Aztec Chinampa Agriculture

Timeline

1. 1100–1325Lake region of the Valley of Mexico · Valley of MexicoResidents of lake regions such as Xochimilco enclosed shallow waters with willow stakes, layering soil and organic matter to create highly productive gardens irrigable year-round, laying the foundation for later capital agriculture.
2. 1431–1440Lake region around Tenochtitlan · Valley of MexicoAfter the founding of the Triple Alliance, the empire expanded the chinampa network on a large scale, feeding the rapidly growing capital population and army with crops such as maize, beans, squash, and amaranth; chinampas became a technical pillar of the empire's finances and livelihood.
3. 1440–1521Valley of Mexico · Valley of MexicoAccording to archaeological and ethnohistorical research, the total area of chinampas in the valley may have reached tens of thousands of hectares, with per-area yields far exceeding dryland agriculture, supporting the population density of one of the largest cities in the pre-Columbian world.