A regional perspective on biotic change during the Classic Maya occupation using zooarchaeological isotopic chemistry (co-authored with Kitty Emery) (original) (raw)
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Quaternary international, 2008
This paper uses stable isotopic research on faunal remains from archaeological sites in the Maya area to describe ancient environments through time in the region. Carbon isotope signatures of white-tailed deer remains recovered from the Petexbatu´n and Motul de San Joseṕ olities in Guatemala are combined with other published data to provide a regional diachronic perspective on variations in availability of maize, a C4 plant, to herbivores. These data are used as a proxy for the extent of agricultural fields through time across the Maya world and the results indicate considerable temporal and spatial heterogeneity, likely linked to natural environmental heterogeneity and local land-use histories. The local nature of variations underscores the need for greater detail in paleoenvironmental studies at the drainagebasin or site level. Preliminary oxygen isotope research on white-tailed deer from the Motul de San Jose´polity is also presented as the basis for discussion of the role of archaeologically linked oxygen isotope signatures in correlating large scale climate shifts with other sitespecific evidence for environmental change over the period of Maya occupation. Together discussions of the two isotopic data sets emphasize the importance of paleoenvironmental and particularly isotopic research on materials from well-dated archaeological contexts. r
Isotopic analysis of ancient deer bone: Biotic stability in collapse period Maya land-use
Journal of archaeological science, 2000
Isotopic analysis of archaeological white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) bone allows us to examine ancient human land-use through changes in deer diet. These opportunistic edge browsers are ubiquitous Mesoamerican agricultural crop pests. We attempt to quantify diachronic change in deer diet, and thereby browse availability, through analyses of stable carbon isotopes in deer collagen from a large, temporally diverse zooarchaeological deer bone assemblage from the Petexbatú n region, Petén, Guatemala. Our finding of temporal uniformity in C4 plant consumption suggests stability in the surrounding biotic communities and in the land-use practices of the ancient Maya.
Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, 2019
Carbon and oxygen isotopes ratios from herbivore teeth have previously been used as paleo-environmental proxies in temperate zones. However, their utility in tropical zones remains uncertain. In this study, sequential sub-samples from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) teeth (second and third molars) from the Maya archaeological site of La Joyanca, located in northwestern Petén, Guatemala, show that δ 18 O of enamel carbonate corresponds broadly to modern observed precipitation δ 18 O over the 10-month period of tooth formation, capturing rainfall seasonality. The analyses also detect significant diachronic differences in the δ 18 O between the periods 1100-1000 BP (850-950 A.D.) and 1000-900 BP (950-1050 A.D.) at La Joyanca. The δ 13 C in both periods are indicative of a C 3-plant based diet, which suggests cultivation of maize did not differentially affect deer diet during this period.
Geoarchaeology, 2007
The ancient Maya subsisted in an environment limited by shallow soils and unpredictable weather patterns until their collapse ~A.D. 800-900. Ancient subsistence can be a difficult subject, with little physical evidence of agricultural artifacts and structures. This study characterized soil profiles and utilized changes in stable carbon isotope ratios of soil organic matter (SOM) to locate and interpret areas of ancient C 4 plant growth and maize (Zea mays) cultivation among the Maya. The investigation indicated some of the challenges the Maya faced, including shallow and sloped soils in some areas. The C 4 plant signature was found in seasonal wetland soils on the opposite side of the Laguneta Aguateca from the ruins of Aguateca, but not in the perennial wetlands on the immediate side. No C 4 plant signature was detected in the shoulder and backslope soils. Based on these findings, the ancient Maya of Aguateca probably adapted to their environment by farming rich toeslope soils. It is possible that maize was also grown in the seasonal wetlands adjacent to the site. If the steep backslope soils around Aguateca were used in ancient agriculture, the evidence has probably eroded away.
