January 09, 2003
Map from Armando Anaya

Armando Anaya, who has been studying the Maya sites near Boca del Cerro, has created this map of water levels resulting from a "small cortina" of 30 meters. (Click on the thumbnail to see it full-size)

Here is his explanation:

I've been toying around with a Digital Elevation Model that I created for the Tenosique-Boca del Cerro area, and considering Alejandro Martinez' remarks on a "not so big curtain, 50 to 70 m high" here is what I get with a 30-m rise of the water level. Mind you, my DEM is "home-made" and not as precise as the one that CFE should have, but nevertheless, I think it gives a very likely scenario. In my model some of the "unimportant" sites that would be flooded are according to the map of CFE: "Sitios que pudieron haber controlado, a nivel regional, zonas (extensiones mayores a 3 km2) de produccion. Son centros administrativos...Contienen mas de 50 monticulos visibles. Tienen algunos elementos notables en arquitectura o escultura". So much for the unimportance. I'll continue mocking around with this and will let you know of any other thing that may be relevant.

And his FAMSI report on the sites is here:

The Pomoná Kingdom and its Hinterland - Armando Anaya Hernandez

Posted by Dave at January 09, 2003 08:49 PM