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Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization
... During the Palaeoindian Period 12000 to 5450 years B. P., humans arrived in the region as hunter-gatherers. The changes from the nomadic way of life to the first settlements, agriculture and domestication of some animals happens in the Archaic Period between 5450 to 3450 years B. P. (Demarest, 2004). This neolithization process was different, and not synchronous with the process occurring in Eurasia (Drew, 2015). ...
... The Maya Hiatus also coincides with the decline of Teotihuacan (Nichols and Pool, 2012). The eruption of the volcano El Llapango in El Salvador at 1414 years B. P. is argued to be responsible for such a calamity (Demarest, 2004). ...
... During this Horizon, B'aakal (Palenque) started a series of wars with its neighbours. Warfare was more frequently described in the ancient texts for this horizon in different centres of the Maya Southern and Central Lowlands, particularly in the Petexbatun Region (Figure 2.9) and Western Peten Region (Demarest, 2004). ...
The environmental history of the Maya attracts attention since climate changes appear to be linked with the management of resources and, in particular, with the collapse of their civilisation at the end of the Mesoamerican Classic period, (1140-1040 B. P), when, according to palaeorecords from the region, such as lake sediments and speleothems, a series of droughts occurred. However, attention has been focused mostly on the central lowlands and northern Mayab (but barely in the Highlands and other areas) where ca. seventy records have played an important role in our understanding of climate change and the role of drought in societal change, including the Maya Collapse. This includes some stable isotope records, in particular, δ18O from lake sediments and speleothems as proxies of water balance and precipitation amount, respectively. The most emblematic record comes from Lake Chichancanab, whose sediments contain gypsum deposits at specific points indicating the existence of droughts during crucial moments in Mayan history (e. g. The Maya Abandonment at 1200 years B. P. and the Maya Collapse from 1190 to 1040 B. P). In this thesis, research involves lake core sediments obtained both in the lowlands and the highlands.
First, an isotopic record on bulk carbonate for a site in the highlands (over 1000 m.a.s.l.) was obtained from a sediment core from Lake San Lorenzo in the Lagunas de Montebello Lake Complex. In addition, a density record was developed as well as a record based on the organics, carbonate, and residual content of the loss on ignition. Today, Lake San Lorenzo is hydrologically open. The isotope record δ18O in Lake San Lorenzo is a proxy of summer rainfall amount, indicating that the lake has always been hydrologically open. Episodes of major organic production appeared after periods when the surroundings were very densely populated, according to Franco Gaviria et al. (2018). Changes in the sedimentation rate through the record, including the abrupt change after 610 – 553 years B. P., as well as changes in the vegetation, are in part linked with changes in the summer rainfall amount but might also be driven by changes in the land use during the Colonial period.
Second, core sediments collected from Lake Esmeralda, a sister lake of Chichancanab, are studied in the lowlands. Isotopic analysis of waters and modern gastropods (family Hydrobiidae) from both lakes (Chichancanab and Esmeralda) were studied, showing that L. Esmeralda is today a more open basin in comparison to L. Chichancanab but still shows an important evaporative effect.
Samples for isotope analyses based on shells of gastropods (Pyrgophorus coronatus, family Hydrobiidae) from Holocene aged sediments from Lake Esmeralda were compared with the isotopic composition of samples of carbonate bulk sediment for assessing the quality of the environmental signal recovered from them. Overall both records should be very similar patterns. Therefore, a complete isotope record based on sieved sediment samples was used as a proxy of effective rainfall (water balance) in Lake Esmeralda (due to its lower cost).
Results based on a multiproxy approach (CaCO3 content, organic content, loss on ignition residuals content, the isotopic composition of bulk sediments, elemental abundance, elemental ratios, density, grey and colour scale) on a sediment core dated by radiocarbon suggest that Lake Esmeralda's sediments are predominantly made up of carbonates from 6500 to 3400 B. P. Lake Esmeralda became a more closed system, after ca. 4200 B. P. After 2500 B. P., there appears to be a further tendency to be a close system. Lake Esmeralda has become more organic-rich in the last 2500 years B. P. This coincides with periods when the human population across the Mayab turned to permanent settlement and developed urban centres. However, settlements (Shaw, 2000) and human impact on vegetation (Bermingham, 2020) near Lake Esmeralda existed practically only during the years of the Terminal Classic Horizon (950 years B. P.), suggesting an increase of the organics in the lake without major direct human disturbance. There is clear evidence for a dramatically increased organic amount in sediments from Lake Esmeralda, mostly produced outside the lake due to the loss of soil cover, during the critical moments of the Maya History, e. g. Maya Abandonment (1800 to 1750 years B. P.), the Maya Hiatus (1360 years B. P) and the Maya Collapse (1190 to 1040 years B. P.) at moments when the δ18O and the K/Sr show dry periods (at 1140 to 1040 years B. P.). No evidence of gypsum deposit was found before the drought at 167 years B. P., indicating a different catchment and chemistry of Lake Esmeralda compared to Chichancanab.
Finally, records of Lake Esmeralda and Lake San Lorenzo were compared, showing that in both lakes, the terrigenous intake is associated with the rainfall. But in Lake San Lorenzo, this process might also be linked with the erosion enhanced by the abandonment of agriculture. Besides, the CaCO3 precipitation is autogenic in both lakes, but such precipitation increases during dry periods in Lake San Lorenzo, whilst it decreases during dry periods in Lake Esmeralda. An opposite tendency in the hydrobalance at the millennial-scale to the lowlands happens in Lake San Lorenzo, in comparison to Lake Esmeralda. However, at decadal scale, the presence of recurrent droughts as it is registered in Esmeralda is still observed in San Lorenzo, indicating that the droughts during the critical moments of the Maya History were meteorological droughts.
... This environmental devastation set off a chain reaction of migrations and inter-group competition. Land that had once supported thriving settlements was suddenly gone, and surviving groups were forced into more direct conflict over the remaining fertile territories (Demarest, 2004;Webster, 2002). For many societies in Mesoamerica, this marked the first large-scale, sustained period of intensified competition-an inflection point that encouraged the development of standing armies, territorial conquest, and the ritualization of violence (Hassig, 1992;Inomata & Triadan, 2009). ...
... Captives were taken not just for labor but for public sacrifice. Ritual killings became part of the performance of kingship (Demarest, 2004;Marcus 1992;Miller, 1999). In the Andean highlands, Wari and later Inca leaders used military roads and outposts to project power and enforce tribute (D'Altroy, 2002;Isbell & McEwan, 1991). ...
This article explores the delayed technological and societal development of ancient American civilizations compared to their Eurasian counterparts, focusing on the critical role of geographic isolation, environmental diversity, and ecological constraints. Drawing from archaeological, climatological, and genetic evidence, it traces the early migration routes into the Americas, the profound effects of megafaunal extinction, and the slower domestication of plants and animals. The study highlights how the Americas' north-south axis, the absence of draft animals, and the abundance of wild resources contributed to the gradual emergence of sedentary societies and agriculture. In examining the evolution of social complexity—from early coastal settlements to stratified theocratic states—the article underscores the role of catastrophic events such as the Ilopango eruption in reshaping ancient American societies. Ultimately, it argues that rather than representing technological deficiency, the Americas followed unique developmental trajectories shaped by distinct environmental and historical circumstances—offering vital lessons not only on cultural resilience, but on the challenges posed by abundance itself, particularly as humanity again reaches beyond its ecological frontiers.
... Similarly, a series of dams channeled water at ancient Chau Huiix (Pyburn, 2003), Blue Creek and Rio Hondo, Belize (Barrett and Guderjan, 2006). At the Late Classic site of Tamarindito, the Maya built an impoundment across a main drainage line to collect water, and they had a clay-lined reservoir for water storage (Demarest, 2004). A much larger dam at El Zotz likely dates to the Late Preclassic or Early Classic, and impounded up to 180 million liters of water (Beach et al., 2018a. ...
