Earthen channels directed fish into ponds that formed seasonally, providing a dietary bounty for Maya civilizations starting around 4,000 years ago.

On the eve of the rise of the Maya civilization, people living in what’s now Belize turned a whole wetland into a giant network of fish traps big enough to feed thousands of people. We already know that the Maya turned swamps into breadbaskets by draining and building up raised blocks of land for maize fields.