. . .

Perhaps the most obvious example of infrastructural investment comes in the form of defensive or military features pointing to a high incidence of conflict in the Maya Lowlands. Such fortifications are found at a scale and quantity (Fig. 10) matched only by the Tikal earthworks and the monumental fortifications at Becan, both known since the 1960s (118–120). To a notable extent, settlement density does not correlate with regional defense, in that some of the most densely settled blocks, such as Naachtun, have no defensive features. Individual defensive features—bridges, ditches, ramparts, stone walls, and terraces—were constructed as components of “built defensive systems.” These combined with natural defenses to protect “defended areas.” There were five types of built defensive systems: landscape ditch-and-rampart (type 1), hilltop ditch-and-rampart (type 2), contoured terrace (type 3), stand-alone rampart (type 4), and stone wall (type 5). These were unevenly distributed across the sample, reflecting variation in local geography, resources, and history.

. . .