Lisa J. Lucero | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (original) (raw)
Papers by Lisa J. Lucero
... I. Lucero, Lisa Joyce, 1962-II. ... in Tropical Complex Societies 100 Julie L. Kunen 7 The Po... more ... I. Lucero, Lisa Joyce, 1962-II. ... in Tropical Complex Societies 100 Julie L. Kunen 7 The Political and Sacred Power of Water in Classic Maya Society 116 Lisa J. Lucero 8 Copan Water Ritual and Management: Imagery and Sacred Place 129 Barbara W. Fash and Karla L. Davis ...
The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018
50th Annual GSA North-Central Section Meeting, 2016
Routledge eBooks, Jun 11, 2014
Throughout the world, places of worship –temples or churches– are built to honor various gods, pa... more Throughout the world, places of worship –temples or churches– are built to honor various gods, patron deities, or as places for religious expression and experiences. Scholars’ interpretations of Late Classic (c. A.D. 550 – 850) Maya temples have been relatively vague on their roles and functions except in cases where they served as stages for royal ceremonies. Since the majority of secondary centers such as Yalbac, do not have written or obvious iconographic records, I explore the possibility of temple attributes revealing histories given their crucial role in daily social, religious, and political life. The analysis of evidence from looters trenches at Yalbac, while preliminary, has exciting implications regarding the role of temples and their potential to serve as text on Classic Maya society.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 2016
The Oxford Handbook of Historical Ecology and Applied Archaeology, 2016
Water security is a fundamental global challenge for humanity. Suggesting that scholars, water ma... more Water security is a fundamental global challenge for humanity. Suggesting that scholars, water management engineers, and policy-makers draw from a wide range of examples, this chapter argues that knowledge gained from archaeological research provides unique insights into the long-term function and efficacy of water management systems. This chapter presents six cases of water management systems in the pre-Columbian Maya lowlands, from the Yalahau, Puuc-Nohkakab, Petén Karst Plateau, and Belize River Valley subregions, that demonstrate significant variation; a product of the interplay between social, political, and economic factors and hydrological regimes. The analysis suggests four insights relevant for current water security concerns: (1) water management systems are characterized by a diversity of solutions, (2) water scarcity promotes increased management investments that result in long-term vulnerability, (3) water abundance does not require complex management systems but increa...
Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 2023
The Classic Maya (c. 250 to 900 CE) in the tropical southern lowlands of Central America dealt wi... more The Classic Maya (c. 250 to 900 CE) in the tropical southern
lowlands of Central America dealt with water scarcity during
annual dry seasons and periods of climate instability via
sophisticated urban reservoir systems they relied on for
over a thousand years. Surface water is limited because
typically rain percolates through the karstic terrain. I posit
that Maya reservoirs functioned as do constructed wetlands
(CWs) at present. Still-water
systems like CWs and Maya
reservoirs can become stagnant and nonpotable due to the
build-up
of nutrients that promote algal growth. Stagnant
waters also serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes
that spread endemic diseases. CWs keep water clean via
certain aquatic plants since all plants uptake nutrients
(e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus) and decomposing plant matter
supports microbial biofilms that break down nutrients. CWs
also support diverse zooplankton that prey on pathogens
and bacteria that assist to denitrify water. CWs do not
require the use of chemicals or fossil fuels and after the
initial labor-intensive
output become self-cleaning
and
self-sufficient
with some maintenance. I posit that the
Maya used a diverse array of aquatic plants and other
biota to keep water clean in the same manner as do CWs,
which I demonstrate using evidence from excavations and
settlement maps, sediment cores and current wetlands, and
the iconographic and hieroglyphic records. The next step is
to combine what we know about ancient Maya reservoirs
in conjunction with what is currently known about CWs to
better address future water needs.
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2020
Sustainable practices in the present are typically designed to mitigate immediate concerns over d... more Sustainable practices in the present are typically designed to mitigate immediate concerns over decadal timespans. In the face of exponential population growth, overuse of resources, and global climate change, this time span is inadequate; longer, more resilient and sustainable options need to be implemented. Here, we tackle the intersection of human behavior and the urban environment by taking a holistic approach-that is, a non-anthropocentric approach critical to ensure the longevity, or even survival, of the planet. We thus approach urbanism as we would any ecosystem, with the broad understanding that the urban, the rural, humans, and non-humans are all interdependent. One cannot understand cities without an understanding of the surrounding rural or non-center areas, thus making critical an appreciation of urban-rural interdependence (URI). The holistic model is based on insights from the ancient Maya of Central America-a tropical society where farmers practiced widespread, sustainable agriculture for 4,000 years without denuding the landscape. The Classic Maya accomplished this feat in large part due to their sustainable URI and cosmocentric worldview (CWV)-that is, a cosmology of conservation, or merged existence, where people, animals, plants, rivers, stones, clouds, etc., each played a role in maintaining the world. Their CWV was also expressed in urban planning through manifestations of traditional knowledge, multipurpose designs, and local resource networks. Insights from the Maya indicate that diversity is fundamental-across all scales; diverse strategies are flexible, spread risk, and are resilient in the face of change. As such, we present past lessons from Maya kings and farmers who built cities with reservoirs, causeways, monumental constructions and other urban features that integrated the built into the existing environment, ultimately resulting in green cities interspersed with farmsteads and managed biodiverse forests. In brief, our holistic model suggests possibilities for the reintegration of nature and culture, with the goal of a resilient URI.
Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, 2007
... lowlands. Caves, considered both sacred and danger-ous places, provided the perfect place to ... more ... lowlands. Caves, considered both sacred and danger-ous places, provided the perfect place to conduct ritual violence, as ethnohistoric and ethnographic records indicate. We ... 1970). Violence against witches also occurs. Spanish ...
Memorias del Primer Congreso Internacional de …, 1992
... I. Lucero, Lisa Joyce, 1962-II. ... in Tropical Complex Societies 100 Julie L. Kunen 7 The Po... more ... I. Lucero, Lisa Joyce, 1962-II. ... in Tropical Complex Societies 100 Julie L. Kunen 7 The Political and Sacred Power of Water in Classic Maya Society 116 Lisa J. Lucero 8 Copan Water Ritual and Management: Imagery and Sacred Place 129 Barbara W. Fash and Karla L. Davis ...
The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018
50th Annual GSA North-Central Section Meeting, 2016
Routledge eBooks, Jun 11, 2014
Throughout the world, places of worship –temples or churches– are built to honor various gods, pa... more Throughout the world, places of worship –temples or churches– are built to honor various gods, patron deities, or as places for religious expression and experiences. Scholars’ interpretations of Late Classic (c. A.D. 550 – 850) Maya temples have been relatively vague on their roles and functions except in cases where they served as stages for royal ceremonies. Since the majority of secondary centers such as Yalbac, do not have written or obvious iconographic records, I explore the possibility of temple attributes revealing histories given their crucial role in daily social, religious, and political life. The analysis of evidence from looters trenches at Yalbac, while preliminary, has exciting implications regarding the role of temples and their potential to serve as text on Classic Maya society.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 2016
The Oxford Handbook of Historical Ecology and Applied Archaeology, 2016
Water security is a fundamental global challenge for humanity. Suggesting that scholars, water ma... more Water security is a fundamental global challenge for humanity. Suggesting that scholars, water management engineers, and policy-makers draw from a wide range of examples, this chapter argues that knowledge gained from archaeological research provides unique insights into the long-term function and efficacy of water management systems. This chapter presents six cases of water management systems in the pre-Columbian Maya lowlands, from the Yalahau, Puuc-Nohkakab, Petén Karst Plateau, and Belize River Valley subregions, that demonstrate significant variation; a product of the interplay between social, political, and economic factors and hydrological regimes. The analysis suggests four insights relevant for current water security concerns: (1) water management systems are characterized by a diversity of solutions, (2) water scarcity promotes increased management investments that result in long-term vulnerability, (3) water abundance does not require complex management systems but increa...
Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 2023
The Classic Maya (c. 250 to 900 CE) in the tropical southern lowlands of Central America dealt wi... more The Classic Maya (c. 250 to 900 CE) in the tropical southern
lowlands of Central America dealt with water scarcity during
annual dry seasons and periods of climate instability via
sophisticated urban reservoir systems they relied on for
over a thousand years. Surface water is limited because
typically rain percolates through the karstic terrain. I posit
that Maya reservoirs functioned as do constructed wetlands
(CWs) at present. Still-water
systems like CWs and Maya
reservoirs can become stagnant and nonpotable due to the
build-up
of nutrients that promote algal growth. Stagnant
waters also serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes
that spread endemic diseases. CWs keep water clean via
certain aquatic plants since all plants uptake nutrients
(e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus) and decomposing plant matter
supports microbial biofilms that break down nutrients. CWs
also support diverse zooplankton that prey on pathogens
and bacteria that assist to denitrify water. CWs do not
require the use of chemicals or fossil fuels and after the
initial labor-intensive
output become self-cleaning
and
self-sufficient
with some maintenance. I posit that the
Maya used a diverse array of aquatic plants and other
biota to keep water clean in the same manner as do CWs,
which I demonstrate using evidence from excavations and
settlement maps, sediment cores and current wetlands, and
the iconographic and hieroglyphic records. The next step is
to combine what we know about ancient Maya reservoirs
in conjunction with what is currently known about CWs to
better address future water needs.
