Richard Terry

Brigham Young University - Provo Main Campus | BYU · Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences

The importance of cacao in ancient Mesoamerica is attested by the presence of cacao biomarkers in ritual pottery. By at least the Postclassic period, if not earlier, cacao beans are thought to have been a prominent mode of currency in the central Yucatan. During the colonial period the Maya of Yucatan were tending sacred groves of cacao trees in th...

The chemical and physical processes of soils allow for the accumulation and storage of the chemical residues of ancient human activities. There are a variety of soil characteristics and chemical analyses that can be used to examine the chemical signature of activity areas. Both the inorganic and organic soil components affect ion exchange and sorpt...

Phosphorus (P) and other chemical residues of ancient activities represent invisible yet critical artifacts of ancient lives. Human activities can either increase the P content of soils and floors as organic materials are gathered and processed, or the P levels may be decreased as dwelling floors, and plaza surfaces were constructed of materials th...

Substantial lake core and other evidence shows accelerated soil erosion occurred in the Maya Lowlands of Central America over ancient Maya history from 3000 to 1000 years ago. But we have little evidence of the wider network of the sources and sinks of that eroded sediment cascade. This study begins to solve the mystery of missing soil with new res...

New research on soil catenas under old growth tropical forest in NW Belize aims to understand soil formation, long-term human impacts, and slope stability over time. We studied areas with intensive ancient Maya impacts from 3000 to 1000 years ago and those with little ancient impact to compare how ancient land-use influenced slopes after about 1000...

A new paleoecology record from the El Palmar Cival adds to the emerging geoarchaeological record of El Zotz, Guatemala. El Palmar's 3 m stratigraphic record began in the Archaic period before 1500 B.C. at or just before initial Maya impacts. From the lowest level, Late Archaic organic deposition, with evidence for diverse tropical forest and a stea...

Polymer coated urea (PCU) is a N fertilizer which, when added to moist soil, uses temperature-controlled diffusion to regulate N release in matching plant demand and mitigate environmental losses. Uncoated urea and PCU were compared for their effects on gaseous (N2O and NH3) and aqueous (NO3-) N environmental losses in cool season turfgrass over th...

Raw data collected at both sites for NH4+, N2O, NO3-, tissue and weather presented in spreadsheet form. (XLS)

There is general agreement today that the ancient Maya used markets within their communities. However, much like everything else in Maya society, there was variability in the form of these markets and in the goods that were available. In some communities, imported foodstuffs may have been necessary for local consumption and traded in markets (Dahli...

Lines of evidence for ancient exchange plazas may include trade routes and trade artifacts, urban open space near public structures, and rock alignments denoting market stalls, but regular patterns in soil chemical concentrations also point to marketplace use. We applied geochemical and geospatial analysis of the floors of the main Plaza of Group B...

The primary theoretical question addressed in this book focuses on the lingering concern of how the ancient Maya in the northern Petén Basin were able to sustain large populations in the midst of a tropical forest environment during the Late Classic period. This book asks how agricultural intensification was achieved and how essential resources, su...

Significance The rise of complex societies and sustainable land use associated with urban centers has been a major focus for anthropologists, geographers, and ecologists. Here we present a quantitative assessment of the agricultural, agroforestry, and water management strategies of the inhabitants of the prominent ancient Maya city of Tikal, and ho...

Portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) technology can be implemented in soil geochemical analysis for faster and more efficient testing of trace metals in soils. The level of soil phosphorus (P) is one of the major indicators of human activities related to food distribution, preparation, and waste disposal. Unfortunately, the low x-ray energy level of...

The use of alternative N sources relative to conventional ones could mitigate soil-surface NO emissions. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of anhydrous ammonia (AA), urea, and polymer-coated urea (ESN) on NO emissions for continuous corn ( L.) production. Corn received 110 kg N ha in 2009 and 180 kg N ha in 2010 and 2011. Soil NO fluxes were...

The ancient polity of Tikal has been extensively studied by archaeologists and soil scientists, but more information is needed to determine the specific subsistence and ancient farming techniques that sustained its inhabitants for more than eight centuries. Recent settlement, soil resource, and vegetation surveys were completed during a re-evaluati...

Stable C isotope studies of the soil organic matter (SOM) have delineated areas with histories of vegetation change from C3 forest to C4 maize (Zea mays L.) agriculture and back to the contemporary C3 forest. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine if land around El Kinel, Guatemala possessed a vegetative history of shifts from C3 fores...

