scholarly journals Drought, agricultural adaptation, and sociopolitical collapse in the Maya Lowlands

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (18) ◽  
pp. 5607-5612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. J. Douglas ◽  
Mark Pagani ◽  
Marcello A. Canuto ◽  
Mark Brenner ◽  
David A. Hodell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Isotope ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Agricultural Adaptation ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Paleoclimate Records ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Plant Wax ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

Paleoclimate records indicate a series of severe droughts was associated with societal collapse of the Classic Maya during the Terminal Classic period (∼800–950 C.E.). Evidence for drought largely derives from the drier, less populated northern Maya Lowlands but does not explain more pronounced and earlier societal disruption in the relatively humid southern Maya Lowlands. Here we apply hydrogen and carbon isotope compositions of plant wax lipids in two lake sediment cores to assess changes in water availability and land use in both the northern and southern Maya lowlands. We show that relatively more intense drying occurred in the southern lowlands than in the northern lowlands during the Terminal Classic period, consistent with earlier and more persistent societal decline in the south. Our results also indicate a period of substantial drying in the southern Maya Lowlands from ∼200 C.E. to 500 C.E., during the Terminal Preclassic and Early Classic periods. Plant wax carbon isotope records indicate a decline in C4 plants in both lake catchments during the Early Classic period, interpreted to reflect a shift from extensive agriculture to intensive, water-conservative maize cultivation that was motivated by a drying climate. Our results imply that agricultural adaptations developed in response to earlier droughts were initially successful, but failed under the more severe droughts of the Terminal Classic period.

Paleoecological Evidence of an Early Postclassic Occupation in the Southwestern Maya Lowlands: Laguna Las Pozas, Guatemala

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Johnston ◽  
Andrew J. Breckenridge ◽  
Barbara C. Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Postclassic Period ◽  
Refugee Population ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Maya Collapse ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

Magnetic, palynological, and paleoecological data indicate that in the Río de la Pasión drainage, one of the most thoroughly investigated areas of the southern Maya lowlands, a refugee population remained in the Laguna Las Pozas basin long after the Classic Maya collapse and the Terminal Classic period, previously identified by archaeologists as eras of near-total regional abandonment. During the Early Postclassic period, ca. A. D. 900 to 1200, agriculturalists colonized and deforested the Laguna Las Pozas basin for agriculture while adjacent, abandoned terrain was undergoing reforestation. After discussing the archaeological utility of magnetic analyses, we conclude that following the Maya collapse, some refugee populations migrated to geographically marginal non-degraded landscapes within the southern lowlands not previously occupied by the Classic Maya.

scholarly journals Technology, production, and distribution of terminal classic molded-carved vases in the Central Maya Lowlands

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Ting ◽  
Christophe Helmke
Keyword(s):  
Energy Dispersive Spectrometer ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Energy Dispersive ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Thin Section Petrography ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

The paper summarises the results of the technological and stylistic analyses of the moldedcarved ceramic vases from Altun Ha, and Pook’s Hill, two archaeological sites located in Belize. The stylistic analysis of these vases indicates that the decorative modes and the tradition of manufacturing vases by molds date squarely to the Terminal Classic period (ca. AD 800-1000). The Terminal Classic period is one of transition, exhibiting dramatic socio-political changes in the Maya Lowlands. The technological analyses employ energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), thin-section petrography, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), to characterise the physical, mineralogical, and chemical properties of the molded-carved vases. Combining the results of the technological and stylistic analyses help to discriminate the production groups, reconstruct the manufacturing technology, characterise the organisation of production, and delineate distribution patterns. Our present findings reveal that the changes in the socio-political order during the Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands likely stimulated changes in the types and manner in which elite pottery was produced, as well as the mechanisms responsible for the distribution of such ceramics.

GREAT DEVELOPMENT IN TROUBLED TIMES: THE TERMINAL CLASSIC AT THE MAYA SITE OF NAKUM, PETEN, GUATEMALA

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarosław Źrałka ◽  
Bernard Hermes
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Great Development ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