... Research on the archeology of Maya settlement and land use in Petén and Alta Verapaz provides ample evidence of cave use by the ancient Maya that extends back to the middle or early Preclassic and continued to the present, but declined in the 9th century CE when Classic Maya abandonment occurred (Demarest, 2004;Kennett and Beach, 2013). Some known sites of ancient Maya cave use in northern Guatemala include Cueva de Las Pinturas and Actún Kan (Jobitzina) near Santa Elena (Brady, 2004) and Cueva del Colibrí near El Zotz (Cook et al., 2019). ...
Prehispanic societies transformed large areas of tropical forest in Mexico and Central America, a region now known as the Maya lowlands, into highly engineered urban and agricultural landscapes, over a period of more than two millennia. This chapter provides an overview of the impacts of the ancient Maya on their environment, with a focus on the history of Maya modification of local and regional geomorphic systems during the late Holocene. An overview of the geomorphology of the Maya lowlands is provided, with key examples of Maya interactions with and modifications of the landscape. The Maya converted natural ecosystems into vast urban and rural infrastructure with locally attuned water management systems that included reservoirs, wetland fields and canals, terraces, field ridges and water temples. Evidence for increasing Maya deforestation, carried out for urbanization and agriculture, is preserved in the form of deep sequences of anthropogenic sediments that cascaded through catchments, buried Maya infrastructure and paleosols, silted in reservoirs, waterways, floodplains and wetlands, and accumulated on lake bottoms. The use of proxies for ancient Maya land-use intensity, such as inorganic and organic geochemistry and stable carbon isotopes, soil organic matter and mineral magnetism, are briefly reviewed. The Maya geomorphic impacts were sufficiently severe that centuries of erosion left a region-wide anthropogenic chronostratigraphic marker known as the ‘Maya Clay’ across much of the southern Maya lowlands. The greatest geomorphic impacts of the Maya in the region began to diminish by c. 1000 BP, in response to social and political upheavals that have been referred to as the ‘Maya Collapse.’ Geomorphological, geoarcheological, and paleoenvironmental investigations have provided data that can be used to quantify Maya-mediated environmental impacts and test hypotheses about climate and environmental drivers of societal ‘Collapse.’
... With the gradual loss of land fertility, agricultural production suffered, and food shortages followed, forcing Maya communities to abandon their ancestral homes and embark on complex migrations. [21] In this process, the sharp decline of population and the significant reduction of land area became a clear symbol of the collapse of the Maya civilization. The poor living environment not only intensifies the spread of diseases and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters but also fundamentally weakens the survival ability of civilization. ...
With the rise of artificial intelligence and the decline of the global population, the inevitable question arises: is human civilization in danger? If so, why did civilization collapse? With the worldwide pandemic ending and the remaining ripples still visible today, one can't help but wonder how much more catastrophic our civilization can withstand before it collapses. The lessons of history help modern people predict the future of our civilization. This article delves into the multiple reasons behind the collapse of civilizations, including military invasions, political instability, and environmental concerns. Through the analysis of historical cases, the article reveals how these factors interact and ultimately lead to the decline of civilization. In addition, environmental issues such as climate change and ecological destruction have also played a vital role in the collapse of civilizations. Dramatic changes in population numbers are essential precursors of civilizations' collapse; whether due to military conflict, alien invasion, or natural disasters, population decline will weaken the viability of civilizations. The article also highlights the global trend of slow population decline as a potential threat to the future of civilization. The low fertility trap is widespread in many countries, accelerating aging societies, labor shortages, increasing pressure on social security, and weakening economic growth momentum. The cases of China, South Korea, Japan, and other countries show that this trend, once formed, is difficult to reverse and constitutes a profound warning for the future of human civilization.
... One of the most common case studies that is discussed in the context of learning from the past is the ancient Maya civilization in the region of the Yucatan peninsula. This case represents a large and complex society that left widespread and relatively accessible remains [16][17][18]. Some scholars have described the Maya's end as a rapid 'collapse' , although it appears to have included significant spatial and temporal variability [19][20][21]. ...
Environmental changes pose unprecedented risks to human societies worldwide. Over the past few decades, burgeoning academic literature argues or assumes that past societies’ responses to environmental impacts can provide valuable lessons to guide adaptation to contemporary environmental changes. The ancient Maya civilization, whose decline is often linked with historically unprecedented droughts, constitutes a major case study for extracting such lessons. To analyze these lessons, we conduct a meta-analysis of the discourse of learning from past Maya-environment interactions. We demonstrate that although studies often refer to learning from the Maya explicitly, the learning is primarily declarative and discursive rather than substantive, and lessons are often vague, misguided, or inapplicable. Only a few articles employ research designs conducive to learning from the past, and only a few reflect on the process of, or the problems associated with, learning from the past. On the other hand, many articles are content with reaching ‘inspirational’ lessons, calling, for example, for increasing resilience, while only a fifth of the papers drew more specific lessons that offer somewhat concrete recommendations and courses of action. Many studies also claimed that their findings are applicable to present-day societies far outside the core regions of Maya habitation, ignoring pertinent social and geographical differences. Although the paper does not preclude the theoretical possibility of learning from the past, it argues that such learning must undergo significant changes to achieve robustness and relevance for the present. This would also require a more open discussion between scholars of the past and adaptation practitioners.
... We explicitly consider changes that the potential for violent conflict can bring in settlement patterns and model how avoidance of conflict areas can contribute to population dynamics on regional and continental scales. Based on earlier research [27] and analogies from ecology [28], we term this effect 'landscape of fear'. We use analytical and agent-based models that demonstrate possible causal relationships by representing two key assumptions related to the presence and role of violent conflicts in small-scale societies: long-term shifts between peaceful and 'aggressive' attitudes, and preferences for avoiding conflict areas. ...
The impact of inter-group conflict on population dynamics has long been debated, especially for prehistoric and non-state societies. In this work, we consider that beyond direct battle casualties, conflicts can also create a ‘landscape of fear’ in which many non-combatants near theatres of conflict abandon their homes and migrate away. This process causes population decline in the abandoned regions and increased stress on local resources in better-protected areas that are targeted by refugees. By applying analytical and computational modelling, we demonstrate that these indirect effects of conflict are sufficient to produce substantial, long-term population boom-and-bust patterns in non-state societies, such as the case of Mid-Holocene Europe. We also demonstrate that greater availability of defensible locations act to protect and maintain the supply of combatants, increasing the permanence of the landscape of fear and the likelihood of endemic warfare.
... Real data application: analysis of Lake Chichancanab sediment density data. The Maya civilization, arguably one of the most important pre-Columbian mesoamerican civilizations, underwent a collapse during the last classical period of their history, circa 900-1100 AD [4,27,42,105]. A severe drought has been hinted at as a primary reason behind this collapse [37,44,98], despite the Mayans primarily inhabiting a seasonally dry tropical forest ( [43]). ...
Statistical inference for time series such as curve estimation for time-varying models or testing for existence of change-point have garnered significant attention. However, these works are generally restricted to the assumption of independence and/or stationarity at its best. The main obstacle is that the existing Gaussian approximation results for non-stationary processes only provide an existential proof and thus they are difficult to apply. In this paper, we provide two clear paths to construct such a Gaussian approximation for non-stationary series. While the first one is theoretically more natural, the second one is practically implementable. Our Gaussian approximation results are applicable for a very large class of non-stationary time series, obtain optimal rates and yet have good applicability. Building on such approximations, we also show theoretical results for change-point detection and simultaneous inference in presence of non-stationary errors. Finally we substantiate our theoretical results with simulation studies and real data analysis.
