collapse have tended to follow the political concerns of their day. During the Cold War, many Euro-American Mayanists seemed to assume some kind of class conflict or peasant revolution; since the 1990s there has been more of a tendency to focus on ecological crises of one sort or another as the main causal factor.
So there you have it. Not so crazy now, am I?
If any of you out there happen to be an archaeology buffs and are able to point me towards good resources about this theory, please share them in the comments.
And as always, we’d love it if you’d do yourself a favour and subscribe to our free newsletter, which allows us to deke out the Algorithm Gods.
Without further ado, I present:
Mayan Milpa gardens and Food Forests
by Gavin Mounsey
Firstly I think it is worth clearing up any potential confusion regarding what I have found to be a common occurrence with people here in Canada and the U.S. conflating the the Maya with the “Aztec” people of the Triple Alliance. As I explained in my previous post, the Nahuatl speaking people of what is now Central Mexico (commonly referred to as “Aztecs”) lived in central Mexico in the 14th to 16th centuries.
The Maya people on the other hand lived (and continue to live) in southern Mexico and northern Central America — a wide territory that includes the entire Yucatán Peninsula — from as early as 2600 BC (some accounts and archeological data points indicating their civilization dates back 8000 years+). Conventional historical accounts date the Mayan civilization’s height between 250 and 900 AD.
Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name.
Evidently, the Mayan people must have developed very effective methods of cultivating food to be able to sustain their civilization for that long while remaining in the same region, but what did that food cultivation system look like?
Enter the The Milpa Forest to Garden to Forest Cycle.
The milpa cycle is the conservation method of farming and managing the Maya forest. It goes through four main stages over the course of approximately 20 years: from the forest to the milpa; from the milpa to the forest garden; and from the forest garden back to the forest.
The traditional milpa and forest garden is an unplowed, multi-crop field that sustains biodiversity and animal habitat while producing plants for food, spice, shelter, medicine, ornament and excess crops, materials and medicines to be traded and/or sold. It can be fertilized by household refuse (compost), organic material (dead weeds), ashes from carefully managed fires, and manure, enriching the soil and increasing productivity without the use of chemically manufactured fertilizer.
For over 8,000 years, the Maya forest gardeners have been sustaining and cultivating the Maya Forest with their Indigenous scientific practices.
This highly productive, sustainable and potentially regenerative system of food cultivation, construction material production, medicine cultivation and animal habitat conservation formed the foundation for the development of the Mayan cities, existing as a stable civilization in symbiosis with the ecosystem that supported it from 3,000 to 1,000 years ago, and was intensified during the latter millennia of a stable climatic regime as population grew and the civilization developed. These strategies of living in the forest evolved into the milpa cycle—the axis of the Maya Forest garden resource management system that created the extraordinary value recognized in the Maya Forest today.
The milpa cycle transforms in stages, and grows back into a closed canopy forest at the end. At least two-thirds of the milpa is part of the forest at any point of the Milpa cycle to conserve the Maya Forest. Maya forest gardeners traditionally have more than one milpa each at different stages cycling at the same time to maximize the multifunctionality of the landscape and crop rotation that ensures diversity in product yields.
An imperialist colonial view depicted the coppice-and-burn aspect of the milpa cycle as a barbaric practice that destroys the ecosystem. Coppice-and-burn was perceived as a single action, not a carefully monitored multi-step process that advances forest growth. The same hubristic and short sighted view of indigenous agroforestry and controlled burn techniques that served to facilitate a symbiotic relationship between the people of the Plains and the Buffalo further north was adopted by the Europeans that invaded what is now Canada and the United States.
Botanists, agroecologists, and ecological restorationists now recognize the importance of this method for sustainable agroforestry and managing local biodiversity.
There is another data point worth mentioning here that illuminates the fallacy of the colonial imperialist propaganda that depicted the Mayans and other indigenous peoples as “primitive”, “uncivilized” and/or “savages” and that is how researchers have uncovered a 2,000-Year-Old Maya water filtration system which utilized methods that exemplify an advanced scientific understanding.
