Follow AP’s war coverage at

The team then conducted digs in Belize’s Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. The ancient fish canals, paired with holding ponds, were used to channel and catch freshwater species such as catfish.“Barbed spearpoints” found nearby may have been tied to sticks and used to spear fish, said study co-author Marieka Brouwer Burg of the University of Vermont.

Stela M and the Hieroglyphic Stairway are seen inside the archeological site of Copan, in Copan Ruinas, Honduras, Saturday, July 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)Stela M and the Hieroglyphic Stairway are seen inside the archeological site of Copan, in Copan Ruinas, Honduras, Saturday, July 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)The canal networks were built as early as 4,000 years ago by semi-nomadic people in the Yucatan coastal plain. According to the study, the canals were used for around 1,000 years or longer, including during the “formative” period when the Maya began to settle in permanent farming villages and a distinctive culture started to emerge.

“It’s really interesting to see such large-scale modifications of the landscape so early — it shows people were already building things,” said University of Pittsburgh archaeologist Claire Ebert, who was not involved in the study.At the height of Maya civilization, people in this region built temples, roads, pyramids and other monuments. They also developed complex systems of writing, mathematics and astronomy. Scientists know far more about this era because there are many more significant archaeological sites, said Ebert.

But this new study reveals a link between the earlier people on the landscape and the later emergence of Maya culture. These ancient channels for catching fish may have played a role in helping later Maya pyramids rise above the Yucatan rainforest.

“This shows continuity,” said University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Jeremy Sabloff, who wasn’t part of the research.Lindsey Johnson, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, characterized the CFPB’s work under Biden as “aggressive.” She said the agency took action in recent years without going through the appropriate procedures.

“We don’t believe they had the proper oversight,” she said.Miranda Margowsky, a spokesperson for the Financial Technology Association, an industry group that counts many financial technology companies as members, said her organization anticipates and hopes several CFPB rules, including those governing “buy now, pay later” plans and other fintech products, will be reversed “with the stroke of a pen.”

She characterized the rules as “overly broad, overreaching, and harmful.”Supporters of the CFPB protested outside the bureau’s shuttered Washington headquarters this week. NAACP President Derrick Johnson and others have demanded the office’s reopening.