... Finally, the eruption of the volcano El Llapango in El Salvador in 1414 years BP is the most probable driver of the drought (Demarest, 2004). This dated eruption supports the presence of a drought event in the MA. ...
Palaeoclimatic research has been performed in the Maya Area (MA), using mainly lake sediment cores and speleothems. Most of the studies have been performed in the lowlands, leaving the highlands unexplored. Lake sediments records contain a diversity of proxies (e.g. Mineralogy, isotopes, pollen, charcoal, diatoms, chemicals, magnetic susceptibility, among others) and temporal resolution, making them frequently not easy to compare and leaving numerous gaps of information. Practically all stalagmites are focused on using δ18O as a proxy of effective rainfall during the Maya periods, having only some explored the role of palaeostorms and hurricanes as well as the paleoclimatology of the pre-Maya and modern periods. In this review paper, the location and temporal frame of palaeoenvironmental records of the MA and their proxies are presented, showing the zones and periods that possess environmental information and assessing their resolution. The comparison shows that more high-resolution records with a multi-proxy approach covering most of the Holocene are needed to understand the climate change in different zones of the MA. Finally, the geographic distribution of the diverse recorded hydroclimate responses based on the records is presented for three critical moments in the Maya History that have been associated with dry periods in the Great Maya Droughts hypothesis. This geographic perspective shows that dry events were not presented in all the MA during these moments although they were vastly recorded in both high- and lowlands. The geographic perspective also shows a negligible drought effect in the central lowlands for the Maya Hiatus period, where this cultural phenomenon was identified first. But signals of droughts are presented in other zones of the MA for this period. The distribution of the drought signal also shows that sites that thrived during the Maya Collapse period were in the regions that suffered the strongest droughts, whilst many sites that were abandoned were in regions rich in hydric resources. Explanations are reviewed for these contradictions. Finally, the works towards the development of mathematical models of the environmental variables are briefly reviewed, pointing out the lack of a proper computational model that has been fed by the palaeoclimatic data developed by the records in the MA.
... The record in Lake Esmeralda also reveals the precipitation of organic material from 3500 years BP (Martinez-Dyrzo 2021), which coincides with the beginning of the neolithization in the MA (Demarest 2004;Schele et al. 1993) and therefore with the first human settlements in it. However, most of these settlements were established in the southern lowlands (Schele et al. 1993), ca. ...
Most paleoenvironmental studies indicate the presence of a water stress in the Maya Cultural Zone during the Epiclassic, the period when the Collapse of the Maya Civilization happened, supporting the Maya drought hypothesis. Both palaeoenvironmental studies and the archaeological record indicate that the consequences of and resilience to Mayan droughts were different in every subregion of the Maya Cultural Zone. One of the uncertainties in this scenario is related to the flourishing of Mayan populations during the times of the collapse in the Puuc region and the Cochuah region, whose water resources were (and are) generally scarce. The archaeological project of the Cochuah region indicates that the settlement of groups in this region existed during the time of the Epiclassic collapse, but lasted shortly thereafter. Additionally, palynological studies in Lake Chichancanab and Lake Esmeralda in the Cochuah Region indicate a low human impact that supports a relatively short period of population. Studies done in Chichancanab and Lake Esmeralda indicate severe droughts during the Maya Collapse. The present project aims to answer how these regions whose water resources were not particularly better than those of other regions within the Maya territory became flourishing regions during the years of the collapse, as well as to explain their relative short occupation using a unexplored environmental factor. This factor is the arrival of sand from the Sahara to the central portion of the Mayab, which would have returned or maintained productive soils, making the region resilient to the drought. In addition to this, the project focuses on two other issues relevant to the environmental history of these regions. One is the presence of organic matter in the numerous bodies of water in the North of the Mayab for ca. 4000 years BP. Which is incongruent with the low amount of population that existed in most of the time. And the second is the existence of a bimodal distribution in the isotopic signal of δ 18 O of shells of Hidrobiidae gastropods, which may mean a difference in the isotopic signal of water between the rainy and dry seasons. If this is true, the differences in the hydroclimatic cycle between the rains caused by the north and the summer rains could be reconstructed.
... Across both the Old and New Worlds, researchers have investigated the nature of past food supply under changing climate and social conditions, emphasising that diversity is a key aspect of sustainability (e.g. Demarest 2004;Marston & Miller 2014;Middleton 2017). As Halstead and O'Shea (1989) have noted, food surplus and the supply chain are critical in this risk mitigation. ...
Climate change is often cited in the ‘collapse’ of complex societies and linked to agricultural resilience or lack thereof. In this article, the authors consider how demand affected agricultural strategies as farmers navigated the transformations of the Late Harappan phase ( c . 1900–1700 BC) of the Indus tradition. Through the modelling of monocropping/multicropping, low/high yield crops, and supply-driven versus flexible production, various economic, environmental and social demands are explored with reference to the choices of farmers and how these decisions differed regionally, and how they impacted the wider Late Harappan de-urbanisation process. The authors’ archaeobotanical perspective on the Indus contributes to wider understanding of how urban societies and their agricultural bases change over time.
... Yet, the actual causes are difficult to match. The Classic Maya "collapse" is under constant reevaluation, more recently seen as an environmental transformation of economic and political disruptions (Demarest et al. 2004;Lucero et al. 2015;Yaeger 2020) with a concomitant redistribution of farming populations (Ford and Nigh 2015). The Postclassic, dating from 1000 CE to Spanish conquest, is a time of political transformation and reorganization, following the upheavals that produced dilapidated monumental architecture in city centers across the Central Lowlands. ...
... In addition, a spatial analysis must relate to understanding and incorporating environmental data. Human behavior is linked to environmental factors such as the altitude and topography of sites, climatic factors, and the resources available and used, in our case by the Maya (Demarest, 2011). The motivation to use LiDAR was strengthened, especially in Peten Mesoamerica, by the discovery of new arteries, the so-called "causeways", not visible from the ground, which revolutionized the knowledge of the Maya. ...
The paper is a research compendium on how Spatial Archaeology can benefit from LiDAR technology.
Specifically, we refer to VTOL fixed-wing UAV LiDAR applied in Mesoamerica. In many European
countries and the USA, the cartographic database of the entire national territory (Harding et al., 2008;
Stoker et al., 2014) has been available on the Internet for many years, albeit at medium resolution. In
Mesoamerica, from Chase’s studies and surveys from the 2000s to the present, (Chase et al., 2014, 2020;
Ebert, 2016a, 2016b; Caracol Archaeological Project, 2020, June 12) a long tradition of LiDAR inves�tigation has yielded unexpected, incredible knowledge about the ancient Maya civilization. Although
LiDAR has exploded in popularity, there is still a lack of systematic overview of how it has contributed
to archaeological theory, especially at the landscape scale of spatial archaeology and from the perspective
of digital application. Today, researchers acknowledge the need for specific LiDAR guidelines (European
Archaeological Council: EAC. Eac site. (n.d.), which are still expected, while other geospatial techniques
guidelines are already available, such as magnetometers or ground-penetrating radar (Schmidt et al.,
2015). However, universities, departments, and international bodies are on the way and understand the
importance of having common classification standards (Garstki, 2020) and metadata and paradata (Wise
& Miller, 1997) to be shared in a network for digital archaeology and also on a global scale. Therefore,
case studies and best practices are useful to demonstrate the magical utility of this technology that opens
the field to multidisciplinarity and a new era of archaeological research (Barcelò, 2016,2017)
... Either way, our study shows how predictable the effects of topography and soil are for vegetation, whether it be modern forest or ancient crops. It reveals a basis for the informed land use-a "managed mosaic" of local soils and plants-attributed to the ancient Maya (Fedick, 1996;Ford and Nigh, 2015) and which some suggest strongly contributed to their success (Demarest, 2004). Also, the predictable variation in the distributions of numerous tree species versus micro-environmental variables indicates habitat specialization, which can partly explain the richness of species in this region (e.g., Paoli et al., 2006). ...