AbstractRecent investigations carried out at the Maya site of Nakum, located in the northeastern part of Guatemala, revealed traces of very intense Terminal Classic period occupation and architectural construction and renovation. Archaeological excavations in the site's core and its periphery indicate that the apogee of Nakum's cultural prosperity and demographic increase occurred during the Terminal Classic period when many new structures were constructed and almost all old constructions were rebuilt. The growth and prosperity of Terminal Classic Nakum stands in stark contrast to the prevailing pattern of collapse and abandonment seen at many other lowland Maya sites during this turbulent period. Archaeological and epigraphic data suggest that Nakum survived the collapse of other major cities such as Tikal or Naranjo by at least a century. Nakum's success can be attributed to its role as a fluvial port that controlled commercial activities within this region. Its advantageous location on the banks of the Holmul River, combined with weakened competition from formerly more powerful neighbors such as Tikal and Naranjo, apparently permitted Nakum's ruling elite to actively expand its trade relationships in spite of the broad economic and political crisis that profoundly affected the Southern Maya Lowlands. However, its success was relatively brief, for by the end of the Terminal Classic (ca.a.d.950) Nakum apparently succumbed to the same forces that had caused the collapse and abandonment of most Southern Maya Lowland cities.

THE ROOTS OF SOTUTA: DZITAS SLATE AS A YUCATECAN TRADITION

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. J. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Sociopolitical History ◽  
Chichen Itza ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

AbstractThe Sotuta pottery complex has been used in the archaeology of the northern Maya lowlands to identify the Terminal Classic period and cultural association with Chichen Itza. The Sotuta complex, however, is made up of many pottery types, the majority of which are inappropriate markers of elite sociopolitical history. It is argued here that Sotuta-complex slate wares developed out of previous local slate wares regardless of the elite sociopolitical changes taking place with the arrival of the Itza. The wares produced and distributed by commoners were independent of elites and have been artificially chained to questions of elite political expansion for which they are inappropriate correlates.

The Maya Terminal Classic Drought replicated in two stalagmites from Columnas Cave, NW Yucatán

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel James ◽  
Sebastian Breitenbach ◽  
Hai Cheng ◽  
Adam Hartland ◽  
Ian Orland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Proton Event ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Drought Frequency ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

<p>During the Terminal Classic Period (c.800-1000CE) most major Maya centres in the lowlands of the southern Yucatán Peninsula declined and were then abandoned, in what would come to be known as the Classic Maya Collapse. The causes of this societal transformation remain open for debate in modern archaeology. Over the past 25 years, palaeoclimatic records from lake sediments and speleothems have prompted discussion about the role abrupt climate change may have played in the decline. These records largely indicate the existence of a Terminal Classic Drought, a period of increased drought frequency that is approximately contemporaneous with the Collapse.</p><p>The high temporal resolution of speleothem archives makes them an important tool in assessing the validity of these records. Previous work has demonstrated the prevalence of drought in the lowlands of both northern and southern Yucatán during the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic Periods. However, it has been difficult to build a detailed understanding of regional rainfall changes owing to the large spatial and temporal variability of precipitation over the Peninsula, as observed in the modern day.</p><p>Here we report a high-resolution (100µm), absolutely-dated, replicated record of δ<sup>18</sup>O and δ<sup>13</sup>C variations in two stalagmites from Columnas Cave (Rancho Hobonil) near the Puuc Hills, a dominant region of Maya settlement in north-western Yucatán during the Terminal Classic. The oxygen and carbon isotopic records of the speleothems (designated Hobo-5 and Hobo-6), located <10m apart in the farthest reaches of the cave, can be correlated with one another in great detail. The highest δ<sup>18</sup>O values in both speleothems occur during the Terminal Classic Period, coupled with the onset of an extended period of consistently high δ<sup>13</sup>C values. These are interpreted as representing a period of increased drought frequency; as documented from sediment cores in nearby Lake Chichancanab, located ≈30km from Columnas Cave. These replicated records provide strong evidence for highly variable climatic conditions in the Terminal Classic, when the Puuc Maya underwent several boom-bust cycles. Ultrahigh-resolution (10µm) SIMS isotope and synchrotron µXRF analyses during this critical period have been undertaken to test if an annual record of climatic changes can be developed.</p><p>Radiocarbon data across the Terminal Classic also displays a single abrupt increase in 14C content around 1000CE, indicating a decrease in the dead carbon fraction. This event occurs close in time to the 994CE solar proton event documented in tree rings. If these events are indeed synchronous, it would constitute the first instance of the cosmogenic radiocarbon event being recorded in a speleothem, which would provide a valuable absolute correlation horizon.</p>

A MAYA CARVED SHELL PLAQUE FROM TULA, HIDALGO, MEXICO

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McVicker ◽  
Joel W. Palka
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Field Museum ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Chichen Itza ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

