The Maya: America's First Water Resource Engineers

The Maya, America's first civil engineers developed unique water resource technologies that successfully supported a dense population of 1800 to 2600 people per square mile. This unique engineering accomplishment was but one of the technical advancements achieved by the Maya during their 2000-year history. Archaeologists considered the Maya to be a "stone age" culture; however, this science-based society built a scientifically advanced culture while Europe languished in the Dark Ages. This ingenious culture developed technologies, and sciences that were not "discovered" by the Europeans until the nineteenth century. These unique technological achievements were the result of integrating native ingenium with synergistic management to plan and construct a complex infrastructure. This infrastructure included efficient water management systems that enhanced the inconstant natural water supply. The Maya engineers developed projects that provided potable water, irrigation of agriculture and aquaculture, water storage systems, reclamation of storm water, flood control, and road and bridge construction. These lost landmarks of civil engineering were hidden for centuries by the tropical rainforest. Recently, the unique accomplishments of the Maya engineers were uncovered by a new field of archaeo-engineering using state-of-the-art forensic engineering techniques.