Quaternary Research, 2002
A 4000-yr sediment core record from Lake Salpetén, Guatemala, provides evidence for Maya-induced forest clearance and consequent soil erosion between ∼1700 cal yr B.C. and 850 cal yr A.D. Radiocarbon ages of wood, seeds, and charcoal support an agedepth model with average errors of ±110 cal yr. Relatively low carbonate δ 18 O values between 1300 and 400 cal yr B.C. coincide with pollen evidence for forest loss, consistent with increased surface and groundwater flow to the lake. Minimum δ 18 O values between 400 cal yr B.C. and 150 cal yr A.D. suggest a high lake level, as do 14 C-dated aquatic gastropods as much as 7.5 m above the present lake stage. High lake levels resulted from reduced evaporation-to-precipitation ratios, increased hydrologic input caused by anthropogenic deforestation, or both. The Preclassic abandonment 150 A.D.) and Early Classic/Late Classic boundary (550 A.D.) are marked by relatively high δ 18 O values indicating reduced lake levels. Oxygen isotope composition increased further coincident with the Terminal Classic Maya demographic decline between 800 and 900 A.D. This period of high δ 18 O may have been caused by the greater aridity that has been documented in northern Yucatán lakes or by decreased hydrologic input to the lake as a consequence of forest recovery. Reduced soil erosion after 850 cal yr A.D. coincided with the Terminal Classic Maya demographic decline and permitted forest recovery and resumption of organic sedimentation. C 2002 University of Washington.
Methods and future directions for paleoclimatology in the Maya Lowlands
A growing body of paleoclimate data indicates that periods of severe drought affected the Maya Lowlands of southeastern Mexico and northern Central America, especially during the Terminal Classic period (ca. 800–950 CE), raising the possibility that climate change contributed to the widespread collapse of many Maya polities at that time. A broad range of paleoclimate proxy methods have been applied in the Maya Lowlands and the data derived from these methods are sometimes challenging for archeologists and other non-specialists to interpret. This paper reviews the principal methods used for paleoclimate inference in the region and the rationale for climate proxy interpretation to help researchers working in the Maya Lowlands make sense of paleoclimate datasets. In particular, we focus on analyses of speleothems and lake sediment cores. These two paleoclimate archives have been most widely applied in the Maya Lowlands and have the greatest potential to provide insights into climate change impacts on the ancient Maya. We discuss the development of chronologies for these climate archives, the proxies for past climate change found within them, and how these proxy variables are interpreted. Finally, we present strategies for improving our understanding of proxy paleoclimate data from the Maya Lowlands, including multi-proxy analyses, assessment of spatial variability in past climate change, combined analysis of climate models and proxy data, and the integration of paleoclimatology and archeology.
This study uses a multiisotope (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium) approach to examine early animal management in the Maya region. An analysis of faunal specimens across almost 2,000 years (1000 BC to AD 950) at the site of Ceibal, Guatemala, reveals the earliest evidence for live-traded dogs and possible captive-reared taxa in the Americas. These animals may have been procured for ceremonial functions based on their location in the monumental site core, suggesting that animal management and trade began in the Maya area to promote special events, activities that were critical in the development of state society. Isotopic evidence for animal captivity at Ceibal reveals that animalmanagement played a greater role in Maya communities than previously believed.
Oxygen Isotopes from Maya Archaeological Deer Remains: Experiments in Tracing Droughts Using Bones
An increasing number of studies support the concordance between dry episodes in the Circum-Caribbean Basin and the political disruption of Maya society at the end of the Terminal Classic, during the period often called the " Classic Collapse ". However, the exact sequence of events and their impacts on the Maya people are still largely debated. The aim of this chapter is not to discuss these issues, but rather to examine the potential of using archaeological bone from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) as an additional climatic proxy to track droughts in the Maya area. Thee archaeological remains are especially promising for this purpose because they are relatively abundant in the Maya archaeological record; they are associated with cultural remains, allowing them to be easily and accurately dated; and, most important, they are considered as a very local recorder of past meteorological conditions.
Contribution of stable isotope analysis to understanding dietary variation among the Maya
ACS Symposium Series, 2002
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in skeletal tissues are widely used as indicators of prehistoric human diets. This technique distinguishes between the consumption of C3 and C4 plants and assesses the contribution of aquatic resources to otherwise terrestrial diets. Isotopic ratios in bone collagen emphasize dietary protein; those in bone apatite and tooth enamel reflect the whole diet. Bone collagen and apatite represent average diet over the last several years of life, while tooth enamel represents diet during the age of crown formation. The isotopic analysis of all three tissues in individuals at Maya sites in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico reveals variation in the importance of maize, a C4 plant, based on age, sex, status, and local ecological factors, as well as dramatic changes in subsistence patterns from the Preclassic to Postclassic periods. These results enable a tentative synthesis of the dynamic relationship between subsistence and sociopolitical developments in ancient Mesoamerica.