More than 2,000 years ago, the Maya built a complex water filtration system out of materials collected miles away. Now, reports Michelle Starr for Science Alert, researchers conducting excavations at the ancient city of Tikal in northern Guatemala have discovered traces of this millennia-old engineering marvel.
As detailed in the journal Scientific Reports, the study’s authors found that the Maya built the Corriental reservoir filtration system as early as 2,185 years ago, not long after settlement of Tikal began around 300 B.C.
The system—which relied on crystalline quartz and zeolite, to create what the researchers call a “molecular sieve” capable of removing harmful microbes, heavy metals and other pollutants—remained in use until the city’s abandonment around 1100. Today, the same minerals are used in modern water filtration systems.
Another misconception about Mayan traditions (in this case specific to their food forest cultivation techniques) arises from the fact that modern western mechanized cultivation systems, in an effort to produce large yields for maximizing profits, have centered on plowing believing the deep soil were needed for healthy agricultural fields. Thus, they considered rocky soil undesirable and assumed that the ‘primitive’ Maya cultivation system could not support large populations without destroying the shallow tropical soils. This view fails to appreciate the productive potential of the rocky soils when managed with traditional forest gardening methods. Practices like letting organic material accumulate can increase soil fertility and friability to invite new plant growth.
Unlike the mono-crop trend of Western agriculture, plants are intentionally grown around the corn in the poly-culture milpa cycle. Underneath growing corn can lie 30 different plant species and close to 100 annual plants. Some are used as pest attractors to redirect the insect from edible growth, while the breaking of the corn stock channels waters to the growth below when it rains. Similar to other plants that are considered “weeds”, the Maya invite these necessary plants to avoid utilizing damaging pesticides.
Since (as mentioned above) at any given time in the milpa cycling process at least 2/3 of an area being managed by a traditional Mayan farmer is forest, despite the coppicing and burning aspect of the cycle, biodiversity, soil stabilization and animal habitat is maintained steadily throughout the entire cycle.
The result of opening up sections of the canopy of the jungle through coppicing and burning and then encouraging diverse native species to regenerate from the neighboring full canopy jungle (selecting for edible ad medicine plants to become dominant in the regenerating forest means setting up long term self perpetuating food forests that can feed many future generations.
The indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest also used coppicing, controlled burns, composting and Biochar to create some of the most abundant and productive food forests which are supported by some of the most fertile living soils on Earth (called “Terra Preta”).
Terra Preta, meaning "Black Earth" in Portuguese, is a soil building technique developed by ancient Amazonian civilizations at least 7000 years ago as a solution to permanently solve the problems of poor tropical soil fertility. Large deposits of this black earth are still found today with depths of up to 2 meters. The first deposits where discovered in 1870, but it has only been in the last 10 years that significant interest and study have been initiated.
This soil is attributed to the complex civilizations that once thrived in the Amazon. Prior to the onset of diseases brought on by the western settlers, this expansive web of communities is estimated to have totaled over 100 million people. The Terra Preta soils are what sustained them in harmony with their ecosystems.
Terra Preta is of prehistoric origin and is higher in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium than adjacent soils. It controls water and reduces leaching of nutrients from the rhizosphere. Rich in humus, pieces of pre-Columbian unfired clay pottery, and black carbon, it’s like a “microbial reef” that promotes and sustains the growth of mycorrhizae and other beneficial microbes, and it has been shown to retain its fertility for thousands of years. In university trials, terra preta has increased crop yields by as much as 800 percent. It regrows itself when excavated (due to the beneficial microbes).
The Potawatomi people who called the land where I now live (around the Great Lakes of what is now called “Canada”) also used a similar technique to the Maya’s Milpa for opening up sections of the Carolinian forest canopy and using controlled burns to allow for cultivation of sun loving companion planted annuals, while enriching the soil and setting the stage for long term food forest design.