Debate over agricultural methods and productivity during the Preclassic and Classic Maya period (1000 BCE to 900 CE) focuses on the agronomic utility of both upland and lowland soil resources of the karst topography characteristic of northern Guatemala and much of the Yucatan peninsula. In settings where direct evidence of agriculture is sparse, st...

New methods in geochemical soil analyses have been applied to archaeology and have successfully been used to provide evidence on activity areas and agricultural use of the land. This chapter by Daniel A. Bair and Richard E. Terry presents the heavy metal and organic residue analyses that were carried out on household stucco floors at Motul de San J...

The geochemical analysis of soil samples collected in association with archaeological remains has proven to be an effective tool in the identification of past human behaviors. These methodologies are here applied to the study of notable features from the site of Xtobo, Yucatan, Mexico. Xtobo is a Preclassic Maya regional center in northwest Yucatan...

Phosphorus (P) and other chemical elements have been used to identify residential middens at archaeological sites. This study discusses the relationship of soil chemical elements and middens at Group Chispa, a Late Classic residential complex at a commoner village in the Maya lowlands. The complex was extensively excavated and soil sampled. Ceramic...

Soil science methodologies often enrich archaeological reconstructions. In the Maya Lowlands of Mesoamerica, stable carbon (C) isotope ratio (δ13C) analysis of soil organic matter (SOM) from profiles near ancient archaeological sites has been used to interpret the vegetative histories related to ancient maize agriculture. Due to distinct photosynth...

Understanding past human impacts on soils requires many forms of evidence including elemental chemistry. Human activities leave traces of different elements, distinguishing activity sites. Since the 1990s more scholars have used a full range of analytical techniques including inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP/AES), and in...

This article provides new data and synthesizes earlier findings on the carbon isotope ratios of the humin part of soil organic matter from a range of sites in the central Maya Lowlands. Changes down the soil profile in carbon isotope ratios can provide an important line of evidence for vegetation change and erosion over time, especially in well dat...

Archaeologists have long tended to conflate political evolutionary stages with Polanyi’s (1957) modes of exchange: bands and tribes with reciprocity, chiefdoms and early states with redistribution, and more developed states with market exchange. According to this scheme, the Classic lowland Maya (Fig. 1) are relegated to chiefdoms or an early state...

Tropical forests provide important habitat for a tremendous diversity of plant and animal species. However, limitations in measuring and monitoring the structure and function of tropical forests has caused these systems to remain poorly understood. Remote-sensing technology has provided a powerful tool for quantification of structural patterns and...

As time passes, phosphorus (P) in soils tends to become more tightly bound with minerals. Phosphate fractionation enables the measurement of loosely versus tightly bound P. Archaeologists have used P fractionation as a chronometric technique: older soils should have greater proportions of P tightly bound with minerals. Research at Chunchucmil, a la...

Background/Question/Methods Juniperus osteosperma trees are mechanically shredded annually on hundreds of hectares of former Artemisia tridentata-dominated western-US lands by the Bureau of Land Management to reduce fuel loads and potential catastrophic wildfire. This mechanical shredding treatment leaves shredded needles, wood, and bark residue o...

Soil properties and stable carbon isotope ratios contained in the soil organic matter (SOM) were used to investigate the change in vegetative history of land cleared anciently for maize (Zea mays L.) agriculture in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala. Maize and other C4 plants associated with land clearance leave a carbon isotopic signature in the S...

This study explored and characterized soil physical and chemical properties to determine how the ancient Maya of Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico, fed themselves. Our objectives were to examine the soil resources and the areas of agricultural importance surrounding Chunchucmil and to search for evidence of agricultural intensification of soils by night...

Dry bean yields (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were raised to similar levels as the topsoil by manure application to eroded or leveled Portneuf silt loam soil (coarse-silty mixed mesic Durixerollic Calciorthid). Only soil organic matter and zinc (Zn) content of leaf tissue were correlated with improved yields. Manure application increased mycorrhizal colo...

Market economies ore notoriously difficult to identify in the archeological record. This is particularly true in the subtropical Maya lowlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize because most utilitarian items and consumables were made of highly perishable materials. We explore the hypothesis that ancient marketplaces can be identified through analysi...

The success of activity areas research in domestic contexts has highlighted the need for archaeologists working in the tropics to explore both indoor and outdoor spaces. The preservation of houselot boundaries at ancient Chunchucmil, Yucatán, Mexico, provides an ideal environment to explore methods for the investigation of broad spaces beyond build...

