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Chinampa

Chinampa is a term of the Aztec referring to small areas of fertile land for agriculture, made from the mud of water canals. The word comes from the Nahuatl word chinamitl which means square made of canes. Such gardens sometimes develop into islands as roots from them connect with the lake bottom.

In prehispanic times, Chinampas were squares made of canes covered by dirt, used to grow maize, beans and other crops, floating on Lake Texcoco, which surrounded Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City. In Xochimilco, Chinampas can still be seen today.

Chinampas were floating garden platforms which were held in place by trees and stakes planted in lagoon and lake bottoms. Many chinampas were constructed by indigenous inhabitants of Tenochtitlán. The city was built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, and the original small island was extended by this method.

Since most indigenous people were permanent settlers, they could spend more extensive time on their agriculture. Therefore, chinampas were a good way to put their skills to use. There usually was no set time for when the platforms had to be complete. It could be done at a steady pace. Inhabitants would dig channels in the marsh areas of lakes and then take the excess soil from the lake bottoms, which was very rich soil, and pile it into a rectanglar space creating the chinampa platform or mound. This mound was then used to grow various crops. This process produced large "checkerboard" strips of land surrounded by narrow canals. Chinampas were usually around 300 feet long and 15 to 30 feet wide.

These chinampas allowed inhabitants to make use of the lake waters which surrounded the Aztec Empire, producing a majority of the food for the inhabitants. Chinampas were used all year long, thus several crops were produced annually. The indigenous farmers used these floating platforms to grow corn, squash, amaranth, chilies, beans, and flowers. Part of each crop grown in the chinampas supported the city population and the rest was offered as a tribute to the Gods. For example, the flowers grown were often used in various Aztec ceremonies .

The use of chinampas resulted in fertile, nutrionally rich soil that increased the productivity of the farmers. Less effort was needed to produce sufficient amounts of food. In order to keep the platforms fertile, alluvial deposits were added over time. The chinampas were so effective at producing, that there was often food surpluses. Thus inhabitants were able to concentrate less on agricultural aspects, and more on other tasks in daily indigenous life such as crafts and military obligations.

After the Spaniards dried the Texcoco lake, as a way to control inundations, the role of chinampas dimished drastically in favor of more traditional method of agriculture. Today chinampas only survive in Xochimilco.

See also: Ancient Mesoamerican agriculture

Additional reading

  • Aztecs: Reign of Blood and Splendor: Time-life Books; Virginia: The Time Inc. Company, 1992.
Last updated: 02-07-2005 05:15:15
Last updated: 04-29-2005 16:21:04