We studied species composition and spatial distributions of tree species, and the underlying topography and soil, in subtropical forests of northwest Belize, a region in the Maya Lowlands. Our goal was to learn how much the spatial distributions of species vary and are predictable over the landscape. The study was done in old-growth, subtropical moist forest on limestone-derived topography and soil. We identified to species all trees ≥10 cm DBH in 209 400-m ² plots. For each plot, we characterized topographic setting and analyzed soil nutrients and texture. We recorded 3,984 individual trees of ∼140 tree species and used the 3,775 individuals of the 69 species occurring in ≥5 plots in multivariate analyses, including Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS). NMS showed that 73% of the variation in species composition per plot was associated with the first three ordination axes. Sixteen out of the 34 quantitative variables we measured were correlated at R ² > 10% with the axes. Of the categorical variables, Topographic Class was strongly associated with species composition, and USDA Texture Class less so. Of the 69 focal tree species, the abundances of 21 were correlated at R ² > 10% with one or more axes of the NMS ordination. Importantly, these 21 species accounted for 68% of all individual trees sampled in the 209 plots. Twenty-three species were indicators of particular topographic and soil classes. We conclude that patterns of tree species distribution are strongly and predictably associated with different topographic and soil conditions in this landscape. In the past, the ancient Maya could have used this type of predictable plant–soil relationship to optimize their agriculture. In the future, our results are a basis for predicting local shifts in tree species distributions due to climate change.
... The current leading candidate provoking this change is overpopulation, resulting in deforestation and soil degradation (summary given by Turner and Sabloff, 2012). The Classic Maya "collapse" has been recognized more recently as an environmental transformation with economic and political disruptions (Demarest, 2004;Lucero et al., 2015;Yaeger, 2020) and a concomitant redistribution of farming populations (Ford and Nigh, 2015). ...
Human expansion into and occupation of the New World coincided with the great transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epoch, yet questions remain about how we detect human presence in the paleoecological record. In the Maya area of southern Mesoamerica, archeological evidence of the human imprint is largely invisible until ∼4,000 years ago. How do environmental changes after that time correspond and relate to human impacts? Are the archeological signatures of initial settlements in the Early Preclassic detected? Later, by ∼2,000 years ago when the Maya had fully settled the landscape, how does the evidence of forest compositional changes relate to human intervention? This paper evaluates published paleoecological data in light of the rise of the Maya civilization and reflects on interpretations of how swidden agriculture and the milpa cycle impacted the environment. Evaluating the contrast between the long archeological sequence of successful Maya development and paleoecological interpretations of destructive human-induced environmental impacts requires a concordance among pollen data, archeological evidence, ethnohistoric observations, ethnological studies of traditional Maya land use, and the historical ecology of the Maya forest today.
... Lo cierto es que en tiempos de crisis las voces discordantes con la realidad existente pueden surgir de manera más agresiva, por lo que es fundamental, en dichos momentos, hacer uso del control sobre el imaginario colectivo con el fin de aminorar la incertidumbre creciente y, a la vez, aumentar la coerción. En este sentido, un recursoexito- 138 Debo aclarar que, a lo largo del presente escrito, al utilizar el término "teatrocracia" no lo hago retomando los postulados teóricos del doctor Demarest(Demarest, 2004) en cuanto a la organización de las entidades políticas del Clásico, sino que me adhiero a algunos de los planteamientosde Balandier (1994: 18) quien afirmaba, por ejemplo, que: El objetivo de todo poder es el de no mantenerse ni gracias a la dominación brutal ni basándose en la sola justificación racional. Para ello, no existe ni se conserva sino por la transposición por la producción de imágenes, por la manipulación de símbolos y su ordenamiento en un cuadro ceremonial. ...
... Some regions were more heavily affected by environmental challenges than others. In turn, settlement centers were abandoned in different ways: some were first abandoned by royal families, others primarily by commoner populations, and finally, some stayed on, but moved their residences to more defensible areas (Aimers 2007;Arnauld et al. 2017;Carter 2014;Chase 2004, 2005;Demarest 2004;Graham 2004;Hendon 2004;Laporte 2004). Previous social relations between different households, lineages, or social statuses may have been called into question as certain segments of the population were under increased stress and some groups "voted with their feet" by migrating elsewhere (Ashmore et al. 2004;Lamoureux-St-Hilaire et al. 2017;Pierce 2016;Robin et al. 2010;Sharer and Traxler 2006). ...
The end of the Classic period was a tumultuous moment in Maya history, not only because the power of many dominant political centers waned, but because the ways in which elites and non-elites related to each other were increasingly called into question. To understand the nature of changing social relations in the southern Maya lowlands during this time, this study examines the distribution and provenance of decorated ceramics during the Late Classic (ca. a.d. 600–810) and Terminal Classic (ca. a.d. 810–950/1000) periods from the archaeological site of Ucanal, Peten, Guatemala. Comparisons of ceramics from different households across the site reveal that differences in access to decorated and imported ceramics decreased between these periods, suggesting that socioeconomic distinctions leveled out over time. In turn, chemical analysis of ceramics using a portable X-ray fluorescence instrument reveals that the site shifted its political-economic networks, with greater ties to the Petexbatun and Usumacinta regions and continued ties with the Upper Belize Valley.
... Archaeological investigations into the collapse of Classic Maya sociopolitical systems have a long history within the field of Maya archaeology (Webster 2002(Webster , 2012Demarest 2004;Aimers 2007;Kennett et al. 2012;Turner and Sabloff 2012). Continuing archaeological research has increasingly demonstrated a great deal of variability in the timing and nature of cultural change at the end of the Classic period (Iannone 2014), as well as the continuity of some populations at a limited number of sites well into the Postclassic period (Aimers 2007). ...
Deposits linked to abandonment have been widely recorded across the Maya lowlands, associated with the final activities occurring in ceremonial areas of Classic Maya centers. Various models have been applied to explain the activities that lie behind the formation of these contexts, including those linked to rapid abandonment (e.g., warfare) and others focused on more protracted events (termination rituals, and/or pilgrimages). Here, we assess Bayesian models for three chronological scenarios of varying tempo to explain the formation of peri-abandonment deposits at Baking Pot, Belize. Using stratigraphic information from these deposits, hieroglyphic dates recovered on artifacts, and direct dates on human skeletal remains and faunal remains from distinct layers in three deposits in Group B at Baking Pot, we identify multiple depositional events that spanned the eighth to ninth centuries AD. These results suggest that the processes associated with the breakdown of institutionalized rulership and its command of labor to construct and maintain ceremonial spaces were protracted at Baking Pot, with evidence for the final depositional activity dated to the mid-to-late ninth century. This interval of deposition was temporally distinct from the earlier deposition(s) in the eighth century. Together, these data offer a detailed view of the end of the Classic period at Baking Pot, in which the ceremonial spaces of the site slowly fell into disuse over a period of more than a century.
... The Verapaz region was strategically situated in the midst of the so-called Great Western Trade Route that connected the highlands to the south and the lowlands to the north (Woodfill 2010;Woodfill and Andrieu 2012;Demarest 2014). While trade in the region was probably quite modest in the Pre-Classic period it accelerated during the Classic Period (A.D. 250-900), a time when the entire Maya civilization flourished. ...