In this study we present the results of a combination of methods used to identify possible agricultural activity of the ancient Maya in the Usumacinta River Basin in Guatemala. These methods included stable carbon isotope analysis of bulk soil organic matter, soil profile investigations and a spatial model of gentle slopes and well-drained soils to...

Investigations of soil resources in the department of Petén, Guatemala can provide important insight into the agricultural and land use strategies of the ancient Maya. The site of Motul de San José, located 3 km north of Guatemala's Lago Petén Itzá, is situated in the core zone of Classic Maya civilization and in an area currently inhabited by the...

The ancient Maya subsisted in an environment limited by shallow soils and unpredictable weather patterns until their collapse ∼A.D. 800–900. Ancient subsistence can be a difficult subject, with little physical evidence of agricultural artifacts and structures. This study characterized soil profiles and utilized changes in stable carbon isotope rati...

Soil profiles collected from a 2.5-km transect radiating from the Maya center of Motul de San José were analyzed for the stable carbon-isotope composition of their soil organic matter. The residues of maize (Zea mays), the only C4 plant known to have been cultivated in this area by the ancient Maya, impart a carbon-isotope signature to the underlyi...

In 1966 University of Pennsylvania archaeologists discovered impressive earthworks near the Classic Maya center of Tikal, Guatemala. They were provisionally interpreted as part of a vast “emic” defensive and boundary system that defined the political capital and the agricultural core of the Tikal polity around A.D. 400–550. These conclusions have h...

Phosphate analysis and trace metals analysis were used to determine activities that took place on plaster floors in domestic contexts at the ancient Maya site of Chunchucmil, Yucatan. Research on activities and the use of space contributes to an understanding of social relations within household groups as well as unforeseen patterns that structure...

The ancient Maya thrived for centuries in the Peten rain forest of Guatemala. Their impressive architecture and the evidence of highly populated centers attest that the Maya farmers were capable of producing food surpluses. In the eighth to ninth centuries CE the Classic Maya civilization collapsed. The processes leading to its decline are still de...

Soil chemical analysis has been one of the most active and promising areas among the recent innovations in household archaeology. Ancient inhabitants unintentionally left chemical imprints of daily activities, providing important clues as to past practices and space use, which are difficult to judge from artifactual data alone. Soil chemical testin...

Soil chemical analysis has been one of the most active and promising areas among the recent innovations in household archaeology. Ancient inhabitants unintentionally left chemical imprints of daily activities, providing important clues as to past practices and space use, which are difficult to judge from artifactual data alone. Soil chemical testin...

The Aguateca Archaeological Project conducted extensive excavations of elite residences at the Maya center of Aguateca, which was attacked by enemies and abandoned rapidly at the end of the Classic period. Burned buildings contained rich floor assemblages, providing extraordinary information on the domestic and political lives of Classic Maya elite...

Activities performed over long periods of time tend to leave soil chemical residues as evidence of those activities. Some of the questions studied in this paper deal with the interpretive capabilities provided by chemical patterns. Soil samples from Cerén, El Salvador, a well-preserved site, were analyzed for extractable phosphorus and heavy metals...

This ethnoarchaeological study at the Q'eqchi' Maya village of Las Pozas, Guatemala, aimed to refine the understanding of the relationship between soil chemical signatures and human activities for archaeological applications. The research involved phosphorus, exchangeable ion (calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium), and trace element analysis of so...

The applicability of soil chemical analysis to the interpretation of ancient human activity areas in the Maya region was studied for potential implications in anthropogenically modified soils. We studied chemical signatures associated with a horizontally excavated site in Piedras Negras, Guatemala. The focus of this study is on soil phosphate and t...

Recent studies have promoted using soil phosphate analysis to detect ancient Maya sites by delimiting areas of occupation based on decomposed organic matter. Refuse associated with human activity increases organic matter around areas of ancient human habitation. Theoretically, the highest concentration of organic matter—detectable by phosphate anal...

The Aguateca Archaeological Project extensively excavated two structures (M7-22 andM7-32) in the Palace Group of the Late Classic Maya (A.C. 600–830) center of Aguateca, Guatemala. Multiple lines of evidence, including site layout, architectural features, soil chemistry, objects stored in a sealed room, and abandonment processes, suggest that these...

