Large variation in availability of Maya food plant sources during ancient droughts

Paleoclimatic evidence indicating a series of droughts in the Yucatan Peninsula during the Terminal Classic period suggests that climate change may have contributed to the disruption or collapse of Classic Maya polities. Although climate change cannot fully account for the multifaceted, political turmoil of the period, it is clear that droughts of strong magnitude could have limited food availability, potentially causing famine, migration, and societal decline. Maize was undoubtedly an important staple food of the ancient Maya, but a complete analysis of other food resources that would have been available during drought remains unresolved. Here, we assess drought resistance of all 497 indigenous food plant species documented in ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and botanical studies as having been used by the lowland Maya and classify the availability of these plant species and their edible components under various drought scenarios. Our analysis indicates availability of 83% of food plant species in short-term drought, but this percentage drops to 22% of food plant species available in moderate drought up to 1 y. During extreme drought, lasting several years, our analysis indicates availability of 11% of food plant species. Our results demonstrate a greater diversity of food sources beyond maize that would have been available to the Maya during climate disruption of the Terminal Classic period than has been previously acknowledged. While drought would have necessitated shifts in dietary patterns, the range of physiological drought responses for the available food plants would have allowed a continuing food supply under all but the most dire conditions.

THE CLASSIC PERIOD NECROPOLIS OF THE RAEVSKOYE FORTIFIED SETTLEMENT: HISTORY OF RESEARCH, TOPOGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY

Раевское городище - региональный и экономический центр юго-восточной Синдики (хоры античной Горгиппии) на протяжении III в. до н. э. - I в. н. э. -было введено в научный оборот благодаря раскопкам В. И. Сизова в 1886 г. Вопрос о местоположении некрополя городища, население которого могло насчитывать несколько сотен жителей, долгое время оставался открытым. Итоги исследований за последние полвека показали, что захоронения античного времени расположены на возвышенностях, простирающихся к западу и востоку от городища. К сожалению, на нынешнем этапе хронология захоронений некрополя далеко не всегда коррелирует с периодом бытования античного центра на Раевском городище. В частности, слабо документирован погребальными комплексами III в. до н. э. и практически отсутствуют материалы, которые можно было бы связать с обитателями северо-восточного мыса городища в раннеримское время. О периферийности центра свидетельствует отсутствие находок надгробных памятников. The Raevskoye fortified settlement was a regional and economic center of southeastern Sindike (chora of Greek Gorgippia) throughout 3rd century BC -1st century AD. The site was introduced in scientific discourse thanks to excavations conducted by V.I. Sizov in 1886. The issue relating to the location of the necropolis of the hillfort where several hundred people had probably lived remained open for a long time. The excavations over the recent 50 years have shown that graves of the Classical period are located on hills extending east of and west of the settlement. Unfortunately, at the current stage of research the chronology of graves in the necropolis does not always correlate with the period of functioning of the Ancient Greek center at the Raevskoye hillfort. In particular, few burial assemblages date back to the 3rd century BC; and there are practically no materials that could be linked to the inhabitants of the northeastern promontory of the fortified settlement during the Early Roman period. A lack of tombstones evidences the marginal character of the settlement at that time.

PENGARUH KESENIAN PĀLA TERHADAP GAYA SENI ARCA CANDI MENDUT

Indian culture presents a massive influence in the Early Classic Period in Java. One of the traces found in arts. However, which part of Indian art influenced is rarely mentioned. Some scholars said it was Gupta Art’s influence enormously in the Early Classic Period. Is it just Gupta Art? or another else? This paper aims to add knowledge about another Indian art, namely Pāla Art, which also presents in the Early Classic Period. The style of Pāla Art affects the depiction of Candi Mendut’s sculptures. The data collection using observation techniques and description as well. The data analysis using a qualitative approach by descriptive analysis methods. And finally, the data interpretation using the results of comparative studies. The conclusion reveals the similarities between both data. However, Candi Mendut’s sculptures did not entirely absorb the foreign influences, but they show authentic attributes known as a character of classical Javanese Art. Kebudayaan India memberikan pengaruh yang besar terhadap periode Klasik Tua di Jawa. Jejak kebudayaan India, salah satunya nampak pada bentuk-bentuk kesenian. Meskipun demikian, selama ini jarang disebutkan secara terperinci kesenian India mana saja yang memengaruhi kesenian Jawa klasik. Beberapa ahli berpendapat bahwa kesenian Gupta yang memberikan pengaruh besar terhadap bentuk kesenian Jawa pada periode Klasik Tua. Namun, benarkah hanya kesenian Gupta semata? Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk menambahkan pengetahuan mengenai gaya seni India lainnya, yakni kesenian Pāla, yang juga ditemui pada periode Klasik Tua. Pengaruh kesenian itu terlihat pada penggambaran arca-arca candi Mendut. Telaah dihasilkan melalui tahapan kerja yang bertingkat-tingkat, dimulai dari pengumpulan data dengan cara mengamati dan mendeskripsikan data; pengolahan data melalui pendekatan kualitatif dengan menggunakan metode analisis deskriptif; serta penafsiran data berdasarkan hasil studi komparasi. Simpulannya memperlihatkan persamaan gaya seni yang membuktikan bahwa kesenian Pāla memberikan pengaruhnya terhadap gaya seni arca Candi Mendut. Meskipun demikian, pengaruh kesenian Pāla tidak serta merta diserap secara utuh, melainkan terdapat ciri khas yang ditemui pada arca Candi Mendut yang menjadikannya sebagai karakter kesenian Jawa klasik.