... Ceiba (Ceiba ssp.) phytoliths were identified in sediments from sites in the Santa Elena Peninsula Manabí and at El Oro (Staller 2001;Veintimilla 2004;Pearsall et al. 2016). The ceiba tree has strong associations with ancient mythology and religious ideology and is commonly associated with the sacred center or axis mundi among ancient New World cultures (Demarest 2004). ...
European conquerors introduced peaches (Prunus persica) into northwestern Argentina early in the colonial period. Among communities in the Quebrada de Humahuaca peaches represent an important crop and food. This contribution explores whether peaches may be considered food heritage in this part of the Andes. The perception that this exotic species is perceived as heritage is founded in the traditional strategies of management in selecting for certain characteristics that have cultural associations and certain characteristics that dramatically reduced peach diversity at a regional scale. Thus, culture, crop, and environment are interlaced to form—at present—a set of 9 ethno-varieties with typical features and defined uses. People selected peaches with regard to preferences of consumption, and in recent times their importance to commercialization. Peaches, as in the case of different Andean crops, such as potatoes and corn, are important to local consumption and ethnic identity resulting in networks of exchange—fairs and markets—enabling these communities to share in the fruits of their ethnic communities. Heritage is characterized as the capacity to symbolically represent the identity of a community, through phenotypic distinctions of the local variety of peaches or “duraznos de la Quebrada” (peaches from the Quebrada).
... Instead, settlement at El Mogote continued from the Rosario phase until the onset of Late MA I, when the site was burned and replaced by a new center, El Palenque, in a more defensible location nearby (Spencer and Redmond, 2001). The remains of a palace complex and temple precinct excavated at El Palenque signal the development of state institutions within an independent Tilcajete polity, perhaps as a result of local elites' attempts to maintain their authority and resist the expansionist Monte Albán polity , 2013, 2017Spencer and Redmond, 2001, 2004. Nevertheless, El Palenque was burned and abandoned early in the MA II period (Spencer and Redmond, 2003), and Cerro Tilcajete-a new center with clear ties to Monte Albán-was established in a hilltop location overlooking the former capitals of the Tilcajete polity (Elson, 2007). ...
In this paper we utilize archaeometric analyses to reexamine the organization and spatial scale of ceramic exchange in the central Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, with the goal of elucidating how those interactions were related to political centralization, interpolity conflict, and social negotiation during the period when the Monte Albán (Zapotec) state formed. Building on extensive geochemical analyses of the valley’s clays and Formative ceramics, we employ relatively fine-grained provenance data to trace the movement of vessels from producers to consumers, and model the different forms of exchange through which pottery was distributed. The results of these analyses accord with earlier models positing the development of market exchange, at least of utilitarian vessels. However, the number and scale of market networks fluctuated through time due to political fragmentation and conflict prior to the subjugation of the entire valley by Monte Albán. At the same time, some elaborate pottery likely was distributed via non-market forms of exchange, such as gift-giving and direct acquisition from sponsored potters. The circulation of such pottery helped to build and maintain intra- and interpolity alliances, as well as to reinforce—and in some cases resist—increasing social differentiation within the early Zapotec state.
Maya Blue is a unique hybrid pigment created by combining organic indigo with the inorganic clay mineral palygorskite. First used for architectonic decoration in the Terminal Preclassic, it became widespread in the Late Classic on figurines, murals, and elite ceramics. Unlike indigo, it is notable for its durability and resistance to degradation by acids, alkalines, organic solvents and fading. The authors analyzed 17 samples of Maya Blue on pottery from the Late-Terminal Classic periods, a.d. 680–860, from Buenavista del Cayo, Belize. Using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), it was determined that the palygorskite in these samples likely came from Sacalum, Yucatan, some 375 km away. The authors suggest several routes by which palygorskite might have been transported from Yucatán to Buenavista. The pigment or knowledge of how to produce it likely was conveyed through high-status exchanges rather than commercial trade. Maya Blue held significant cultural and religious importance. It symbolized water and rain and was associated with the god Chaahk . Maya Blue appeared initially at Buenavista on architecture and rare imported ceramics but its use gradually increased on locally produced Belize Valley wares. Use at Buenavista peaked in the early 9th century before disappearing around a.d. 860. The study demonstrates the potential of trace element analysis in identifying long-distance social interactions in ancient Mesoamerica.
This essay explores the collapes of early civilizations and reflects on the potential future of modern industrial civilization. By reviewing the collapes of civilizations such as Maya, Easter Island, and the Liangzhu culture, the paper examines the dynamics behind societal collapses, including environmental degradation, resource depletion, and social unrest, which led to the fall of these early complex societies. The study suggests that similar challenges, such as resource exhaustion and environmental damage, could threaten the substainability of modern industrial civilization. Drawing from archaeological and anthropological perspective, the essay argues that despite advancements in science and technology, the trajectory of modern society may still follow patterns seen in the past, where increasing complexity and the pursuit of growth without regard to ecological limits can lead to collapes. It emphasizes the need for awareness and change in our consumption patterns, highlighting the fragility of civilizations throughout history and the need for long-term sustainability practices to prevent a similar fate for contemporary societies.
This article follows the trajectory of the so-called Tikal lintels from the former Mayan city of Tikal to the Natural History Museum in Basel. Focusing on a network of plantation owners and merchants in Guatemala, the article highlights the crucial role of economicnetworks for the production and circulation of the Mesoamerican material culture in and from Central America in the second half of the nineteenth century. In this way, plantations can be studied as important places of encounter and curiosity where the meaning and material shape of Guatemala’s Mesoamerican material culture was transformed in a significant way.
El concepto de resiliencia, surgido en la física y la psicología, rápidamente irrumpió la investigación ecológica y después socioecológica sin un reparo profundo sobre las implicaciones de trasladar a temáticas ambientales y culturales complejas una categoría en principio empleada para describir las propiedades elásticas de un material, o bien personalidades capaces de adaptarse a situaciones adversas. A la fecha, en torno a la noción de resiliencia socioecológica se han consolidado sociedades de investigación, revistas científicas y agendas de financiamiento internacionales. Sin embargo, como suele suceder con los conceptos “virales”, es difícil encontrar planteamientos académicos críticos al mainstream argumentativo. Es así que este libro tiene por objeto ofrecer una serie de contrastes y contrapuntos al marco analítico de la resiliencia socioecológica, a partir tanto de reflexiones teóricas como de casos de estudio ilustrados por diferentes contextos espaciales y temporales en México. Sin lugar a dudas, la presente es una obra de carácter interdisciplinario en el que se entretejen de manera caleidoscópica las lentes de la ecología política, los feminismos críticos, las epistemologías del sur, las ontologías no planas, la agroecología, la ecología histórica y la geografía humana. Más que consumar un debate, lo principia y alienta su avance constructivo.