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2020
Sustainable practices in the present are typically designed to mitigate immediate concerns over d... more Sustainable practices in the present are typically designed to mitigate immediate concerns over decadal timespans. In the face of exponential population growth, overuse of resources, and global climate change, this time span is inadequate; longer, more resilient and sustainable options need to be implemented. Here, we tackle the intersection of human behavior and the urban environment by taking a holistic approach-that is, a non-anthropocentric approach critical to ensure the longevity, or even survival, of the planet. We thus approach urbanism as we would any ecosystem, with the broad understanding that the urban, the rural, humans, and non-humans are all interdependent. One cannot understand cities without an understanding of the surrounding rural or non-center areas, thus making critical an appreciation of urban-rural interdependence (URI). The holistic model is based on insights from the ancient Maya of Central America-a tropical society where farmers practiced widespread, sustainable agriculture for 4,000 years without denuding the landscape. The Classic Maya accomplished this feat in large part due to their sustainable URI and cosmocentric worldview (CWV)-that is, a cosmology of conservation, or merged existence, where people, animals, plants, rivers, stones, clouds, etc., each played a role in maintaining the world. Their CWV was also expressed in urban planning through manifestations of traditional knowledge, multipurpose designs, and local resource networks. Insights from the Maya indicate that diversity is fundamental-across all scales; diverse strategies are flexible, spread risk, and are resilient in the face of change. As such, we present past lessons from Maya kings and farmers who built cities with reservoirs, causeways, monumental constructions and other urban features that integrated the built into the existing environment, ultimately resulting in green cities interspersed with farmsteads and managed biodiverse forests. In brief, our holistic model suggests possibilities for the reintegration of nature and culture, with the goal of a resilient URI.
Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, 2007
... lowlands. Caves, considered both sacred and danger-ous places, provided the perfect place to ... more ... lowlands. Caves, considered both sacred and danger-ous places, provided the perfect place to conduct ritual violence, as ethnohistoric and ethnographic records indicate. We ... 1970). Violence against witches also occurs. Spanish ...
Memorias del Primer Congreso Internacional de …, 1992
Oxford University Press, 2025
Maya Wisdom and the Survival of Our Planet presents the Maya way of seeing and interacting with t... more Maya Wisdom and the Survival of Our Planet presents the Maya way of seeing and interacting with the world, which embodies lessons and provides solutions to ensure a sustainable future of Earth. This book is based on over three decades of working with Maya associates in Belize, Central America, to study the ancestral Maya as an archaeologist, and it approaches the future through the lens of the Maya nonanthropocentric inclusive worldview. Ancestral Maya people worked with, not against, nature. Nor did they privilege humans at the expense of nonhumans. Their engagement with the tropical environment was expressed in a landscape of green cities, farmsteads, gardens, fields, forests, and sacred places. The Maya built green cities that drew people in through royal reservoirs, a system that lasted over 1,000 years in the southern lowlands (c. 300 bce to 900 ce). After taking the reader on a journey through Maya history, their tropical world, and how they lived in it and engaged with nonhumans through ceremonies, the book concludes with concrete solutions that bridge the past and present for the future. Conditions are not going to change, but people can. Maya resilience is a testament for how to move forward, and this book provides a roadmap of how to do so.
The Delft University, 2022
This project was begun in late 2017, when the Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (I... more This project was begun in late 2017, when the Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE) launched a study of the role archaeology could play in the conceptualization and realization of the cities of the future. Our project was funded by the US National Science Foundation' s National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) in Maryland, USA, which brings together research groups that merge the science of the natural world with the science of human behavior and decision-making, in order to find solutions to environmental problems. IHOPE was awarded three workshops, which were held at SESYNC in Annapolis in the autumn of 2018 and in the spring and autumn of 2019. Participants are practitioners of archaeology, history, ecology, regional planning, and of urban, regional, and landscape architecture. Our goal is to demonstrate to future planners and designers the utility of the study of ancient cities and their regions. Using two initial proof-of-concept cases (cities of the ancient Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula and early urban Mesopotamia), the first workshop produced the research design and identified the necessary data to be obtained from case studies.
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2021
Sustainable practices in the present are typically designed to mitigate immediate concerns over d... more Sustainable practices in the present are typically designed to mitigate immediate concerns over decadal timespans. In the face of exponential population growth, overuse of resources, and global climate change, this time span is inadequate; longer, more resilient and sustainable options need to be implemented. Here, we tackle the intersection of human behavior and the urban environment by taking a holistic approach—that is, a non-anthropocentric approach critical to ensure the longevity, or even survival, of the planet. We thus approach urbanism as we would any ecosystem, with the broad understanding that the urban, the rural, humans, and non-humans are all interdependent. One cannot understand cities without an understanding of the surrounding rural or non-center areas, thus making critical an appreciation of urban-rural interdependence (URI). The holistic model is based on insights from the ancient Maya of Central America—a tropical society where farmers practiced widespread, sustainable agriculture for 4,000 years without denuding the landscape. The Classic Maya accomplished this feat in large part due to their sustainable URI and cosmocentric worldview (CWV)—that is, a cosmology of conservation, or merged existence, where people, animals, plants, rivers, stones, clouds, etc., each played a role in maintaining the world. Their CWV was also expressed in urban planning through manifestations of traditional knowledge, multi-purpose designs, and local resource networks. Insights from the Maya indicate that diversity is fundamental—across all scales; diverse strategies are flexible, spread risk, and are resilient in the face of change. As such, we present past lessons from Maya kings and farmers who built cities with reservoirs, causeways, monumental constructions and other urban features that integrated the built into the existing environment, ultimately resulting in green cities interspersed with farmsteads and managed biodiverse forests. In brief, our holistic model suggests possibilities for the re-integration of nature and culture, with the goal of a resilient URI