In the early 1880s, a finely carved Maya shell picture plaque was found at the Toltec capital of Tula, central Mexico, and was subsequently acquired by The Field Museum in Chicago. The shell was probably re-carved in the Terminal Classic period and depicts a seated lord with associated Maya hieroglyphs on the front and back. Here the iconography and glyphic text of this unique artifact are examined, the species and habitat of the shell are described, and its archaeological and social context are interpreted. The Tula plaque is then compared with Maya carved jade picture plaques of similar size and design that were widely distributed throughout Mesoamerica, but were later concentrated in the sacred cenote at Chichen Itza. It is concluded that during the Late Classic period, these plaques played an important role in establishing contact between Maya lords and their counterparts representing peripheral and non-Maya domains. The picture plaques may have been elite Maya gifts establishing royal alliances with non-local polities and may have become prestige objects used in caches and termination rituals.

Linguistic Divergence and the Collapse of Preclassic Civilization in Southern Mesoamerica

1987 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce H. Dahlin ◽  
Robin Quizar ◽  
Andrea Dahlin
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Postclassic Period ◽  
Proximate Cause ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Ultimate Cause ◽  
Early Classic Period

Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoamerica stand out as fertile periods in terms of the generation of new languages: the Terminal Preclassic/early Early Classic Periods, and the Early Postclassic Period. After comparing archaeological evidence with language distributions within the subregions of southern Mesoamerica during the first of these periods, we conclude that the cultural processes during both periods had the same potential for producing rapid rates of linguistic divergences. Just as rapid proliferation of linguistic divisions was symptomatic of the well-known collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization, so it can be taken as a sign of a collapse of Terminal Preclassic civilization. Both collapses were characterized by severe population reductions, site abandonments, an increasing balkanization in material culture, and disruption of interregional communication networks, conditions that were contributory to the kind of linguistic isolation that allows language divergences. Unlike in the Terminal Classic collapse episode, small refuge zones persisted in the Early Classic Period that served as sources of an evolving classicism; these refuge zones were exceptions, however, not the rule. Although the collapse of each site had its own proximate cause, we suggest that the enormous geographical range covered by these Early Classic Period site failures points to a single ultimate cause affecting the area as a whole, such as the onset of a prolonged and devastating climatic change.

Classic-to-Contact-Period Continuities in Maya Governance in Central Petén, Guatemala

Ethnohistory ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prudence M. Rice ◽  
Don S. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Power Sharing ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Per Se

Abstract This article integrates ethnohistorical and archaeological data in examining political continuities or structural equivalencies in the lakes region of central Petén (southern Maya lowlands) between the Late and Terminal Classic periods and the Postclassic and Spanish Contact periods. The equivalencies are of three kinds: “deep structures” (quadripartition), common political expediencies and functions (power-sharing and council houses), and temporal continuities per se (dual rulership). The article concludes that the rupture (“collapse”) between Classic and Postclassic political forms was only partial, and numerous structures and practices of late Petén Itza Maya geopolitical organization can be seen in earlier Classic-period phenomena. These underscore long-term continuities in governance strategies.

Formation of a Complex Polity on the Eastern Periphery of the Maya Lowlands

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith M. Prufer ◽  
Holley Moyes ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton ◽  
Andrew Kindon ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Farming Community ◽  
Central Tenet ◽  
Group A ◽  
Eastern Periphery ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Site Chronology ◽  
A Site

AbstractThis paper pursues the application of a central tenet of the dual-processual framework, the corporate/network continuum, to the development of Uxbenká, a small monument-bearing polity in the southern Maya Lowlands. During its growth, Uxbenká underwent a transformation from a small farming community to a complex polity with many of the trappings of elite authority that characterizes Classic Maya centers. It was one of the earliest complex polities to develop on the southeastern periphery of the Maya lowlands during the Early Classic period (A.D. 300—600). The polity was founded upon earlier agricultural communities that are now known to extend back to at least A.D. 100. Starting after A.D. 200 the location of the original agricultural village (Group A) was leveled and reorganized to form a public monument garden and the center of political authority throughout much of the Classic period (A.D. 400—800). In this article we present radiocarbon ages from well-defined stratigraphic contexts to establish a site chronology. Based on these data we suggest that by A.D. 450 Uxbenká was the center of a regional political system connected to some of the larger polities in the Maya world (e.g., Tikal). We argue that at this time Uxbenká underwent a significant change from a polity organized by a corporate inclusionary form of ruler-ship to a more networked one marked by exclusionary authority vested in elites who privileged their ancestral relations and network interactions across the geopolitical landscape.

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