La subsistencia y la comida son foco de mucha de la investigación arqueológica debido a que la comida esta presente en los más íntimo de la vida social. Particularmente el análisis de los productos cárnicos nos brinda información acerca del estatus social y el acceso diferenciado. En este sentido, los residuos químicos nos ayudan a entender la antigua alimentación y las relaciones sociales a través de las huellas químicas impresas en la cerámica. Sin embargo, las limitantes que presenta el actual quehacer cotidiano de la mayoría de la investigación química en la arqueología mexicana nos hacen tener que redoblar esfuerzos por obtener mejores alcances de interpretación. Debido a esto, en esta investigación se diseñó un estudio experimental para evaluar las diferencias entre los perfiles químicos impresos en cerámica experimental de diferentes animales con el objetivo de comprender los patrones de consumo cárnico en las vasijas de cerámica arqueológica obtenidas de los conjuntos no elitarios 5D53 y 5D58 del sitio arqueológico de Sihó. Las muestras experimentales en las que se cocinaron pollo (Gallus gallus), pavo (Meleagris gallopavo), bagre (Bagre marinus), cazón (Galeorhinus galeus) y mejillones (Mytilidae) fueron analizadas a través de pruebas de fosfatos, pH/CE, ácidos grasos, residuos proteicos, fósforo y nitritos. En cuanto a las muestras arqueológicas, fueron analizadas a través de la prueba de residuos proteicos. Los resultados experimentales mostraron dos tendencias. La primera es que se pudo diferenciar el grupo de los productos marinos del grupo de las aves a través de las pruebas de fosfatos, fósforo, residuos proteicos y pH. La segunda es que los ácidos grasos y los nitritos se tendieron a quedar mejor depositados en la base y en el borde. Los resultados en muestras arqueológicas demostraron una presencia relativamente alta en residuos proteicos. Estos primeros resultados experimentales no indican que la ausencia de proteínas no es indicativo absoluto de la ausencia de productos cárnicos y sobre que partes de las vasijas cerámicas hay más probabilidad de encontrar residuos químicos unidos a la matriz cerámica. Por otro lado, aunque los resultados experimentales mostraron presencia de residuos proteicos, un análisis contextual nos indica que esto también se relaciona con el uso, la calidad proteica consumida y las formas de cuisine.
Tyrannies emerging in the Greek poleis during the Archaic period (8.–6. centuries BC), among which the rule of the Kypselid dynasty in Corinth appears as an outstanding example, were in many respects comparable to the city-state monarchies in Ancient Near East, particularly in Iron Age Levant. The rulers performed important governmental functions and were able to legitimate their power for a notable period of time. However, differently from the East, these monarchies were never wholly entrenched and were eventually replaced by republican governments. The article explores the reason for this difference, suggesting that it was caused by the relative egalitarianism of the Greek society precluding an accumulation of sufficient resources for entrenching the power.
Historical studies on the subject of Central American design are scarce. This article attempts to fill the gap as well as to overcome the exclusive correlation of design with industrialization. It highlights the relationship in a space and time other than those studied customarily: in the present case, 18th-century Sonsonate, El Salvador. With this purpose, it analyzes crafts, based primarily on an unpublished census of 1787 housed in the Archivo Municipal de Sonsonate. Considering design as a practice inherent to human life, this paper argues that design was present in craft activity through the creation of products, becoming a key factor for survival in a colonial periphery and overcoming guild barriers. Research findings indicate the limitations of conceiving design in industrial societies as a construction of coloniality, positing also the need to advance a concept of design that addresses the cultural and historical realities of peripheral regions like Sonsonate.
This article revisits a long-neglected site in Northern Belize, the Classic Maya settlement of El Pozito, located in the Orange Walk District. Investigations led by Mary Neivens and Dennis Puleston explored the site between 1974 and 1976, documenting its architecture and recovering a substantial quantity of artifacts. Afterward, events conspired to bring these investigations to a close, leaving the site in a half-century scholarly limbo. The research here seeks to rectify this. Combining extant field notes with sporadic publications and recently conducted ceramic analysis, the authors reconstructed El Pozito's sequence of construction, occupation, and usage over 20 centuries. This new research revealed a settlement of surprising complexity, combining aspects of urban functionality amid a landscape of rural complexity. This article argues that the best way to understand such complexity is through the conceptual lens of a “town.” Neither a city nor a dispersed rural settlement, El Pozito functioned as a critical node that connected local, agrarian Maya with each other as well as the whole of the Classic Maya world. In this way, the research here seeks to rehabilitate this site, rescue it from its scholarly limbo, and restore its place in understanding the complex pre-Columbian landscapes of Northern Belize.
Research connected to the social impacts of climate change often focuses on past societies. In the present study I consider seven case studies concerning the Medieval Warm Period and addressing the question how societies devised adequate adaptation techniques in historical times. In two from these cases there was not sufficient evidence available to underline any connection between climate change and social behaviour, however in the other five and well-documented situations it was clear that for a successful adaptation the state of the society was more important than the features of climate change. Summing up the related literature the paper concludes that a stable and a well-organized society could tolerate extreme weather conditions even in the long run: fast adaptation to environmental stress (resilience), collective memory and knowledge about the local environment and optimal level of resource management. Bevezetés Az éghajlatváltozás lehetséges társadalmi hatásaival foglalkozó vizsgálatok egy része a történelmi időkre tekint vissza, és igyekszik megfigyelni, valamint értelmezni a régmúlt társadalmak sikeres vagy sikertelen alkalmazkodási technikáinak jelenkorra is érvényes tanulságait. E tanulmány hét olyan térség esetében tárgyalja e kérdést, ahol az ott élő tár-sadalmak életébe feltételezhetően lényegesen beleszóltak a klimatikus változások. A paleoklimatológiai és a történeti ökológiai kutatásoknak köszönhetően napjainkra egyre jelentősebb nemzetközi szakirodalom áll a téma iránt érdeklődők rendelkezésére, mégis célszerű az éghajlattörténeti események közül a jelenkorhoz időben legközelebb álló középkori meleg időszakot tanulmányozni, ugyanis erről a periódusról a történettu-domány és a természettudományos kormeghatározási módszerek eredményei pontosabb és bőségesebb információt szolgáltatnak, mint a korábbi hasonló klimatikus események-pl. a holocén vagy a római kori éghajlati optimum-esetében. Az időszak tanulmányozása azért is lényeges, mert az éghajlatban bekövetkezett változások-a jelenkorhoz hasonlóan-melegedő tendenciát mutattak Földünk egyes térségeiben, talán ezért is találták sokan időszerűnek e klimatikus periódus pontosabb megismerését. Jelen tanulmány célja az esettanulmányok alapján összegyűjteni és fontolóra venni mindazokat a tapasztalatokat, amelyek összehasonlítási alapként szolgálhatnak napjaink társadalmainak a hosszú távú ökológiai stresszhatásokhoz való sikeres alkalmazkodásban. A paleoklimatológiai és a történeti ökológiai kutatások kezdetei A paleoklimatológiai kutatások kezdete 1837-re tehető, amikor a svájci születésű Louis AgAssiz publikálta "Discours d'ouverture sur l'ancienne extension des glaciers" című tanulmányát, amelyben a kor e kiemelkedő földtudósa a pleisztocén kori eljegesedésekre
http://saa.uaic.ro/issues/no-xxviii-1-dec-2022/
During research at Umm el-Jimal, northern Jordan, on the history of the community’s relationship to the ancient site, an intriguing question keeps surfacing: How can the recently ‘arrived/settled’ community legitimize its relationship with antiquities which are not an essential component of their own historical experience? This question is somewhat different from the issue of estrangement of the living present from the archaeological past, about which some of us have written in the tradition of Edward Said’s orientalist critique. The author expects the answers to the above question to redirect our approach from the more negatively critical, ‘Why “they” were excluded’, to a more positively assertive, ‘Why they should be included’. One of the key theses of the chapter is that an essential way of making this right of inclusion meaningful to the modern community is the coupling of the archaeological heritage – pre-Islamic and Islamic – to the deep Islamic literary and artistic heritage in Jordanian education.KeywordsActivist archaeologyCommunity archaeologyIslamic archaeologyDescent heritageRemote heritageIslamic heritageLiterary heritageSite narrativeMultivocalityUmm el-Jimal
