Mesoamerica, one of the oldest culture areas across the globe, realized some innovations in terms of urbanization and engineering. This area is one where some of the oldest domesticated plants of the world such as the corn, the squash and the bean emerged and the life there took form in relation with these; where some wonders of engineering were created as a result of these. One of these ingenious innovations is a feat of urbanization and engineering called chinampa.

The word chinampa is derived from Nahuatl word chinamitl. This word used to be used to denote terrain near reeds, areas enclosed by walls, smaller units comprising an altépetl ( settlements in Aztecan Mesoamerica similar to our smaller cities where a particular number of people resided permanently ) . Another theory holds that the root of the word is chinampan in Nahuatl. The word chinampan used to denote narrow and long piles of earth the Aztec people built in such a way that they would extend into lakes. In my opinion, both words are semantically in close proximity to modern word chinampa.

What are chinampas? In what sense are they so important?

Chinampas are floating fields constructed into lake and river beds by Mesoamerican peoples, Aztec people for the most part, for the purpose of cultivating crops. The Aztecs, who had founded their capital Tenochtitlan over an enormous water complex composed of five big lakes, fulfilled their alimentary needs with the crops they cultivated at the chinampas they had built over the complex. These chinampas were an ingenious system because:

• There was no possibility of them being adversely affected by drought. The plants on chinampas could yield crops abundantly in each period of the year due to the fact that the earth they grew on could remain humid throughout the year.
• Chinampas were composed of rectangular blocks constructed in such a way that there would be channels between them so that water could flow freely. This enabled water to remain in constant state of flow and drainage; the chinampa was never subjected to the ills caused by flooding; there always used to be water between the rectangular blocks regularly flowing and operating.
• Chinampas could yield between 4 and 10 times of harvest throughout the year because of the fact that they were constructed with fertile earth and natural fertilizers and they remained sufficiently humid throughout the year. Earth on ordinary terrain yields averagely 1 harvest throughout the year. Also because a chinampa was very rich in nutrients and organic matter, it could enable growing a very wide array of crops and negates the necessity of using chemicals.

Chinampas enabled nutrition of enormous populations in Mesoamerica, thus emergence of settlements of big size and their sustenance through constant functionality. Although we don’t exactly know when they emerged, the first chinampas were tiny islets constructed over water masses by peasants living at the side of lakes and rivers for the purpose of keeping their families fed constantly. The Mesoamerican people who utilized and operated chinampas regularly systematically were the Aztecs. Before their era, chinampas were in such a state that they were dispersed relatively sparsely and unsystematically. 

If we are to construct a chinampa, the first thing to do is to calculate or estimate how shallow or deep the water mass is correctly. Chinampas cannot be constructed over deep masses of water. The depth of water has to be such that it could enable stabilization of the earth and fertilizers to be used for constructing the chinampa. If we have decided that the depth of the water mass is appropriate for the purpose of the construction of a chinampa, the next thing to do is to discover a tree species we could use to enclose the chinampa and to sow its seeds along the frame of the chinampa, which is to be rectangular. Upon growing completely, these trees will constitute the natural borders of the chinampa and control the flow of water into and out of the chinampa. In addition, they will be protecting plants sensitive to sunlight during their growing. Mesoamerican peoples used the tree called the salix bonplandiana, called ahuejote in Spanish, a tall willow species growing in Central America, to this purpose. Whether it is the salix bonplandiana or any other tree that we would prefer, the next thing we would have to do is to fill up the area of the chinampa with soft and fertile soils like silt and clay. These soils generally exist where we would construct the chinampa. We would have to construct the uppermost layer of the chinampa by adding dry leaves, dry tree boughs, animal excrement at the following stage after having constructed this layer.

Many varieties of plants would be grown on chinampas. Among these were the lettuce, the radish, the cauliflower, the pepper, the corn, the spinach and various flowers.

There are three famous regions in the Mexico Basin today where the last chinampas of history could be seen. These regions are Xochimilco, Míxquic and Tláhuac. Chinampas in these regions are still utilized to grow various vegetables and flowers. The area where the regions are located was proclaimed to be a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.

I also believe that this invaluable heritage of humanity should be preserved at all costs.