Recent chemical analyses of ancient anthrosols in Mesoamerica and elsewhere demonstrate the explanatory value of these investigative techniques and also point out some of the problems that challenge interpretive capabilities. This paper presents the results of phosphate and heavy metals analyses of soils in residential areas at Piedras Negras, Guat...

Currently there is a wide interest in the use of chemical analyses for the evaluation of anthropogenically altered soils and other archaeological deposits. Because soil phosphorus levels increase in areas of human habitation, and leave a permanent signature that can only be removed by erosion of the soil itself, phosphorus mapping has become a popu...

The use of safe staining techniques in the evaluation of mycorrhizal colonization is critical to the continued understanding of this important symbiosis. Several procedures being utilized currently involve regulated and/ or toxic chemicals. The integration of unregulated and nontoxic chemicals into these procedures is important to alleviate potenti...

The escape and growth of Microcoleus vaginatus from alginate pellets onto soil crusts under controlled laboratory conditions were examined. Soil crust samples were collected and placed in petri dishes. Selected samples were sterilized, and three treatmerits were established: 75 g m−2 Microcoleus pellets added to sterilized soil, 75 g m−2 blank pell...

Concern for denitrification loss of plant available N after irrigation led to field and laboratory denitrification studies. The objectives of the studies were to evaluate the effect of sprinkle and flood irrigation on soil physical properties and denitrification losses. Acetylene-inhibition techniques were used to monitor the effects of soil physic...

Iron (Fe) uptake and use in plants is genetically controlled and physiological mechanisms such as Fe reduction are induced during Fe‐deficiency stress to make it available. Transfer of DNA into the cell genome by Agrobacterium tumefaciens alters physiological processes and causes undifferentiated growth. Tumor cells in sunflower (Helianthus annus L...

Iron (Fe)‐stress response and symbiotic nitrogen (N2) fixation are chemical reduction processes within the roots which interact to the extent that nodulated, Fe‐stressed, Fe‐inefficient soybean initiates Fe‐stress response, but similar nonnodulated soybean does not. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between nitrogenase act...

The DNDC (Denitrification-Decomposition) model is shown to simulate emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), changes in soil nitrate, and nitrogen mineralization rates consistent with field measurements at three agricultural sites in Florida. As a case study of the potential policy relevance of a process-oriented biogeochemical model, we estimated N2O emi...

Although sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) is an Fe efficient plant, tumorous crown gall tissue development and tissue ability to reduce Fe to Fe were both diminished by Fe‐deficiency stress. Crown gall also develops readily on Fe‐efficient and Fe‐inefficient tomato cultivars (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). The objective of this study was to determi...

For Fe to be functional in any biological system it must first be made available to the cell. Plants, humans, and animals may respond to Fe‐deficiency stress by inducing biochemical reactions that make Fe available for transport and use. But in some cases there are mutations that occur where the response to Fe‐deficiency stress is absent or where t...

Genetic resistance to Fe‐deficiency chlorosis is the most viable and economical means to overcome this problem in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], but current field evaluation is slowed and constrained by soil heterogeneity and environmental fluctuation. Highly resistant (Fe‐efficient) cultivars have been shown to reduce Fe to Fe more actively by...

An agar embedding technique used to identify the location of Fe reduction on roots was adapted to study the site of Fe reduction in normal and tumorous crown gall stem tissues. Crown gall tissue was induced on the stems of sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) by carefully inoculating injured stems with the soil...

This study was conducted to examine enhanced biodegradation of C2H2 in Utah field soils and to isolate and identify the C2H2-metabolizing microbes. Soil samples from field sites previously exposed to C2H2 and from adjacent, unexposed areas were incubated in the laboratory. Enhanced degradation of C2 H2 in samples collected outside but adjacent to a...

Tumorous crown gall tissue in sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) initiates a mechanism for making Fe available to itself as evidenced by its ability to reduce Fe to Fe. The objective of this study was to determine if a limited Fe supply to the plant might affect the growth, nutrition and reduction of Fe to Fe by the tumorous crown gall. Healthy green...

The objective of this study was to identify the sites of H-ion exudation and Fe(III) reduction along both inoculated and non-inoculated roots of A7 and T203 soybeans. A split-root system was used in which half the roots of each plant were inoculated and actively fixing nitrogen and the other half were not. Expectedly, the Fe-stress response was str...

Tumorous crown gall tissue induced on the stems of sunflower (Helianthus annus L. cv. Mammoth Russian) plants by the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens strongly reduced Fe to Fe as evidenced by the formation of Fe BPDS complex compared to surrounding “normal” stem tissue. Tumorous tissue contained significantly more Fe, Cu, K, and P, and less...

