ABSTRACT
This chapter uses only the primary residential units for our calculation of population in the El Pilar area of the Maya Lowlands. It examines the potentials of ancient El Pilar using the milpa forest garden model of the hand-cultivation system. The El Pilar area as the basis for testing the potential of the milpa forest garden cycle to sustain the ancient Maya at the height of the Late Classic period. The chapter connects the traditional milpa forest garden cycle recognized today as well as historically to ancient Maya settlement patterns The simulated model of PRU distribution using the known settlement patterns for the El Pilar area provides the basis for developing Maya population estimates for the Late Classic period. To evaluate whether the El Pilar area has sufficient land to cover the maize requirement for the estimated Late Classic population, it measures the cultivated area and the variable yields from the ethnographic cases to inform our infield/outfield maize milpa-cycle calculation.