Airborne Lidar Survey, Density-Based Clustering, and Ancient Maya Settlement in the Upper Usumacinta River Region of Mexico and Guatemala

We present results from the archaeological analysis of 331 km2 of high-resolution airborne lidar data collected in the Upper Usumacinta River basin of Mexico and Guatemala. Multiple visualizations of the DEM and multi-spectral data from four lidar transects crossing the Classic period (AD 350–900) Maya kingdoms centered on the sites of Piedras Negras, La Mar, and Lacanja Tzeltal permitted the identification of ancient settlement and associated features of agricultural infrastructure. HDBSCAN (hierarchical density-based clustering of applications with noise) cluster analysis was applied to the distribution of ancient structures to define urban, peri-urban, sub-urban, and rural settlement zones. Interpretations of these remotely sensed data are informed by decades of ground-based archaeological survey and excavations, as well as a rich historical record drawn from inscribed stone monuments. Our results demonstrate that these neighboring kingdoms in three adjacent valleys exhibit divergent patterns of structure clustering and low-density urbanism, distributions of agricultural infrastructure, and economic practices during the Classic period. Beyond meeting basic subsistence needs, agricultural production in multiple areas permitted surpluses likely for the purposes of tribute, taxation, and marketing. More broadly, this research highlights the strengths of HDBSCAN to the archaeological study of settlement distributions when compared to more commonly applied methods of density-based cluster analysis.

Classic Maya Dental Interventions

Tooth extractions are among the most common dental procedures performed globally today; however, archaeological evidence for such procedures in the past is relatively scant and largely limited to the Classical world. We present a case of therapeutic dental extractions of pathological teeth at the ancient Maya site of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, during the Late Classic period (A.D. 600–800). The evidence comes from an assemblage of fractured, pathological teeth (n = 127) recovered from the marketplace at Piedras Negras during excavations in 2016 and 2017. We compare the Piedras Negras marketplace teeth to the broader Late Classic period mortuary population at the site along three lines of analysis: (1) distribution of teeth by type (incisors, canines, premolars, and molars), (2) pathologies, including dental caries and calculus, and (3) dental wear. We also explore in detail the fracture patterns apparent in the marketplace assemblage. Our results indicate that the marketplace teeth display a significantly greater caries rate than the broader mortuary population and that posterior teeth (premolars and molars) are overrepresented in the marketplace sample. These findings point toward therapeutic extractions intended to ameliorate pain associated with oral pathologies. This article presents one of the fewcase studies of ancient health care in the Americas and situates these practices within the market, an important, urban space across much of precolonial Mesoamerica. Las extracciones dentales se encuentran entre los procedimientos dentales más comunes realizados a nivel mundial en la actualidad. Sin embargo, la evidencia arqueológica para tales procedimientos es relativamente escasa en el pasado y se limita en gran medida al mundo Clásico. En este artículo, se presenta un caso de extracciones dentales terapéuticas de dientes patológicos en el antiguo sitio maya de Piedras Negras, Guatemala, durante el periodo Clásico Tardío (600-800 d.C.). La evidencia de este caso proviene de una colección de dientes patológicos y fracturados (n = 127) recolectados en el mercado de Piedras Negras durante las excavaciones realizadas en los años de 2016 y 2017. Estos dientes fueron comparados con otros dientes recolectados alrededor del sitio en contextos mortuorios del periodo Clásico Tardío a lo largo de tres líneas de análisis: (1) la distribución de los dientes por tipo (incisivos, caninos, premolares y molares), (2) las patologías, incluyendo caries dentales y cálculo y (3) el desgaste dental. Asimismo, se exploró en detalle los patrones de fractura aparentes en la colección del mercado. Los resultados de este análisis indican que los dientes del mercado muestran una tasa de caries significativamente mayor que los dientes recolectados en contextos mortuorios y que los dientes posteriores (premolares y molares) se encuentran sobrerrepresentados en la muestra proveniente del mercado. Estos hallazgos demuestran el uso de extracciones terapéuticas designadas a aliviar el dolor asociado a las patologías bucales. Este artículo presenta uno de los pocos estudios de caso de atención médica en el pasado en las Américas y sitúa estas prácticas dentro del mercado, un importante espacio urbano que se encuentra a través de la Mesoamérica precolombina.