Presentation: “Otzmal” at Miami Science Museum

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“Otzmal” 

with Dr. Clifford T. Brown, Florida Atlantic University

Over the past few years, Clifford Brown has been a part of the Central Yucatan Project, and has mapped and surveyed numerous Maya sites in the region. One site he helped to investigate stood out among others. It had pyramids, a palace, residential buildings and a cenote of sacrifice.  What made it different? What is so special about Otzmal?


Otzmal is significant because it is a small, yet complete site, described as a single-component Mayapan-style site, which are extremely rare. It dates from a key, but poorly known, period between the fall of Mayapan and the beginning of the Colonial period. It may represent an “unusual type” of site; was it political? or was it religious?

Over the past few years, Clifford Brown has been a part of the Central Yucatan Project, and has mapped and surveyed numerous Maya sites in the region. One site he helped to investigate stood out among others. It had pyramids, a palace, residential buildings and a cenote of sacrifice.  What made it different? What is so special about Otzmal?


Otzmal is significant because it is a small, yet complete site, described as a single-component Mayapan-style site, which are extremely rare. It dates from a key, but poorly known, period between the fall of Mayapan and the beginning of the Colonial period. It may represent an “unusual type” of site; was it political? or was it religious?

Feb 20 2013

8-9:30 PM

Miami Science Museum

The Institute of Maya Studies meets at the Miami Science Museum,

 3280 South Miami Avenue, across from Vizcaya

Feeding the Masses at Miami Science Museum

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Feeding the Masses

In a land of volcanoes, jungles and forests, rocky soils and swampy flats, without beasts of burden or metal tools, the Maya achieved a sophisticated agricultural system that allowed at their peak the establishment of cities as large or larger than those in Europe.

After the hunter-gatherer period, the first organized agriculture developed along the coastal waterways and marches. Later maize agriculture was the foundation of civilization. Populations in densely forested regions, such as El Petén, “The cradle of the Maya civilization”, in Guatemala, developed “slash-and-burn” agriculture. They learned that the approach to feeding the masses was effective water management. They created forest gardens, raised field and terrace land-use techniques, and they farmed the “bajos”, the low-lying seasonally wet regions. They succeeded in a harsh environment.

Feb 13 2013

8-9:30 PM

Miami Science Museum

The Institute of Maya Studies meets at the Miami Science Museum,
 3280 South Miami Avenue, across from Vizcaya