Chinampa cultivation - Chinampa cultivation

Japanese: チナンパ耕作 - チナンパこうさく

In the Nahuatl language of Mexico, chinampa refers to cultivated land created by surrounding shallow lakes and marshes with wooden stakes, covering them with reeds, rushes and aquatic plants, and piling up mud. Chinampas developed in the lakeshore areas of the Basin of Mexico, but similar methods of reclamation of low-lying marshes can be found throughout Mexico and South America. Small-scale chinampas had been constructed since around the time of Christ, but the chinampas that cover most of the freshwater lake area have a grid-like network of drainage channels that are uniformly offset 15 to 17 degrees east from due north, and were constructed after the 15th century when large-scale water conservation projects were carried out.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

浅い湖沼を木杭で囲いアシ，イグサ，水草類を敷きつめ，泥土を積み上げ造成した耕地をメキシコのナワ語でチナンパchinampaという。チナンパはメキシコ盆地の湖岸域で発達したが，類似した低湿地干拓の方法はメキシコの各地や南アメリカにもみられる。小規模なチナンパは紀元前後から造成されていたが，淡水湖域の大部分を覆うチナンパは，一様に真北から15～17゜東偏した格子状排水路網をもち，大規模な水利事業が展開した15世紀以降に造成された。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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