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Chinampa Floating-Field Agriculture

Type Object Region Valley of Mexico Time c. 1000–1500

Chinampa is an intensive agricultural technique developed in the lake and marsh zones of Mexico's Valley of Mexico: enclosed with wooden stakes and r…

Timeline

  1. c. 1000–1270Xochimilco lake and marsh zone · Mexico CityCity-states of the valley built fenced floating islands along the shores of lakes such as Texcoco and Xochimilco, improving soil with lake mud and humus from aquatic plants, achieving multiple crop rotations per year; by the 1370s the technique was already quite mature.
  2. c. 1270–1428Valley of Mexico · State of MexicoAfter the rise of the Aztec Triple Alliance, floating fields were greatly expanded, integrating lake cropland with canal transport; chinampa yields became the pillar of the capital's food supply, supporting continued population growth in the valley.
  3. c. 1428–1500Tenochtitlan · Mexico CityAt the height of Tenochtitlan, surrounding chinampa area reached several thousand hectares; after the Spanish conquest, lake drainage and land reorganization changed the layout of the floating fields, but some traditional chinampa farming methods in places like Xochimilco continue to this day.

Sources