The objective of this study was to establish whether the iron‐stress responses observed in T203 soybean (Fe‐inefficient) with active nodules are products of the nodules or of the entire root system. A split‐root system was used in which half the roots of each plant were inoculated and actively fixing nitrogen and the other half were not. Soybean cu...

Nitrogen fixation and Fe‐deficiency stress response are two processes involving chemical reduction reactions in the root. It is possible that these processes could enhance one another in nodulated peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.). The objective of this study was to determine the interactions of Fe nutritional stress, nodulation, and N2 fixation in pea...

Both nitrogen fixation and Fe‐deficiency stress response are chemically reducing processes. Theoretically either system could enhance the activity of the other. The objective of this study was to determine the interaction of low concentrations of iron and established root nodules on nitrogen fixation in Fe efficient and inefficient soybeans. Nodula...

The objective of this study was to observe the effects of irrigation method and polyacrylamide additions on selected soil physical properties. Polyacrylamide (PAM) was applied to fallow clay loam soil to the rate of 650 kg ha1. The PAM-treated plots were flood-irrigated at the rate of 5 cm wk-1. Untreated plots were either flood-or sprinkle-irrigat...

Acetylene was introduced into the soil atmosphere of field plots either by flood irrigation with CâHâ-treated water or by continuous diffusion of CâHâ from dispersion tubes placed in the soil to a depth of 25 cm. Some plots received CâHâ through dispersion tubes continuously for 42 d, while rotated plots received the gas for 7 d and were then aband...

Deposits of organic soils (Histosols) occur mainly in cool, humid regions such as the northeastern United States and Canada. Histosols are also found in the San Joaquin Delta of California and the Hula Valley of Israel where the climate is hot and dry. Large deposits of organic soils have formed in the warm humid climate of the southern coastal pla...

The objectives of this study were to compare two methods of introducing C2H2 to the soil atmosphere for denitrification measurement by the C2H2 inhibition technique and to observe the effects of nitrogen fertilizer source and cropping on denitrification losses. During June and July 1981, C2H2 was dissolved in the water used to irrigate fallow plots...

Samples of Collamer sicl, Timpanogos cl, and Pahokee muck were exposed to carbon-14 labeled acetylene in the laboratory. Less than 2.5% of the added gas was metabolized during the first 7 d of incubation, whether the soils were incubated aerobically or anaerobically. Adaptation to acetylene metabolism was observed in the 2 mineral soils during the...

Potential changes in the concentration of nitrous oxide (N2O) in the atmosphere have sparked considerable interest because of the proposed role of N2O in regulating stratospheric ozone levels, and in contributing to the atmospheric greenhouse effect. A substantial portion of the atmospheric N2O is thought to result from microbial transformations of...

We examined nitrite production in Pahokee muck, a drained Histosol, collected in the Everglades agricultural area. Soil nitrite levels ranged from 0 to 21.8 and 0 to 5.10 micrograms of nitrite-nitrogen per cubic centimeter in surface (0 to 10 cm) soils in 1977-78 and 1980, respectively. In 1980, 83 percent (n = 125) of the samples contained less th...

Due to the intense microbial oxidation of organic soils in the Florida Everglades, approximately 1400 kg N/ha are mineralized annually. Most of this nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere through denitrification in the soil. Nitrous oxide is one of the gaseous products of denitrification, therefore the objectives of this study were to determine the qua...

To determine the effect of flooding of Pahokee muck (a drained, cultivated Histosol) on nitrous oxide emissions from the soil, we measured field N2O fluxes and N2O produced in soil samples incubated under controlled laboratory conditions. During the first 5 days of flooding of a field that had previously been cropped to sweet corn (Zea mays L. rugo...

To determine the effect of amendment with sewage effluent on microbiological properties of organic soils, dehydrogenase, carbon metabolism by the microbial community, and coliform survival were examined in field plots of Pahokee muck (a Lithic Medisaprist). Test plots were amended at weekly intervals with sewage effluent at a rate of 5 cm/week. Con...

Microbial biomass, dehydrogenase activity, carbon metabolism, and aerobic bacterial populations were examined in cropped and fallow Pahokee muck (a lithic medisaprist) of the Florida Everglades. Dehydrogenase activity was two- to sevenfold greater in soil cropped to St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt) Kuntz) compared with uncropped s...