Abstract
Classic Maya populations living in peri-urban states were highly dependent on seasonally distributed rainfall for reliable surplus crop yields. Despite intense study of the potential impact of decadal to centennial-scale climatic changes on the demise of Classic Maya sociopolitical institutions (750-950 CE), its direct importance remains debated. We provide a detailed analysis of a precisely dated speleothem record from Yok Balum cave, Belize, that reflects local hydroclimatic changes at seasonal scale over the past 1600 years. We find that the initial disintegration of Maya sociopolitical institutions and population decline occurred in the context of a pronounced decrease in the predictability of seasonal rainfall and severe drought between 700 and 800 CE. The failure of Classic Maya societies to successfully adapt to volatile seasonal rainfall dynamics likely contributed to gradual but widespread processes of sociopolitical disintegration. We propose that the complex abandonment of Classic Maya population centres was not solely driven by protracted drought but also aggravated by year-to-year decreases in rainfall predictability, potentially caused by a regional reduction in coherent Intertropical Convergence Zone-driven rainfall.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 82 |
| Journal | Communications Earth and Environment |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Both Yok Balum cave and Uxbenká are located on the community owned traditional lands of the Mopan Maya people of Santa Cruz, Toledo, Belize located with the Maya homeland of southern Belize. Data derived from climate proxies at Yok Balum Cave and from archaeological contexts at Uxbenká were collected with permission from of the successive elected leaders of the community, and the Uchben’kaj Kin Ajaw Association to KMP. The authors thank the community for our long collaboration on this project. Permits to remove samples and conduct analysis were obtained from from the Belize Institute of Archaeology to KMP. This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the context of the DFG project MA4759/11-1 ‘Nonlinear empirical mode analysis of complex systems: Development of general approach and application in climate’. VS is supported by DFG grant FO 809/6-1. FL acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant PZ00P2_186135. Funding for the archaeological research at Uxbenká, the initial production of the Yok G and Yok I climate records, and ongoing research related to these records came from the US National Science Foundation (BCS BCS-0620445, Prufer, HSD 0827305 Prufer, Kennett, and Polyak), the Alphawood Foundation (2010–2016 Prufer). We would also like to thank the three reviewers for their valuable feedback.
Funding Information:
Both Yok Balum cave and Uxbenká are located on the community owned traditional lands of the Mopan Maya people of Santa Cruz, Toledo, Belize located with the Maya homeland of southern Belize. Data derived from climate proxies at Yok Balum Cave and from archaeological contexts at Uxbenká were collected with permission from of the successive elected leaders of the community, and the Uchben’kaj Kin Ajaw Association to KMP. The authors thank the community for our long collaboration on this project. Permits to remove samples and conduct analysis were obtained from from the Belize Institute of Archaeology to KMP. This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the context of the DFG project MA4759/11-1 ‘Nonlinear empirical mode analysis of complex systems: Development of general approach and application in climate’. VS is supported by DFG grant FO 809/6-1. FL acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant PZ00P2_186135. Funding for the archaeological research at Uxbenká, the initial production of the Yok G and Yok I climate records, and ongoing research related to these records came from the US National Science Foundation (BCS BCS-0620445, Prufer, HSD 0827305 Prufer, Kennett, and Polyak), the Alphawood Foundation (2010–2016 Prufer). We would also like to thank the three reviewers for their valuable feedback.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).