Given many of us now live in areas where we have no trouble getting enough sunlight for annual sun loving crops and given how we need to protect all the old growth trees we have left, perhaps we can skip the forest clearing aspect, but combine other aspects of the Milpa techniques with techniques for creating Terra Preta to create pockets of deep, beautiful, dark soil that can become the foundation for many years of gardening and building food forests.
There are many ways we can learn from and adapt the milpa garden cycle and food forest development cycle that can be applied without requiring a “slash and burn” or “coppice and burn” component to the process (given many of us live in areas that have been almost completely deforested already). We can use controlled burns (Biochar generation) of brush and dead woody debris that we have available from windfalls/pruning to help jump start the regeneration and begin the process of creating Mayan style food forests by identifying choice edible, medicinal, functional and habitat providing native species in out region, propagating them and building a food forest from the ground up.
Perhaps some day, a generation or two (or 7) down the road, if our forests begin to become so abundant that we find ourselves needing some space and light for our favorite annual food and medicine plants, we can re-visit applying the full milpa technique again where we live.
One great place to start down the path of combining the best of the knowledge that ancient cultures like the Mayans, the indigenous people of the Amazon and Turtle Island with regards to nourishing soil and creating a foundation for abundant long term food forests is by learning how to create out own living soil by scaling up beneficial indigenous soil microorganisms, through composting and working with other beneficial microbe consortiums that are present in worm castings and products like EM1 (aka “effective microorganisms”) and then making our own Biochar (which provides those beneficial microbes a long term substance to set up a permanent and prominent presence in your soil).
Here are a couple videos by a couple friend’s of mine that explain what living (or “regenerative”) soil and Biochar is and how one can make it at home.
For more information on Mayan food cultivation and water filtration methods as well as additional info on annual polyculture farming and or food forest development that involved so called “slash and burn” cycling techniques:
https://underwoodgardens.com/terra-preta-magic-soil-of-the-lost-amazon/
https://www.edhat.com/news/heroes-of-the-maya-forest-humanist-society
https://web.archive.org/web/20121231153714/https://www.espmaya.org/milpa.html
https://umassdining.com/blog/permaculture/mayan-forest-gardens-1
https://valhallamovement.com/ancient-maya-used-food-forest-permaculture-to-feed-their-population/
I would like to make it clear that (as with the post I shared previously that offers information about the Chinampa floating gardens of the Triple Alliance) I am not saying the Mayan people were perfect or that we should emulate them in all ways (that is true of all ancient cultures). I feel we can acknowledge how certain practices of ancient cultures were regenerative, ingenious and aligned with integrity while other practices were not (learning from the regenerative practices, honing them using modern methods and discarding the rest). I am sharing the above info because I advocate for doing what is suggested in The Seventh Fire Prophecy (which involves consciously learning from the wisdom of those that came before as so that we can choose a greener, more abundant, more honorable and more regenerative path in the future). In the spirit of gleaning wisdom from those that came before us to improve the way we produce food and interact with the more than human world I think it is worth exploring the potential for applying the most regenerative aspects of the milpa food forest crop rotation growing system in colder climates (so that those of us who live in the temperate can adapt and learn to cultivate food in a more regenerative way.
When you cultivate food in the garden in a way that gives back to the living Earth and honors the many gifts we have been given in this life (including learning from cultural wisdom from those that came before us) you are engaging in the sacred act of Reciprocity.
Using your hands to give back to the Earth and to give thanks to Creator for the gift you have been given in this human body, by taking good care of it with nourishing, delicious and vibrant meals (that use food as medicine and provide poetry for the soul) is a way to give back to your body, your temple and thus a way to give back and say thank you to Creator.
One of the most powerful choices we can make to heal the relationship to Mother Earth, give back to and honor our sacred temple and in doing so engage in an act of Reciprocity begins with a handful of seeds and some TLC.
I am wishing you all a spring time filled with hope, peace, feeling nourished and inspired by the abundance you cultivate and create in the garden and in the kitchen.
Hey brother, gonna be presenting at a conference and talking about Ethnogenesis, here is a preview clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoJN-wUR6vU
I am honored to walk this path along side of you brother.