Syria has been marked by the birth and interaction of civilizations that changed the course of human history. With its cultural wealth and close links to neighboring peoples, Syria played an important part in the development of ancient Near Eastern civilizations, where fundamental knowledge and skills in writing, agriculture, and metallurgy were established. Religions, philosophies, the language of trade, systems of urban development, of diplomatic exchange – all these germinated within this geographical area. Today, Syria has more than 10,000 archaeological sites, scattered across the country’s cities, towns and villages, both inhabited and uninhabited areas. Tragically, the rich heritage of Syria has been seriously damaged by the armed conflict that begun in 2011. Today, open fighting is not yet fully over in the northwestern Idlib region, but over the last 9 years, shelling, looting and demolition have decimated archaeological sites and museum collections. Heritage destruction has been widely accounted for and disseminated as a consequence of war, but there are other, indirect reasons for its loss and damage, related to its pre-conflict management. This chapter provides a critique of these indirect reasons, examining a tranche of inadequacies and failings in pre-conflict heritage management frameworks and processes, before exploring the situation contemporaneous with the conflict. An examination of the relationship between local communities in Syria and the country’s heritage resources is presented in both parts, and provides an opportunity for crucial future engagement.KeywordsArchaeological heritagePre-conflictDuring conflictManagementLocal communitiesParticipationComparisonDGAMDestructionProtection
The Mexico and Central American region has a history of mercury use that began at least two millennia before European colonisation in the 16th century. Archaeologists have reported extensive deposits of cinnabar (HgS) and other mercury materials in ancient human settlements across the region. However, there has been no consideration to date of the environmental legacy of this long history of anthropogenic mercury use. This review begins by synthesising our knowledge of the history and nature of anthropogenic mercury in ancient Mesoamerica based on archaeological data, with a particular focus on the Maya culture of lowland Guatemala, Belize, the Yucatan of Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras. The Classic Period Maya used mercury for decorative and ceremonial (including funerary) purposes: Cinnabar (HgS) predominantly, but the archaeological record also shows rare finds of elemental mercury (Hg⁰) in important burial and religious contexts. In this review, we have located and summarised all published data sets collected from (or near) ancient Maya settlements that include environmental mercury measurements. Comparing mercury determinations from pre-Columbian Maya settlements located across the region confirms that seven sites from ten have reported at least one location with mercury concentrations that equal or exceed modern benchmarks for environmental toxicity. The locations with elevated mercury are typically former Maya occupation areas used in the Late Classic Period, situated within large urban settlements abandoned by c. 10th century CE. It is most likely that the mercury detected in buried contexts at Maya archaeological sites is associated with pre-Columbian mercury use, especially of cinnabar. In more complex contexts, where modern biological or specifically anthropogenic inputs are more probable, legacy mercury in the environment will have a more complex, and time transgressive input history. This review identifies current research gaps in our understanding of the long history of Maya mercury use and in the collection of robust total mercury datasets from the Maya world. We identify important areas for future research on the environmental persistence and legacy of mercury, including the need to interpret environment mercury data in the context of mercury exposure and human health at Maya archaeological sites.
The archaeological site of San Isidro, Sonsonate, El Salvador, is located at a geographically advantageous position within the transitional zone between large study areas of Mesoamerica and Central America. It became the focus of the Polish-Salvadoran Proyecto Arqueológico San Isidro (PASI) investigation in 2018. The overarching research question of the Project is to understand the prehispanic cultural and social dynamics within this zone, and recover identities of its ancient inhabitants. A number of non-invasive research methods have been employed to accommodate the wishes of the host community to avoid disturbance of the sugarcane plantation. Drone-based mapping, carried out between 2018 and 2021, demonstrated an exceptional size of the ancient settlement, consisting of more than 50 still-visible remains of architectural structures dispersed over an area of 6 square kilometers. Three remote-sensing geophysical survey methods were used in the presumed center of the site. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), magnetometry, and electric resistivity analyses have all detected anomalies related to the eruption of the Ilopango volcano. Initial archaeological excavations permit tentative dating of the prehispanic San Isidro lifespan to the Middle and Late Preclassic periods (1000–400 BCE, and 400 BCE - AD 250, respectively), with possible extension into Early Classic (AD 250 – 600). Construction techniques of the investigated mounds prove to be rare in the general area, but have close analogies in the relative vicinity of San Isidro.
En el siglo XVI, los españoles hallaron en Yucatán libros o códices de los mayas cuyos textos estaban escritos en jeroglíficos. El fraile Diego de Landa quemó gran número de estos códices, pero consignó la información en ellos contenida, necesaria para que siglos más tarde Yuri V. Knórosov encontrara la clave para la comprensión de esos textos jeroglíficos. Entretanto, los mayas aprendieron a escribir su lengua con letras del alfabeto latino y lograron expresarse de forma poética y con belleza formal. Durante el siglo XIX se descubrieron las ruinas de las ciudades mayas y comenzaron los intentos por descifrar los textos tallados en sus monumentos de piedra. No sería sino hasta mediados del siglo XX en que finalmente se encontró la clave para acceder al conocimiento semántico de los textos legados por los mayas de la antigüedad.
Urbanization is a phenomenon that brings into focus a range of topics of broad interest to scholars. It is one of the central, enduring interests of anthropological archaeology. Because urbanization is a transformational process, it changes the relationships between social and cultural variables such as demography, economy, politics, and ideology. As one of a handful of cases in the ancient world where cities developed independently, Mesoamerica should play a major role in the global, comparative analysis of first-generation cities and urbanism in general. Yet most research focuses on later manifestations of urbanism in Mesoamerica, thereby perpetuating the fallacy that Mesoamerican cities developed relatively late in comparison to urban centers in the rest of the world. This volume presents new data, case studies, and models for approaching the subject of early Mesoamerican cities. It demonstrates how the study of urbanism in Mesoamerica, and all ancient civilizations, is entering a new and dynamic phase of scholarship.
Die Liste der Maya-Ruinen für Mittelamerika zählt ca. 83 größere und kleinere Tempelstädte und religiöse Zentren und zeigt damit über den Zeitraum von 400 v. Chr. bis 1150 n. Chr. die enorme Besiedlungsdichte. Mit Ausnahme einiger weniger Königsstädte wie Lamanai in Belize (700–15. Jh. n. Chr.) und Mayapan in Nordyucatan (1000–1442 n. Chr.) verschwanden die Stadtstaaten unter dem üppigen Dach des Regenwaldes und wurden in der Neuzeit als Ruinenstädte wiederentdeckt. Die klimatische Niederschlagsvariabilität mit ihren Dürren war sicher nicht alleiniger Auslöser des Zusammenbruchs der Maya-Königsstädte. Ihr gehäuftes Auftreten im 9. Jh. (vier langjährige Dürrephasen) und im 11. Jh. fällt jedoch zusammen mit gravierenden Umweltproblemen der Ressourcenübernutzung im Zusammenhang mit starkem Bevölkerungsanstieg und einer politisch-sozialen Krise durch unzureichende Landverfügbarkeit für die Nahrungsmittelproduktion und damit politischer Desintegration zwischen 750–1000 n. Chr. mit zahlreichen Konflikten und Kriegen. Der gesellschaftliche Zusammenbruch ereignete sich auf dem Höhepunkt von Bevölkerungszahl und Bautätigkeit und war regional zeitversetzt.
The present study deals with the mural of Structure B-XIII of the archaeological site of Uaxactun in Guatemala. Although this mural was found in 1937 and initially aroused much interest, it does not appear in recent works, given its destruction a few years after its discovery. Many new discoveries in the Maya area have been made and this old one has been burdened with interpretations that are far from the current state of the art. So, we have decided to reinitiate the investigation, digitally recreate the mural on the basis of photographs from the time of its discovery and reattempt to understand its meaning by analysing the image, hieroglyphic writing, and calendric record. We summarise the results and place these in a historical context that allows us to combine new mural data with those that we have obtained from the stone monuments of Uaxactun using modern technology. The results shed light on a critical period of Maya history shortly after the so-called Entrada associated with Teotihuacan.
