| The chinampas started as reclamation measures to drain swampy areas in the Valley of Mexico, a basin which had no exterior drainage.
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| The chinampas were an ingenious solution to a dilemma that had vexed the inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico for more than a millennium. |
| There are often no measurements given for chinampas, but only the number of chinampas in a given location. |
| With the mild climate and ample water for irrigation, the chinampas yielded multiple harvests each year. |
| The chinampas were rectangular raised platforms built on a strong framework of posts, sticks, and tree branches anchored firmly to the lake bed and filled with earth. |
| Here ingenuity led to more advanced ways of growing food, by covering rafts of branches and roots with earth to create chinampas or floating gardens. |
