Environment and Agency in the Ancient Maya Collapse

2013 ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Aimers
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Collapse

scholarly journals An assessment of drought on maize cropping success in ancient Maya lowlands during the last half of the first millennium ce

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 546-553
Author(s):  
Alfred Wong
Keyword(s):  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Growing Period ◽  
Pattern Frequency ◽  
Data Resolution ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Small Change ◽  
Maya Collapse ◽  
Large Decline

Abstract Drought arising from a shift in intertropical convergence zone in the Yucatán peninsula during the last half of the first millennium is often cited as a determining cause in the collapse of ancient Maya polities. Some Mayanists have postulated that a small change in precipitation might have been sufficient to result in catastrophic cropping failure, with attendant large decline in population. The supporting data for this conjecture are essentially very weak. In particular, paleoclimatologists could provide only qualitative drier or wetter periods. The data resolution has not been at the level of daily or monthly precipitation in ancient times. It is well known in the cropping of maize that the pattern, frequency, and quantity of precipitation, among other things, during the growing period are of paramount importance. Present quantitative assessment suggests that a decrease of the order of 40%, uniformly over a 125-day growing season, from normal precipitation may not have an adverse impact on maize cropping success. This finding presents doubts in the hypothetical climate-based cause of catastrophic decline in population during the period of ‘Maya collapse’.

The Last Groups Standing: Living Abandonment at the Ancient Maya Center of Minanha, Belize

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 550-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire ◽  
Scott Macrae ◽  
Carmen A. McCane ◽  
Evan A. Parker ◽  
Gyles Iannone
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Agricultural Community ◽  
Royal Courts ◽  
Ideological Dimension ◽  
Maya Collapse

The most archaeologically visible dimension of the Classic Maya Collapse is the abandonment of monumental royal courts. Yet, in some cases, non-elite populations lived for centuries in and around Classic Maya centers without rulers. Processes of abandonment among Classic Maya commoners are detectable and reflect their own ritual and social practices divorced from the ritual performances undertaken by the ruling elite. We study the abandonment context and chronology of three domestic groups from the Contreras Valley, an agricultural community located on the outskirts of the Classic Maya center ofMinanha, Belize. There, several artifact assemblages were deposited at the time of abandonment, representing termination rituals. This study goes beyond the ideological dimension of termination rituals to examine how these ceremonies helped reshape the identity of social groups who were about to abandon their home. We explore how the last inhabitants of a mostly abandoned landscape lived through this process of gradual depopulation. Moreover, we evaluate potential explanations for the archaeological processes behind the occurrence or non-occurrence of termination rituals in different domestic groups.

[South America and Mesoamerica - Tom D. Dillehay The archaeological context and interpretation: errata (Monte Verde: a late Pleistocene settlement in Chile 2). Pages, figures, tables. 2002. Washington (DC): Smithsonian Institution Press; 158834-029-5 paperback. - Paulina Ledergerber-Crespo (ed.). Formativo sudamericano, una revaluación — ponencias presentadas en el Simposio internacional de Arqueología Sudamericana, Cuenca, Ecuador, 13–17 de enero de 1992: homenaje a Alberto Rex González y Betty J. Meggers. 404 pages, 128 figures, 7 tables. 1999. Quito: Abya-Yala; 9978-04-466-3 paperback. - Colin McEwan, Cristiana Barreto & Eduardo Neves (ed.). Unknown Amazon. 304 pages, 226 colour & b&w figures, 1 table. 2001. London: British Museum; 0-7141-2558-X paperback £19.99. - William M. Ferguson & Richard E.W. Adams Mesoamerica’s ancient cities (2nd edition), xii+260 pages, colour & b&w figures. 2001. Albuquerque (NM): University of New Mexico Press; 0-8263-2801-6 paperback $34.95. - David Webster. The fall of the ancient Maya: solving the mystery of the Maya collapse. 368 pages, 55 figures, 29 b&w photographs, 1 table. 2002. London: Thames & Hudson; 0-500-05113-5 hardback £19.95. - Traci Ardren (ed.). Ancient Maya women. xiv+293 pages, 69 figures, 5 tables. 2002. Walnut Creek (CA): Altamira; 0-7591-0009-8 hardback $75, 0-7591-0010-1 paperback $29.95. - John Montgomery. How to read Maya hieroglyphs. xvi+360 pages, 307 figures, tables, 9 colour plates. 2002. New York (NY); Hippocrene; 0-7818-0861-8 hardback $24. - Cecelia F. Klein (ed.). Gender in Pre-hispanic America: a symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 12 and 13 October 1996. viii+397 pages, 117 figures, 1 table. 2001. Washington (DC): Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection; 0-88402-2 79-X hardback. - Jeffrey R. Parsons The last saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico: an archaeological ethnography (Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Anthropological Paper 92). xv+341 pages, 24 figures, 26 tables, 141 photographs. 2001. Ann Arbor (MI): University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology; 0-915703-51-3 paperback $26.

Antiquity ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (292) ◽  
pp. 564-565
Author(s):  
N. James
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
University Of New Mexico ◽  
Ann Arbor ◽  
Monte Verde ◽  
Anthropological Paper ◽  
Maya Collapse

Permanent Dental Modifications among the Ancient Maya

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Tiesler ◽  
Andrea Cucina ◽  
Marco Ramírez-Salomón
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Postclassic Period ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Dental Appearance ◽  
Local Traditions ◽  
Maya Collapse

This chapter explores the dental appearance, health risks, social roles, and procedures related to dental filings and inlays among the ancient Maya. To this end, skeletal data, portraiture, and ethnographic information from the Maya Lowlands were surveyed. The results show that the majority of adult dentitions had been modified during the first millennium AD, many of which emulated the Maya solar sign and sacred wind forces. The initial operation was usually performed in youngsters, although older age groups were subject to the practice as well. Maintenance measures were taken in the form of additional filing and tooth extraction, especially once tooth wear and decay set in. During the heydays of Lowland Maya kingdoms, dental reductions and inlayed materials trace varied regional and local traditions. Past the Maya collapse, during the Postclassic period, tooth modifications turned into a standardized, mostly female practice that was accomplished exclusively by dental filing.

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