Las múltiples hipótesis propuestas sobre la función astronómica de los grupos E en la arquitectura maya van desde las que les atribuyen un papel primordial en las observaciones astronómicas hasta las que los consideran meras alusiones alegóricas a ciclos celestes. Basándome en los análisis cuantitativos de los datos sobre los alineamientos medidos en diversos sitios, así como en evidencias contextuales, argumento que los grupos E eran astronómicamente funcionales, pero no tenían un papel específico o particularmente prominente en observaciones astronómicas. También muestro que las orientaciones plasmadas inicialmente en los grupos E –que representan la forma estandarizada más antigua de la arquitectura monumental maya y cuya presencia en prácticamente todas las ciudades tempranas en la parte central de la península de Yucatán atestigua su significado sociopolítico– fueron posteriormente transferidas a edificios y conjuntos de otro tipo. Por lo tanto, es precisamente la importancia de las direcciones astronómica y cosmológicamente significativas, primero incorporadas en los grupos E, la que nos permite comprender algunos aspectos sobresalientes de la arquitectura y el urbanismo de los mayas.
The contents, context, and date of Problematical Deposit 50 bear on the origin, function, and meaning of Teotihuacan stylistic traits in the Southern Maya Lowlands. Archaeological data and material culture research appear to support emulation and adaptation by local rulers and elites, while an actual presence of Teotihuacanos is asserted by epigraphy and iconography. PD 50, the partial contents of a probable Early Classic chamber burial, appears to support local emulation, but an extraordinary pottery vessel, nicknamed here the “Arrival Bowl,” implies direct contact. The chronology and archaeological context demonstrate that the appearance of Teotihuacan stylistic traits at Tikal during the later Early Classic period is functionally distinct from the goods distributed over an interregional interaction sphere of much longer duration in which both Central Mexico and the Maya area participated. Furthermore, together with other features at Tikal, PD 50 suggests that adoption of Teotihuacan ideology by Tikal's elite was eventually met with resistance that contributed to the violence at the end of the Early Classic period that is manifested in the archaeological record.
The transition from hunting and gathering to sedentism began on the Ecuadorian Coast c. 10,000 years ago. Changes in adaptation, year-round settlements, and an increased dependence upon cultigens transformed prehistoric Andean cultures and created widespread modifications within the coastal ecology. Coastal Ecuador is characterized by extreme ecological diversity, particularly with regard to terrestrial plants, animals, birds, and maritime resources. Cultural changes in adaptation resulted in dramatic increase in population densities. Interdisciplinary research presented here incorporates zoological, botanical, and faunal remains identified archeologically, with descriptions and analysis of their representations on pre-Hispanic material culture and symbolically depicted in ancient iconography. The interdisciplinary research presented here enriches our knowledge and understanding of the rise of complex social organization associated with a more agricultural way of life. Our evidence indicates the cultivation and domestication of plants and animals, as well as the increased exploitation of maritime resources, provided the basis for early social complexity along coastal Ecuador.
Link to full-text: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/43614
As the world's natural habitats continue to be converted for human use, integrating biodiversity conservation within the activities that support sustainable development is vital, yet increasingly challenging in regions where high levels of poverty and biodiversity converge. Conservation of tropical forests, therefore, depends upon effectively managing agroecosystems to support rural livelihoods, food security, and wildlife. A land use approach that integrates diverse agroecosystems with natural habitats is one strategy to achieve multiple human and environmental targets, but its success depends upon identification of agricultural practices that are biodiversityfriendly. Our research asked three main questions: 1) In what ways can tropical agroecosystems support bird conservation? 2) Which agricultural practices best support sustainable livelihoods in rural communities? 3) Which agroecosystem characteristics most align with the shared goals of promoting healthy human communities and conserving biodiversity? From June 2014 to February 2015, we used a mixed-methods approach to address our questions within three remote villages in the Central Highlands in the Department of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, an area globally recognized for its biocultural diversity. We measured occupancy of 15 focal bird species, vegetation characteristics, and landscape context at 142 points located in six agroecosystems types (i.e. monoculture, polyculture, semi-shade coffee, pine plantation, secondary forest, and primary cloud forest). We also surveyed 42 farmer households to assess crop diversity, dietary diversity, agrochemical use practices and income generated from crop sales. Our work shows that conservation and sustainable livelihoods were best supported by diverse agroecosystems that retained cloud forest remnants within the matrix. Structural and floristic diversity of agroecosystems were positively associated with focal bird species as well as diversified diets and on-farm incomes for farmers. For birds of conservation concern, the value of agroecosystems can be improved by retaining >20% canopy cover on farms and >60% in forest 3 habitats, maintaining 150-550 trees/ha, protecting epiphytes, and managing landscapes for 25-40% forest within the matrix. Efforts to plant trees, especially fruit trees, and culturally significant heirloom crops, are thus likely to restore or enhance avian habitat within the agricultural matrix. Diverse agroecosystems with remnant forests also supported farmers and their families within rural Q'eqchi' communities. In particular, crop diversity was positively associated to dietary diversity, an indicator of nutritional status, such that one additional food group was consumed within a household for each 5 crops added. On-farm income sources also diversified with crop variety, given that the average household sold approximately one-third of their total crop diversity. Specific types of heirloom and fruit crops (e.g., roctixl, macuy, ch'onte', guisquil, taro, chilacayote, pacaya palm, peach, plum, avocado, passionfruit) were especially likely to result in positive social and environmental outcomes. In contrast, other crops (e.g., export broccoli, cash crops) were more lucrative, but required expensive and potentially harmful agrochemicals. Collectively, these findings were used to inform management through an agroecological enrichment project with local partners that reintroduced heirloom crops and planted fruit trees in 18 remote communities, and engaged over 15 stakeholder groups in participatory discussions about conservation and development within the greater Highlands of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Overall, identifying and advocating for biodiversity-friendly agroecosystems is likely to contribute to bird conservation and sustainable livelihoods in the Highlands of Guatemala.
In this article, we use the precision of Bayesian modeled radiocarbon dates to reconstruct a generational history of Late Preclassic (300 BC–AD 250) Cerros (Cerro Maya), Belize. This research was made possible by long-curated excavation records and material remains now housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville. Our interpretations build on earlier research and refine the temporal resolution significantly, enabling us to view site development from the perspective of adjacent generations sharing a lived experience. Here we examine material evidence of their collective actions as they built new buildings and renovated aging ones, characterizing their roles in inventing a visual future for the Late Preclassic Maya port that engaged ancestral actions while reinventing the landscape.
Recent research is shedding light on the long and precocious urban tradition of the Pacific coastal rim of southeastern Mesoamerica, from eastern Soconusco, Mexico, to Escuintla, Guatemala. The available data provide a basis to discuss variations in urban shape and functions, and to a lesser extent, urban life and meaning at Formative and Classic cities, plus brief mention of Late Postclassic cities. Pacific coastal cities are larger and earlier than previously thought, and their investigation is relevant for comparative studies that aim to understand the variability of ancient urban societies in Mesoamerica and beyond.
Many Holocene hydroclimate records show rainfall changes that vary with local orbital insolation. However, some tropical regions display rainfall evolution that differs from gradual precessional pacing, suggesting that direct rainfall forcing effects were predominantly driven by sea-surface temperature thresholds or inter-ocean temperature gradients. Here we present a 12,000 yr continuous U/Th-dated precipitation record from a Guatemalan speleothem showing that Central American rainfall increased within a 2000 yr period from a persistently dry state to an active convective regime at 9000 yr BP and has remained strong thereafter. Our data suggest that the Holocene evolution of Central American rainfall was driven by exceeding a temperature threshold in the nearby tropical oceans. The sensitivity of this region to slow changes in radiative forcing is thus strongly mediated by internal dynamics acting on much faster time scales.
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