Did you catch my recent interview with Riley Waggaman (for his Edward Slavsquat substack blog) ?
https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/the-revolution-will-involve-fermented?
I appreciate you introducing me to the term Ethnogenesis.
I have been engaged in efforts to create counter-cultures which are intended to be permanent, but I did not have a definitive term to encapsulate and describe that process I was attempting to engage with and plant the seeds for until you introducing me to the term recently.
My work is intended to invite people to come together and embody a new way of living (voluntarily) to begin to redefine themselves as a completely separate and distinct culture (or “Parallel Society”) from the statist model.
I typically do not describe myself or the way of living and organizing communities that I advocate would be an improvement from what we have now as "Anarchy" because (based on what I have learned) Anarchy simply means “without rulers” and (based on what I have read, though I could be wrong and am open to refining my understanding of the word) while living in anarchy would certainly be an improvement from how we live now in statist regimes, it does not convey the need for any kind of ethical compass to guide one's behavior as an individual. Since I choose to walk the path of the Non-aggression principle (and, based on the books I have read, it seems that anarchy does not necessitate any such set of ethics being involved) , the term "Voluntaryism" seems to more closely describe path I walk and would endorse as an improvement from how we live now, for individuals and communities. Though, all labels and the boxes people build around them have limitations and can be twisted and corrupted, so even Voluntaryism does not fully describe the way that I live and advocate would be an improvement for our communities to others.
Some people tell me that I am a “new ager” or a “neo-pagan” or they say I am promoting “gaianism” (as you can imagine, they are not trying to give me a compliment).
I have no interest in religious dogmas, I advocate people should use their own God given senses of perception (both physical senses and senses that allow for perception of non-physical aspects of this universe) to directly perceive the truth of what is for themselves so they can know the truth (rather than simply believing what someone else is telling them to accept as true). Most religions attempt to train people into seeing themselves as being dependent on books, gurus or priests of some sort to be able to know what is true and what is not. I think that type of system is a scam.
I advocate for autodidactism as a more reliable form of learning and being capable of discerning what is true and what is not.
I suppose my recognition of the planet Earth as a sentient living organism could be labelled as "gaianism". Though I am sure that word is seen as meaning a bunch of things that I do not agree with, so I tend to avoid getting wrapped up in labels whenever possible and instead just strive live the truth (allowing people who like labels to either apply them to me, or not, with me not paying much attention either way).
As I said in my recent interview with Riley, much of our current system of statism does not align with Permaculture Ethics and much of permaculture design is really just echoes of more ancient wisdom rooted in Indigenous perspectives and techniques. Since some ancient indigenous peoples chose greed, violent domination of others and other problematic/degenerative behaviors I always try to emphasize that I do not advocate trying to revive any and all indigenous ways of living and seeing. Rather, I suggest we should use discernment when accepting the gifts of wisdom that the ancients gave us (leaving behind what no longer serves us and breathing new live into principles that are universally regenerative and ethical) and trail blaze a new path forward that is reverent, regenerative, courageous, humble and capable of starving and leaving the centralized statist systems behind.
Each of us can take the lead in that regard. When people see another human being nurturing themselves, tending a garden, sharing abundance, living with purpose, joyfully and generously, you do not have to convince or threaten them into wanting to be part of that, they gravitate to it naturally.
In essence, I believe it is the seed that rises from within that is born from living the way one wants the world to be, which readily self sows and sets down roots far and wide. Individuals embodying the intrinsic abundance, purpose and joy that results from living with integrity, compassion, courage and generosity provides an incentive more enticing than any government bribe or threat for others to follow suit. They show other people a way of living that heals the broken parts within us, heals the land around us, begins to bind our shattered communities together in a new way (as with the art of Kintsugi) as we consciously engage in the process of Ethnogenesis.
Each of us can plant the seeds for a new way of living to set down roots in our communities and leave this world a little bit more free and beautiful than it was when we got here for those that will call this place home after we are gone.